Macedonian names and makeDONSKI pseudo-linguistics: The case of the names Mita and the Mushki

Miltiades Elia Bolaris

Το παρόν άρθρο πρωτοεμφανίστηκε στο Αμερικανικό διαδικτυακό περιοδικό Αμέρικαν Κρόνικλ, στις 5 Δεκεμβρίου του 2010

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/202823

In memoriam: for my Alexandrian friend Dr. Levon Topouzian (a friend himself of the great U. of Chicago linguist scholar Dr. Eric P. Hamp), who first made me aware of the linguistic connections between the Greek and Armenian languages. 

Balkan Illusion - phantasia archaica:

"...it is very interesting to note that many of the authentic ancient Macedonian words, according to their etymology and pronunciation, have a striking resemblance to the appropriate words used in the modern Macedonian language (and other so called "Slav"[sic] languages)."…" We would also mention the name of a Brygian tribe, the "Mushki", who lived in the 9th century before Christ.

Their name is identical to the noun "mushki" (men), which exists in other "Slavic" languages.

Their king was called Mita a name which remains unchanged in a number of "Slavic" languages."

Quote taken from: "Similarities between ancient Macedonian and today's' Macedonian Culture (Linguistics and Onomastics)" by Aleksandar Donski, celebrity propagandist-historian from FYROM.

Mushki / Mύσιοι - Phrygians/Φρύγες

Mita/Midas/Μίδας

In our search for the Mushki we will start at the easternmost location where they have been said to be located, in the Caucasian highlands of the ancient Moschoi: the area now called Meskheti. Meskheti / მესხეთი is a mountainous region of Georgia on the Caucasus. It takes its name after the ancient Georgian tribe of the Meskhi whom the Greeks called Moschoi and their region Moschia. The Meskhi, like all Georgians speak a Kartvelian language, which is a linguistic family indigenous to the Caucasus, distinct from, and unrelated to the Indo-European languages.

Stephanos Byzantios in his 5th c.AD "Ethnika" dictionary of ancient nations mentions them as follows:

Mόσχοι, Κόλχιον έθνος προσεχές τοις Ματιηνοίς. Εκαταίος Ασία.

Moschoi, a Kolchian nation that lives next to the Matienoi, as Hecataeos (of Miletos, c. 550 - 476 BCE) mentions in his book on Asia.

Meskheti is the modern Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia. Hecataeos´ Matienoi (also known as Hurrians) lived in Matiene / Ματιηνή, a place that became a satrapy under the Persians and continued to be so under Alexander. After Alexander the Great´s death Matiene became independent under its satrap, Atropates /Ατροπάτης who declared himself a king. His kingdom became known as Media Atropatene or simply Atropatene / Ατροπατηνή. Its name, paraphrased over the centuries, became what we now call Azerbaijan. The Stephanos Byzantios´ geography for the Kolchian Moschoi is therefore confirmed. The Kolchian Moschoi, despite the similarity in the phonetics of their name, are not the same people as the Mushki, though the possibility always exists that their name "Moschoi" was assigned to them by others, confusing them with the "Mushki".

The people whom the Assyrians called Mushki are the Phrygians, and the Greeks, who knew their neighbors and described them well in detail, never confused the Moschoi with the Mushki-Phrygians. The Assyrians mention two distinct Mushki people. The first ones to appear in the record are the eastern Mushki around 1165 B.C. The western Mushki appear in the Assyrian records a few centuries later (end of the 8th to the beginning of the 7th cBC). Igor Diakonoff, the great Russian historian and linguistics scholar who specialized in the peoples of ancient near East identifies the Mushki solidly with the Phrygians:

"It is also important that their designation coincides in Assyrian with that of the Phrygians."

(I. M. Diakonoff, "The Pre-history of the Armenian People", Delmar, New York, 1984, Предыстория армянского народа, in the original Russian).

Igor Diakonoff, of the Institut Vostokovedenija, in Leningrad - St. Petersburg, should know a thing or two about the Phrygians: he wrote a book on the Phrygian language: "Phrygian" by Diakonoff and Neroznak, published by Caravan Books, in 1986. (The original Russian title was Očerk frigijskoj morfologii, published in 1977 in Vilnius. The book came just before Claude Brixhe's research was published as I.Diakonoff mentions in his forward ["while reading the proofs, we learned that Lejeune's and Brixhe's Old Phrygian Corpus is to appear shortly, and that a project for a Phrygian etymological vocabulary by B. Kowal in Salzburg, Austria is well on its way. It seems we are on the eve of a breakthrough in Phrygian studies - God- speed!" so his own findings were not in par with what we now understand of the Phrygian language, though his hopes and prayers for a breakthrough were indeed fully answered...!)

Continuing with his (now universally accepted) solid identification of the Mushki with the Phrygians Igor Diakonoff continues:

"Note that there are are two different groups called "Mushki" in the Assyrian sources: one group of Mushki captured Alzi and Purulumzi (near the confluence of the Arsanias and the Euphrates) around 1165 B.C. They are in evidence as an agricultural population in this region right up to the beginning of the 9th century B.C.", while "The other group of Mushki are mentioned in connection with the campaigns of the Assyrian king Sargon II (722-705 B.C.) and the Urartian king Rusa II (first half of the 7th century B.C.) as dwelling to the west of the Cilician Taurus. They are unquestionably to be identified with the Phrygians."

I. Diakonoff identifies these Eastern Mushki with the Proto-Armenians. And he goes on to explain the meaning of the name "Mushki":

"One thing is clear, however: in the Ancient Oriental sources the term Mushki was used to designate Phrygia and the Phrygians, whose Indo-European linguistic affiliation is unquestionable. Therefore other Thraco-Phrygian tribes may also have been so designated, including the Proto-Armenian ones. Note the important suggestion of A. Goetze that the term Mushki originally referred to the Thraco-Phrygian tribe of the Mysians in northwestern Asia Minor and Troad, and to the province of Moesia in the Balkans. (Gk. Mysoi, read /Musoi/; the stem is *mus-, /sh/ did not exist in Greek.) The Mysians may have been the first Thraco-Phrygian tribe whom the inhabitants of Asia Minor learned to know. Later their name spread to all the tribes related to them or close to them in culture."

