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Punic language
 
 
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The Punic language is an extinct Semitic language formerly spoken in the Mediterranean region of North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
 and several Mediterranean islands
List of islands in the Mediterranean

This is a list of islands in the Mediterranean Sea:...
, by people of the Punic
Punic

The Punics, were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples originating from Carthage in North Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers....
 culture.

Description
Punic is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language spoken in the oversea Phoenician empire in North Africa, including Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
, and the Mediterranean. It is known from inscriptions and personal name evidence. The play Poenulus
Poenulus

Poenulus, also called The Little Carthaginian or The Puny Punic, is a Latin comedic Play for the early Theatre of ancient Rome by Titus Maccius Plautus....
 by Plautus
Plautus

Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as Plautus, was a Ancient Rome playwright. His comedy are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature....
 contains a few lines in spoken Punic, which have been subject to some research because, unlike inscriptions, they largely preserve the vowel
Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis....
s..

Augustine of Hippo is generally considered the last major ancient writer to have some knowledge of Punic, and is considered "our primary source on the survival of [late] Punic".






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The Punic language is an extinct Semitic language formerly spoken in the Mediterranean region of North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
 and several Mediterranean islands
List of islands in the Mediterranean

This is a list of islands in the Mediterranean Sea:...
, by people of the Punic
Punic

The Punics, were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples originating from Carthage in North Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers....
 culture.

Description


Punic is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language spoken in the oversea Phoenician empire in North Africa, including Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
, and the Mediterranean. It is known from inscriptions and personal name evidence. The play Poenulus
Poenulus

Poenulus, also called The Little Carthaginian or The Puny Punic, is a Latin comedic Play for the early Theatre of ancient Rome by Titus Maccius Plautus....
 by Plautus
Plautus

Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as Plautus, was a Ancient Rome playwright. His comedy are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature....
 contains a few lines in spoken Punic, which have been subject to some research because, unlike inscriptions, they largely preserve the vowel
Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis....
s..

Augustine of Hippo is generally considered the last major ancient writer to have some knowledge of Punic, and is considered "our primary source on the survival of [late] Punic". Writing around 401
401

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, he says:

Quae lingua si improbatur abs te, nega Punicis libris, ut a viris doctissimis proditur, multa sapienter esse mandata memoriae. Poeniteat te certe ibi natum, ubi huius linguae cunabula recalent.

And if the Punic language is rejected by you, you virtually deny what has been admitted by most learned men, that many things have been wisely preserved from oblivion in books written in the Punic tongue. Nay, you ought even to be ashamed of having been born in the country in which the cradle of this language is still warm. (Ep. xvii)


The idea that Punic exerted an influence on the modern Maltese language
Maltese language

Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official Languages of Malta alongside English language,while also serving as an Languages of the European Union European Union, the only Semitic languages so distinguished....
 was first raised in 1565. This theory has been mostly discredited; mainstream theories hold Maltese to be derived from Siculo-Arabic, with a large number of loanwords from Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
. Punic was indeed spoken on the island of Malta
Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
 at some point in its history, as evidenced by the Cippi of Melqart, integral to the decipherment of Punic after its extinction, and other inscriptions found on the islands.

See also

  • Punic
    Punic

    The Punics, were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples originating from Carthage in North Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers....