Did a Getic Language Exist?
Did a Getic Language Exist?

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the hypothesis launched about the existence of a Getic language that was different from Thracian and from the so-called Dacian-Moesian language. The analysis was made on the basis of two criteria: socio-linguistic – the evidence of ancient authors on the speech of the Getae compared to the other Thracians, and internal linguistic – data on the phonetics and lexical material in the onomastic finds from the lands of the Getae, compared to the onomastics from the remaining Thracian territories. It becomes clear from the examples that no substantial differences – either phonetic or lexical – existed between the onomastics of the region inhabited by Getae and the one from the areas inhabited by the other Thracian tribes, which does not give grounds to refer to the Getic language as independent.

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