The name Mushki, therefore, as Igor Diakonoff clearly explains, was a misnomer for the Phrygians that originally appeared into the Anatolian scene via Mysia, and it simply meant "Μύσιοι / Mysians": people (who came from) from Μυσία / Mysia.

Who are the Mysians?

We follow Diakonoff again:

"The northwest corner of Asia Minor was occupied by the Mysians, who spoke a Phrygian (or Thracian) dialect strongly influenced by Lydian while the western part of the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor, beginning with the Bosporus, was occupied by the Thracian people of the Bithynians, who had moved from the Balkans later than the others."

How does Igor Diakonoff know this? He obviously read the Greek Geographer Strabo, or Strabon / Στράβων as the Greeks prefer to call him, This is what Strabo tells us about the language of the Mysians:

μαρτυρεῖν δὲ καὶ τὴν διάλεκτον• μιξολύδιον γάρ πως εἶναι καὶ μιξοφρύγιον• τέως μὲν γὰρ οἰκεῖν αὐτοὺς περὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον, τῶν δὲ Φρυγῶν ἐκ τῆς Θρᾴκης περαιωθέντων ἀνελόντων τε τῆς Τροίας ἄρχοντα καὶ τῆς πλησίον γῆς, ἐκείνους μὲν ἐνταῦθα οἰκῆσαι τοὺς δὲ Μυσοὺς ὑπὲρ τὰς τοῦ Καΐκου πηγὰς πλησίον Λυδῶν.

The language also is an evidence of this. It is a mixture of Lydian and Phrygian words, for they lived some time in the neighborhood of Olympus (ps: The Mysian Olympus, in Troy, not the Macedonian one, in Greece - M.E.B.). But when the Phrygians passed over from Thrace, and put to death the chief of Troy and of the country near it, they settled here, but the Mysians established themselves above the sources of the Caïcus near Lydia.

As for the Mysians themselves, and the name of their nation, Strabo brings us ancient testimony:

12.8.3…ὅτι τοὺς Μυσοὺς οἱ μὲν Θρᾷκας οἱ δὲ Λυδοὺς εἰρήκασι, κατ´ αἰτίαν παλαιὰν ἱστοροῦντες, ἣν Ξάνθος ὁ Λυδὸς γράφει καὶ Μενεκράτης ὁ Ἐλαΐτης, ἐτυμολογοῦντες καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ τῶν Μυσῶν ὅτι τὴν ὀξύην οὕτως ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ Λυδοί• πολλὴ δ´ ἡ ὀξύη κατὰ τὸν Ὄλυμπον, ὅπου ἐκτεθῆναί φασι τοὺς δεκατευθέντας, ἐκείνων δὲ ἀπογόνους εἶναι τοὺς ὕστερον Μυσούς, ἀπὸ τῆς ὀξύης οὕτω προσαγορευθέντας•

12.8.3… some writers regard the Mysians as Thracians, others as Lydians, according to an ancient tradition, which has been preserved by Xanthus the Lydian, and by Menecrates of Elæa, who assign as the origin of the name Mysians, that the Lydians call the beech-tree (Oxya) Mysos, which grows in great abundance near Olympus, where it is said decimated persons were exposed, whose descendants are the later Mysians, and received their appellation from the Mysos, or beech-tree growing in that country.

Mysia therefore, according to Xanthos the Lydian and Menecrates of Elea, both of whom Strabo quotes, takes its name from the beech trees that are abundant in its territory and the Beech tree is called Mysos in the native language of the Lydians, who were the original inhabitants of that land. Mysia therefore, means "land of the beech trees" in Lydian. Since the Phrygians stayed in Mysia (also called Minor Phrygia because of them) after they entered Asia, coming from Thrace and Macedonia, the neighboring people of Anatolia called them "Mysians". With the collapse of the Hittite kingdom, around 1180-1160, the bulk of the Phrygians started moving further east into central Anatolia. Coming from Mysia, the name "Mysians" stuck with them, and this is the name the Assyrians named them: Μύσιοι / Musioi, paraphrashed in Assyrian as "Mushki".

If we choose to ignore history and take a plunge into innovative para-history and pseudo-makedonist ethno-mythology, then we can simply follow Aleksandar Donski´s rumblings about his imaginary Protoslavonomakedonci "Mushki":

" We would also mention the name of a Brygian tribe, the "Mushki", who lived in the 9th century before Christ.

Their name is identical to the noun "mushki" (men), which exists in other "Slavic" languages."

Aleksandar Donski, "Simmilarites Between Ancient Maedonian and Todays' Macedonian Culture(Linguistics and Onomastics)"

http://my.opera.com/ancientmacedonia/blog/show.dml/449188

Furthermore, Donski continues, shamelessly miss-quoting Quintus Rufus:

"Philotas equated the terms Phrygians and Paphlagonians. It is well known that the Phrygians (in the Balkans were known as Brygians) became the constitutional ethno-cultural core (???) of the ancient Macedonians (!!!), whereas the term Paphlagonians represents a geographic name for Veneti(???), i.e. for the ancestors of the "Slavs"(!!!). What this means actually is that Philotas equated the ancient Macedonians and the Veneti(???), and this happened before IV BC.(!!!)".

My eyes are hurting trying to read such utter nonsense that is being promoted and propagated to the people in Skopje as "Istorija na Makedonija". What Istorija? What Makedonija? Yet, Aleksandar Donski continues marching on into Istorija paranormalija unabated:

"Even earlier than this, Herodotus wrote that Phrygians (ancient Macedonians)(???) and Paphlagonians (ancestors of the "Slavs")(???) wore very similar clothes. There is narrative evidence regarding the analogy between the "Slav" and ancient Macedonian culture (!!!) from a later period as well."

Ah! Yes! This is exactly why Pinocchio´s nose kept growing longer and longer every time he told a lie!

Having for now escaped from the History-torture chamber of the Skopjan propagandists, where History of Macedonia is constantly undergoing Procroustian "alterations", we go back to professor Igor Diakonoff and breath the fresh air of his writings. We follow the Phrygians once again. It is historically accepted that the Phrygians came from Europe, originating from Macedonia, via Thrace into Asia Minor during the early part of the 12th cBC. A large group of them settled in central Anatolia, around what is now the capital of Turkey, Ankara, a Phrygian establishment itself, conquering the lands previously held by the Hittites. It has been archaeologically suggested that it was not the Phrygians who destroyed the Hittite kingdom, since Hattusa itself had been destroyed by the "Sea Peoples" shortly before the arrival of the Phrygians. There, in the land previously held by the Hittites, they established the kingdom of Phrygia. Their capital was established not on Hattusa but in Gordion, making a new start, signaling a complete break from the Hittite past of the area. Another group of Phrygians, which Diakonoff calls the eastern Mushki, continued on and it is from them that the nation of the Armenians came about. As Igor Diakonoff tells it:

"Therefore the most probable date for the appearance of the Proto-Armenians in the Armenian Highlands is the 12th century B.C., the century when there actually is historical evidence of great migrations (including, in the first place, the Thraco-Phrygian migration, of which the Proto-Armenians must have been a part). And when we have direct evidence about the appearance, in precisely this place and at precisely this time, of a new tribe bearing the designation which was unquestionably applied to certain Thraco-Phrygian tribes, it can logically be inferred that this tribe, i.e., the Eastern Mushki, should be identified as the Proto-Armenians".

Indeed,

"Some 9th or early 8th century Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions from Carchemish on the euphrates actually mention the Musa alongside the Muska (the Proto-Armenians)"..."while the Luwians, better acquainted with the local conditions, distinguished netween the Musa (Phrygians) and the Muska (Proto-Armenians), the other peoples of the Near East called both of them Mushki."

"Phrygian", Diakonoff & Neroznak, Caravan Books, N.Y.1985

What I. Diakonoff tells us is corroborated by the ancient Greeks. Herodotus, in the mid 5th cBC tells us that the Armenians were dressed and armed like the Phrygians and in fact he calls them "Phrygian settlers":

οἱ δὲ Φρύγες, ὡς Μακεδόνες λέγουσι, ἐκαλέοντο Βρίγες χρόνον ὅσον Εὐρωπήιοι ἐόντες σύνοικοι ἦσαν Μακεδόσι, μεταβάντες δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην ἅμα τῇ χώρῃ καὶ τὸ οὔνομα μετέβαλον ἐς Φρύγας. Ἀρμένιοι δὲ κατά περ Φρύγες ἐσεσάχατο, ἐόντες Φρυγῶν ἄποικοι.

Ηροδότου Ιστορίαι (7.73)

As the Macedonians say, these Phrygians were called Briges as long as they dwelt in Europe, where they were neighbors of the Macedonians; but when they changed their home to Asia, they changed their name also and were called Phrygians. The Armenians, who are settlers from Phrygia, were armed like the Phrygians.

Herodotus Histories (7.73) translation by A.D. Godley

Incidentally, Herodotus tells us another thing of interest here, which Aleksandar Donski would not want us to know: that the Macedonians and the Phrygians were NOT the same people:

οἱ δὲ Φρύγες…ἐκαλέοντο Βρίγες / these Phrygians were called Briges

χρόνον ὅσον Εὐρωπήιοι ἐόντες / as long as they dwelt in Europe

σύνοικοι ἦσαν Μακεδόσι / where they were neighbors of the Macedonians

In other words, the Bryges were NEIGHBORS of the Macedonians…NOT Macedonians themselves. And who told that to Herodotus?

ὡς Μακεδόνες λέγουσι... /...as the Macedonians say…

The Macedonians themselves!

The Skopjans in their attempt to shed their own Slavic roots and claim autochthony in the lower Balkan peninsula long before the 7th c.AD in which their early-Slavonic speaking ancestors appeared in Macedonia, and trying to un-historically claim direct descent from the Greek speaking ancient Macedonians of Philip and Alexander the Great, fall from one Big Lie onto another. They originally begun by claiming the name "Macedonia" and "Macedonians" as exclusively their own. Then they followed by claiming identity with the ancient Macedonians. Now they claim the Paionians and the Phrygians as supposedly being (Slavonic-speaking, of course) "Makedonci". We have dealt with the Paionians at an earlier article and we promise to return to them, but as far as the Phrygians are presently concerned, we can see that the Macedonians did not consider them as one and the same as themselves. They simply considered them as neighbors.

Herodorus, as mentioned earlier, considers the Phrygians σύνοικους / synoikous / neighbors of the Macedonians in ancient times, and furthermore he considers the Armenians as ἄποικους / apoikous / colonists of the Phrygians, therefore closely related to them.

To make things more interesting, we find that a consensus seems to be forming among modern Linguists (Antoine Meillet, Solta, Vladimir Georgiev, Igor Diakonoff, Clackson, Eric Hamp, etc) about the chronologically distant but linguistically close relationship between Greek and Armenian. Many linguists now speak of a Hellenic-Armenian sub group within the broad Indo-European linguistic family. This relationship is represented in multiple linguistic trees:

http://www.phil.muni.cz/linguistica/art/blazek/bla-003.pdf

In the "Grammar of Modern Indo-European", Second Edition, by Carlos Quiles & Fernando López-Menchero (http://dnghu.org/en/Grammar-Indo-European-Language/), we read that:

"Armenian was traditionally regarded as a close relative of Phrygian, apparently closely related to Greek, sharing major isoglosses with it. The Graeco-Armenian hypothesis proposed a close relationship to the Greek language, putting both in the larger context of Paleo-Balkans languages – notably including Phrygian, which is widely accepted as an Indo-European language particularly close to Greek, and sometimes Ancient Macedonian –, consistent with Herodotus´ recording of the Armenians as descending from colonists of the Phrygians."

In the same grammar we also read that:

"traditional linguistic theory, proposed by Pedersen (1924), establishes a close relationship between both original communities, Greek and Armenian, departing from a common subdialect of IE IIIa (Southern Dialect of Late PIE).

PIE voiceless stops are aspirated in Proto-Armenian, a circumstance that gave rise to the Glottalic theory, which postulates that this aspiration may have been sub-phonematic already in PIE.

In certain contexts, these aspirated stops are further reduced to w, h or zero in Armenian – so e.g. PIE *p‟ots, into Arm. otn, Gk. pous, ―foot‖; PIE *t‟reis, Arm. erek‟, Gk. treis, ―three‖.

The reconstruction of Proto-Armenian being very uncertain, there is no general consensus on the date range when it might have been alive. If Herodotus is correct in deriving Armenians from Phrygian stock, the Armenian-Phrygian split would probably date to between roughly the 12th and 7th centuries BC, but the individual sound-laws leading to Proto-Armenian may have occurred at any time preceding the 5th century AD."

Finally:

"Grammatically, early forms of Armenian had much in common with classical Greek and Latin, but the modern language (like Modern Greek) has undergone many transformations."

In the "Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture", by J. P. Mallory, Douglas Q. Adams, we read that:

"Only Armenian, Greek and Indo-Iranian show clear traces of the reconstructed PIE imperfect tense. Likewise, they, and Phrygian are the only IE languages to show the "augment" in past tense formations. Within the smaller group Armenian appears to be most closest allied with Greek showing a number of shared lexical items with it (i.g., Arm. Awelum "I increase" and Grk. ὀφέλλω "I increase" from *h3bhel- or Arm. siwn "column" and Grk. κίων "column" from something like *kijon). (page29)

The ancient Greeks, and not just Herodotus, were actually very much aware of the linguistic and ethnic connection between the Armenians and the Phrygians and of the affinity of the Phrygian language to Greek, even if they did not always have the right linguistic tools to analyze these relationships. In Stephanos Byzantios´ dictionary we read under the lemma Armenia / Αρμενία what Εύδοξος / Eudoxos mentions about the Armenians:

Αρμένιοι δε το μεν γένος εκ Φρυγείας και τη φωνή πολλά Φρυγίζουσι

Armenioi de to men genos ek Phrygias kai tei phonei polla Phrygizousi

As for the Armenians they are by ethnic descent from Phrygia and in language very Phrygian

(Στέφανος Βυζαντιος / Stephanos Byzantios, quoting Εύδοξος / Eudoxos)

Indeed, as Igor Diakonoff tells us:

"...the Phrygian and Armenian sounded so strikingly similar to the Greek observers".

To any hypothetic connection between the ancient Armenians and the Phrygians to the Slavs, for which the infamous falsifiers of history from Skopje are so certain about, the ancient Armenians would emphatically answer:

OCH' !...No, Not!

The Phrygians would also answer:

OFKE ! Ovke...Not!

While the ancient Macedonians, along with the other Greeks would answer :

OYXI! Ouchi...No, Not!

And the Modern Greeks will say :

OXI! Ochi...No!

I suppose the Slavonic answer would simply be Nyet, Ni, Ne, Nie...!

As for the supposed imaginary connection between the Mushki, both, the Western Mushki, the Phrygians and the Eastern Mushki, the early Proto-Armenians, to the Slavo-Bugarski - speaking inhabitants of modern FYROM, in Skopje, Igor Diakonoff, a Russian, a Slav himself, but a world class scholar, not some provincial Skopjan charlatan, is once again assuring us that:

"...Proto-Armenian did not belong to the Anatolian (Hittito-Luwian), Indo-Iranian, or, e.g., the Slavonic branch of Indo-European, since the phonetic changes in comparison with reconstructed Proto-Indo-European which are peculiar to Old Armenian are different from those in all of these branches."

Having uncovered the ethnic and linguistic connections between the Proto Armenian Eastern Mushki and their ethnic and linguistic brethren, the western Mushki, the Phrygians, and having explored the chronologically distant but linguistically and grammatically close connections of Armenian to Greek, it is time for us to explore the connections between Phrygian and Greek.

While the Phrygians have been attested in central Anatolia since about 1165 and we hear of the battles of the Assyrians with the Mushki around 1125, the first written documents in the Phrygian language come to us in the form of the Paleo-Phrygian inscriptions, most of which are from the 8th century to about the 6th, though they continue to the time of Alexander the Great.

In the same way that Hurrian and Urartian vocabulary entered Old Armenian as a substratum base through a period of bilingualism and helped create the Armenian language (which was also later augmented by Persian, Parthian and Coine and Byzantine Greek loanwords), the Phrygian language likewise absorbed many words from the Anatolian languages from the areas into which it spread.

This is confirmed by Claude Brixhe, the French historical linguist most immersed in the Phrygian language, who tells us that:

"Phrygian shares several isoglosses with the Anatolian Indo-European languages;"

But as in any other language, loanwords do not determine the essence of a language. Claude Brixhe has no doubts about the fundamental nature of the Phrygian language:

"Unquestionably, however, Phrygian is most closely linked with Greek."

Isoglosses of Phrygian and Greek include the relative pronoun yos/ios/ιος, the aorist augment e/ε, the stem pant- / παντα, the –s/-ς ending of the nominative singular in masculine names, the denominative verbs built on o- stems (Greek κακόω / paleo-Phrygian κακοιοι), the participial suffix –meno, the pronoun αυτο/auto, the stem κακο- / kako-, the conjunction ai/αι, in the same usage as in Doric and Aeolic αι, and others."

"These features" according to Claude Brixhe "betray very close prehistoric ties between the two languages, Phrygian and Greek, as well as the fact that they belong, no doubt, to the same dialectal subgroup of early Indo-European."

Phrygian, from "The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor", Cambridge University Press, Edited by Roger Woodard

The extensive common vocabulary between Greek and Phrygian did not in fact go unnoticed by the ancient Greeks. This is how Plato narrates Socrates´ conversation with Ermogenes / Ἑρμογένης in Cratylus / Kρατύλος:

Σωκράτης ὅρα τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα τὸ "πῦρ" μή τι βαρβαρικὸν ᾖ. τοῦτο γὰρ οὔτε ῥᾴδιον προσάψαι ἐστὶν Ἑλληνικῇ φωνῇ, φανεροί τ᾽ εἰσὶν οὕτως αὐτὸ καλοῦντες Φρύγες σμικρόν τι παρακλίνοντες: καὶ τό γε "ὕδωρ" καὶ τὰς "κύνας" καὶ ἄλλα πολλά.

Πλάτωνος Kρατύλος ή «Περί ονομάτων ορθότητος» [410α]

Socrates Well then, consider whether this "pur"(fire) is not foreign; for the word is not easily brought into relation with the Hellenic tongue, and the Phrygians may be observed to have the same word slightly changed, just as they have "hudor"(water) and "kunes" (dogs), and many other words.

Cratylus, Plato [410α] (Translated by Benjamin Jowett)

"πῦρ"/ "pur"(fire) ,

"ὕδωρ"/ "hudor"(water),

"κύνας"/ "kunas" (dogs),

"καὶ ἄλλα πολλά " / kai alla polla (and many other words),

The Greeks of Plato´s day, in the 5th c.BC, fully seven centuries after the Bryges - Phryges – Mushki had left Macedonia for Asia Minor, instinctively recognized that their language, indeed the very distant from Phrygian dialect of Attic Greek, still had a multitude of everyday words in common with the language of the Phrygians. Despite this recognition of similarity in their languages and lacking the linguistic tools of today, they assumed that these words were simply "barbarian" loanwords into Greek.

Were the Greeks mistaken in recognizing this linguistic similarity? Is the French linguist Claude Brixhe (arguablyr the most authoritative Phrygian scholar alive) a lone voice in believing that Greek and Phrygian are sister languages? Let us hear what a Russian scholar, Vladimir Orel had to say on this subject:

"The comparative data, both etymologies and the historical grammar of Phrygian, demonstrate the existence of close links between Phrygian and Greek. In fact, Phrygian and Greek must be described as parts of a taxonomic subgroup within the larger branch of southern Indo-European languages, including Armenian and Indo-Iranian."

Who is Vladimir Orel? He is the man that wrote the book on the subject:

"The language of the Phrygians" – Description and Analysis, in the series of "Anatolian and Caucasian Studies", Delmar, NY, 1997

I think this is all best demonstrated once we read a few inscriptions in Paleo-Phrygian. Then the similarities and affinity of the language of the Phrygians to either Greek or (as our friends from Skopje claim) to south Slavic will become apparent. Following below is inscription #2 from the city of Midas, known to archaeologists as Phrygian inscription "M-02":

Inscription: 2

Line: 1

bba : memevais : proitavo[s]

ΒΒΑ : ΜΕΜΕFΑΙΣ : ΠΡΟΙΤΑFΟ[Σ]

Line: 2

kcianaveyos : akaragayun

Κ!ΙΑΝΑFΕJΟΣ ΑKΑΡΑΓΑJΥN

Line: 3

edaes

ΕΔΑΕΣ

Commentary (My note, M.B.: all commentaries and explanations, unless otherwise indicated, are by professor Vladimir Orel, taken from his book sited above)

ΒΒΑ

Baba, nominative, singular, masculine a- stem. Proper name of the late Anatolian type. Reference: Bithynian Βαβας, Lydian Βαβας, Carian Βαβης, Pisidian Βαβις. Note also Thracian Βάβας.

ΜΕΜΕFΑΙΣ

memevais, nominative, singular, masculine ai- stem"councelor" (?): a title of Baba. Another form in –evais (see reference arkiaevais in M-01a, where: «–evais is probably connected with with Greek derivatives in –εὐς»). No certain etymology has been suggested but it is perhaps connected with Hittite mema- "speak, recite, read aloud, report", memijan- "word(s)".

On the other hand note Late Anatolian names: Pisidian Μεμμας Μεμουα. The later may go back to *memawa.

ΠΡΟΙΤΑFΟ[Σ]

proitavo[s], nominative, singular, masculine, o –stem "leader, chief" (?). Derivative in –avo- (reference akenanogavos in M-01a, where –avo- (cf Greek -αός ?) based on pro-it- "preceding", a prefixal formation connected with IE *ei- "go, walk", or more exactly with *i-to-, cf Greek ἰτός "passable" and its derivatives (ἐξιτός and the like).

Κ!ΙΑΝΑFΕJΟΣ

Kτianaveyos, nominative, singular, masculine, adjective, o-stem "Tyanian"(?). The word in question is a derivative in -eyo- of ktianava- (with a secondary glide –y-) that could be identified with the name of an East Phrygian city of Tyana: Greek Τύανα =Anatolian Tuwanuwa = Akkadian Tuhana. Ktianaveyos seems to be an ethnic or geographic name.

ΑKΑΡΑΓΑJΥN

akaragayun, nominative, singular, masculine, o-stem "altar". The ending –un < *-on reflects a sporadic Old Phrygian narrowing of unstressed vowels before a nasal. As in comparison with M-01b shows, akaragayo- belongs to the same semantic field as keneman-. The word akaragayo- appears to be a compound consisting of , akaraga- that may be identified with Greek άκαρος / (akaros) σημαίνει τον εγκέφαλον ή την κεφαλήν (means the brain, or the head), (Et. Magn. 45.13) and gaio-, probably, to be compared with Greek –γαιος as a second part of composites derived from γαία "earth". Thus, the possible source of this term may have meant something like "earth head" or "earth mount".

ΕΔΑΕΣ

edaes, 3 singular, aorist, trans. Verb "dedicative". A sigmatic form nased on the zero-grade or on the full grade of IE *dhe- "put". An alternative etymology deriving edaes from IE *do- "give" is less probable. (My note, M.B.: edaes is therefore related to έθεσεν/ethesen more probably that to έδωσεν/edosen, despite the later's similarity)

The dedicator is the same person as in inscription M-01b. the text says:

"B(a)ba, the councelor (?) and the leader (from) Tyana (?) has dedicated this altar(?)".

As it becomes apparent, in order to translate Old Phrygian, modern scholars, including Vladimir Orel in this case, need to know Anatolian place and proper names, which the Phrygians adopted in their new homeland, in Asia Minor, on one hand, and Greek linguistic roots, with which Phrygian shares a common source, on the other.

To bring this point home even further, I decided to bring to the reader one more Phrygian inscription, this one much later than the one above, from the 2nd cBC. By this time it had been a thousand years since the Phrygians had left Macedonia and lost contact with their Greek speaking distant linguistic cousins. This inscription is from Western Phrygia, and in Vladimir Orel´s "The language of Phrygians" book it is inscription W*-21, while in the on line Titus website of Phrygian inscriptions it is Inscription #15

http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/phrygian/phryg216.htm

Inscription: 15

Line: 1

kseunE tan eiksa. ups.o/dan protuss[.]stam/e.nan mankan ami./a.sianioi anar doruka[nos...]

ΞΕΥΝΗ ΤΑΝ ΕΙΞΑ. ΥΨ.Ο/ΔΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΥΣΣ[.]ΣΤΑΜ/Ε.ΝΑΝ ΜΑΝΚΑΝ ΑΜΙ./Α.ΣΙΑΝΙΟΙ ΑΝΑΡ ΔΟΡΥΚΑ[ΝΟΣ...]

ξευνη ταν ειξ(α) υψο

δαν προτυσσ[ε]σταμ

εναν μανκαν αμ(ι)

(α)ς ιαν ιοι αναρ δορυκα[νος...]

Commentary

ΞΕΥΝΗ

ξευνη / kseunE, dative, singular, feminine, a-stem(?). A proper name. Besides Phrygian forms (also in numerous Greek inscriptions), a Galatian name Ξευνα is also attested. The comparison with Lithuanian kiaune "weasel" < keynje is groundless. An alternative etymology may be suggested linking ξευνη to Greek ξένος "host, stranger", feminine ξένη < *ξένFος, *ξένFα. Note various proper names derived from ξένος as, for instance Ξενέας, Ξένειος, Ξένων, etc. Thus, assuming that in Phrygian *-nu- changed to *-un- (no contradictory data are known), Ξευνη is derived from an earlier *ksenua.

ΤΑΝ

ταν / tan, accusative, singular, feminine, demonstrative pronoun

(My note- MEB: ταν/tan is identical to Doric ταν/tan. See Spartan: ή τάν ή επί τάς / i tan i epi tas. Attic, Coine and Modern Greek: την/tin)

ΕΙΞΑ

ειξ(α) / eiksa, adverb, "later, afterwards". The sourse of this form seems to be Greek ἐξής "in one line, successively, one after another", or, rather its supposed source *εξα.As the Greek adverb may have a temporal meaning, in our case, with a single object (see μανκαν), ειξα may be interpreted as referring to some later addition to the originally established tombstone.

ΥΨ.Ο/ΔΑΝ

υψοδαν/upsodan, adverb, "above, on the top". This form is identical with Greek *υψοθα, a form in –θα, parallel to the attested ύψόθεν. As -θα appears to go back to *dhn, the comparison seems to be fairly accurate.

ΠΡΟΤΥΣΣ[.]ΣΤΑΜΕΝΑΝ

προτυσσ(ε)σταμεναν / protuss[.]stam/e.nan, accusative, singular, med. participle, "set, located, established". The form consists of a proverb (or autonomous adverb ?) προτυ / protu and a usual reduplicated participle of sta- "put, stand"…The proverb is undoubtedly connected with Greek (Homeric) προτί / proti, skt prati.

ΜΑΝΚΑΝ

μανκαν / mankan, accusative, singular, a-stem "part of monument". Taking into account that Φρύγες μέχρι νύν τα λαμπρά και θαυμαστά των έργων μανικά καλούσιν (Plutarch, Is. U. Os. 24.360), we may assume that μανκα- results from a syncope of manika-. Its further etymological connection with *men- "remember, think" cannot be excluded.

ΑΜΙΑΣ

Αμιας / amias, nominative, singular, masculine, a-stem. A proper name of late Anatolian type, cf Lydian Αμιας, Αμμιας, Carrian Αμιας, Αμμιας, Myssian Αμμιας.

ΙΑΝ

ιαν / ian, accusative, singular, feminine, dem., pronoun. A form of yo- ("which, that, who". Connected with IE relative pronoun *io-s: Skt ya-, Av yo, Greek ὃς). (My note MEB: in Coine Greek in Ioannes Stobaeos Anthologion (Ανθολόγιον, Ιωάννης from Στόβοι /Stobi): η σωφροσύνη, ήν και οι πολλοί ονομάζουσι σωφροσύνην)

ΙΟΙ

ιοι / ioi, dative, singular, masculine, demonstrative pronoun A form of yo- ("which, that, who". Connected with IE relative pronoun *io-s: Skt ya-, Av yo, Greek ὁς). The hypothesis of ioi being feminine is farfetched. (My note MEB: in Coine Greek in the bible: ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν• Mark 8:35)

ΑΝΑΡ

aναρ / anar, nominative, cons. Stem "husband". Etymologically identical with Greek ἀνήρ / aner, Armenian ayr. (My note MEB: ἀνήρ / aner, "husband, man" genitive: andros / ανδρος is also the word behind the name Andreas / Ανδρεας, Andrew).

ΔΟΡΥΚΑΝΟΣ

δορυκανος / dorykanos, noun singular, o-stem. A proper name appearing as Δορυκανος, dative Δορυκανωι in Greek inscription in Phrygia. A compound with Phrygian or Greek δορυ-/dory- as the first element. As to the second element, it could be tentatively compounred with Greek καινός /kainos < *κανjος (My note MEB: καινός /kainos means "new", as in Καινή Διαθήκη /Kaine Diatheke = New Testament ).

"The text," Vladimir Orel tells us, "is unfinished. Its meaning, however, is securely established:"

"Afterwards, for Xeuna, Amias (put) on the top this part of the monument which (her husband Dorykanos ga(gave or ordered) him.

This is Vladimir Orel´s Translation. A translation from the Phrygian that would be impossible unless the translator had a deep knowledge of the Greek language, since, as it becomes apparent, Phrygian was at some point (from roughly 2500BC to 2000 BC) the same language as Greek and then it started splitting from it as most Greeks, starting with the Achaeans, pushed further south into the Hellenic peninsula, leaving some of their kin further up, in areas of what is now southern Serbia, Kossovo. Subsequently they were pushed once again further south, into what is now FYROM-Skopje and, later, Macedonia. At some point, possibly pushed by other neighbors from the north, they left Macedonia and moved further east , initially into Thrace and then into Asia Minor. This was about eight hundred years after their initial split from the other Hellenic tribes, or shortly after 1200BC. By then, their linguistic paths with the other Greeks were completely split into separate directions. It took Alexander and his capture of Phrygia (cutting the "Gordian knot" being the most memorable moment of his passing through Phrygia), along with the rest of Asia, for Greeks and Phrygians to re-unite once again.

Since the Gordian knot is mentioned, I think it is wise to say a few words about Gordion, the historic capital of the Phrygians. Because of its similarity with the Slavic wird Gorod, with which it obviously shares a common linguistic root, both Phrygian and Slavonic being of the same broad Indo-European family, the Skopjans try to make a case for Slavonic Phrygians. One shallow does not bring the spring, say the Greeks and one or two cognates, common with othger languages does not make such an Historically unsupported case. Let us read what Stephanos Byzantios says about Gordion:

"Γορδίειον, πόλις της μεγάλης Φρυγείας προς τηι Καππαδοκίαι, από Γορδίου του πατρός Μίδου. το εθνικόν Γορδιεύς, ώς Κοτιάειον Κοτιεύς, Δορυλάειον Δορυλεύς..."

Στέφανος Βυζάντιος

"Gordieion, city of the Greater Phrygia towards Cappadocia, from Gordios, father of Midas. the ethnic name is Gordieus, as in Kotiaeion (present Kutahya, my note: MB) Kotieus, Dorylaeion (Present Eskişehir, my note: MB) Doryleus..."

Stephanos Byzantios

But then, he continues with more lemmata, like Gordiou Teichos, in Thrace, which Stephanos Byzantios clearly identifies as a Phrygian establishment:

Γορδίου τείχος, πόλις...Μίδου κτίσμα, του παιδός Γορδίου. ο πολίτης Γορδιοτειχίτης.»

Gordiou teichos, city…Midas´ foundation, the son of Gordios. The citizen is called Gordioteicheitis."

Then there is a Gordynia/Γορδυνία, in Macedonia, which the Yugoslavian-Greek professor Fanoula Papazoglou identified in 1988 with modern Gevgeli (Гевгелија - Γευγελή), on the Greco-Yugoslavian border:

"Γορδυνία, πόλις Μακεδονίας, το εθνικόν Γορδυνιάτης

Gordynia, city of Macedonia, the ethnic (citizen's name) Gordyniates

Then there is also a province Gortynia/Γορτυνία, and a municipality named Γόρτυνα / Gortyna even today, in Arcadia, in Central Peloponnese and cities named Gortyn/Γόρτυν in Thessaly, in Crete, etc.

"Γόρτυν, πόλις Κρήτης. Ούτω δε διά του ν. Από ήρωος Γόρτυος. Εκαλείτο δε και Λάρισσα. Πρότερον γάρ εκαλείτο Ελλωτίς (ούτω γάρ παρά Κρησίν η Ευρώπη), είτα Λάρισσα, είτα Κρημνία και ύστερον Γόρτυς. Φασί δέ τήν αιτιατικήν οι μέν δισυλλάβως Γόρτυν, οι δέ τρισυλλάβως «Γόρτυνά τε τοιχειόεσσαν» οι δέ Γόρτυναν ώς άμυναν"

"Gortyn, city of Crete, so called because of Gortys, the hero. Such was also called Larissa (in Thessaly, central Greece, my note: MB). Earlier it was called Ellotis (since this was the name of the Cretans for Europe). then Larissa, then Cremnia and later yet Gortys. Some say that in accusative it was bisyllabic, Gortys, while others insist it was trisyllabic "Gortyna te teicheioessan/ and Gortyna the high walled" and still others Gortyna, as in defence."

I stress the last sentence:

"...οι δέ Γόρτυναν ώς άμυναν"

"...and still others (call it) Gortyna, as in defence."

Gortys-Gortyna, as we can see is indeed a Phrygian-Greek isogloss that meant a "a city surrounded by wall", i.e. "a well defensible city". So much for the presence of Slavs in ancient central Anatolia, or ancient Crete and ancient Peloponnese, for that matter.

Alexander's passing through Phrygia and its eventual incorporation into the Seleukid empire shortly afterward, quickly led to the Phrygian´s complete Hellenization, a process that was completed in the first centuries of the Christian era, leading into Byzantium.

Yet, despite this, there are people, like the Skopje government´s mouthpiece by the name of Aleksandar Donski, who twist accepted history and arbitrarily claim that the Phrygians were somehow "Slavic" in speech, and, in some way or another, related to the modern Slavonic speakers of the Vardarska region, in FYROM. Aleksandar Donski goes indeed as far as to claim that:

"Their king was called Mita a name which remains unchanged in a number of "Slavic" languages."

Who was Mita?

We will read a section from Igor Diakonoff´s book "The Pre-history of the Armenian People" (in the original Russian: Игорь Михайлович Дьяконов, Предыстория армянского народа). It is from the chapter "The History of the Armenian Highlands in the Middle Bronze and Early Iron Ages" where I. Diakonoff is speaking of the Assyrian advance into Anatolia, from the middle of the 8th Century to the middle of the 7th Century B.C.

"The right shore of the Upper Euphrates valley also remained independent for a while. However Sargon II now tried to drive a wedge between Urartu and Phrygia (Western Mushki), whose king Midas (Mita) became an ally of Rusa I and later apparently of his successor, Argishti II. Assyria needed such a wedge in the Cilician Taurus Mountains and on the right shore of the Upper Euphrates [89] to safeguard the Assyrian possessions in Syria and the uninterrupted conveyance into Assyria of iron and other raw materials from Asia Minor. Therefore Sargon II decided to undertake a series of campaigns into this province. They began in 718 B.C.,243 and in 715 Sargon II collided in Que with the forces of Midas, the king of Phrygia (Mita, the king of Mushku), who obviously had undertaken a counteroffensive."

One curious thing is that Professor Diakonoff is using parenthesis when he speaks of the "Mushki" (Western Mushki) and "Mita" (Mita) or (Mita, the king of Mushku), but he does not use parenthesis when he calls them "Midas" and "Phrygia". As we explained earlier above, the name Mushki and Mushku meant "Mysians" and it was the name by which the Phrygians were known to the Assyrians (and also to other Anatolian people), hence Diakonoff´s parentheses. The Phrygians preferred to call themselves Βρύγες / Bruges, which the Greeks pronounced as Φρύγες / Phryges. The name of their most famous king was likewise not Mita either. Aleksandar Donski might pride in the fact that"Mita" is "a name which remains unchanged in a number of "Slavic" languages." But this was simply the name by which he was known to the Assyrians and to other Anatolian neighbors of the Phrygians, and this happens to be the name which we find written in the Assyrian documents. This is why Igor Diakonoff puts it in parentheses.

The Greeks knew him as Μίδας / Midas. He was famous for his legendary wealth and riches. Dionysos, it was said being in his Midas´ debt for having hosted Selinus in his palace, when he found him drunk and witless, so he gave him the choice of a wish he could have granted by the God, and Midas asked for what we now know as the Midas touch: to make gold out of everything he touched. Soon, of course he realized his folly when food and water and his own daughter turned into gold upon his touch. Midas had to wash off in the river Pactolos to shed his Golden touch. Even today, Greeks still say that someone has a "Pactolos of money" when speaking of someone very wealthy.Midas was also known for another folly of his. Having chosen Pan and not Apollo as the better musician in a contest, he earned for himself the wreath of Phaebos Apollo and two donkey ears to show for it, just so as to remember to be more careful next time and to listen more attentively – hence the bigger ears. Embarrassed, Midas covered his ears into a Turban, revealing it only o his barber. The barber, unable to break his oath of secrecy about the king´s ears, dud a hole and told his secret to the ground. Then he covered it.Reeds grew on top of that ground and when the wind blew, the wreaths were saying: Μίδας έχει ώτα όνου / Midas ehei oota onou /Midas has donkey´s ears!

Midas!…Not Mita!

His real name in his own language, Phrygian, was indeed Μιδας / Midas, not "Mita"! How do we know? The stones, once again, they speak. Phrygian inscriptions come to truth´s rescue. Here is one:

From Midas-city

Inscription: 1dI

Line: 1

midas

ΜΙΔΑΣ

It is in fact as straightforward as it can get! ΜΙΔΑΣ / MIDAS !

ΜΙΔΑΣ / MIDAS, masculine, a-stem. Proper name, identified with the name of the Phrygian king Μίδας, Ionian Μίδης (Herodotus .14), of late Anatolian origin, cf. Hittite Mita.

Roman era Phrygian coin

Hence the burning question arises: Were the Hittites Bugarski-speaking, Skopjan Slavs too? I am only asking because the last time I checked, the Turks were claiming the (most definitely not Altao-Turkic but Indo-European) Hittites as their ancestors…And since we mentioned the Turks, their capital Ankara is a Phrygian city. The Greeks call it Άγκυρα /Ancyra, meaning "anchor" and this is what the Phrygians call it too. We know that there was a temple of Apollo in Ancyra with a curious relic inside it, a stone anchor, a religious relic that gave its name to the new foundation when that city was built, so we know that Ancyra meant anchor in Phrygian too, not only in Greek. This makes for one more Greek-Phrygian isogloss, in other words, indeed the most famous one today.

And since the conversation brought Midas into the Greek-Phrygian isoglosses issue, let us read the most celebrated of all the Phrygian inscriptions, the one inscribed outside the tomb of King Midas himself!:

From Midas-city

Inscription: 1a

Line: 1

ates : arkiaevais : akenanogavos : midai : lavagtaei : vanaktei : edaes

ΑΤΕΣ : ΑΡΚΙΑΕFΑΙΣ : ΑΚΕΝΑΝΟΓΑFΟΣ : ΜΙΔΑΙ : ΛΑFΑΓΤΑΕΙ : FΑΝΑΚΤΕΙ : ΕΔΑΕΣ

With Vladimir Orel as our teacher, and his monumental work in "The language of the Phrygians" as our guide, let us walk through this sentence, word after word.

Commentary:

ΑΤΕΣ ates, nominative, singular, masculine, e-stem. Proper name of the late Anatollian type.

ΑΡΚΙΑΕFΑΙΣ arkiaevais, nominative, singular, masculine ai-stem "senior official, archont" (?). hardly a part of an onomastic formula. The word belongs to the group of formations in –evais (probably, connected with Greek derivatives in -εύς). Its root arki-, may be tentatively connected with Greek άρχω "be first, begin" and "order, command" in the military sense of the word. Note that in compounds the Greek stem has a morphological variant ἀρχι (…).(My note MB: Modern Greek αρχιγεύων/archigevon = leading person. Also similar but with altered meaning: αρχιερεύς/archiereus = chief priest)

ΑΚΕΝΑΝΟΓΑFΟΣ akenanogavos, nominative, singular, masculine, o-stem "senior official, keeper of monuments". The second title of Ates, this is a compound consisting of two elements: aken- " monument" and anogavo-, a derivative formed by the suffix -avo- (cf. Greek -αός?) from a verbal stem anog(a)- compared with Greek άνωγα / anoga (epic perfect), ανώγω / anogo (secondary present) "order, request". (…). As to the social function of akenanogavos, cf. similar institutions and terms are attested in Lycian A and B.

ΜΙΔΑΙ midai, dative, singular, masculine, a-stem. Proper name well attested as belonging to Phrygian king Μίδας, Ionian Μίδης (Herodotus .14), and belonging to the late Anatolian origin. It must have been a dynastic name of Phrygian kings. As such, it may be identified with Hittite Mita.

ΛΑFΑΓΤΑΕΙ lavagtaei, dative, singular, a-stem, "chief, military chief". Quite probably, spelled mistakenly as lavagtai instead of lavagetai by the engraver. Title of Midas, identical with the Greek compound λαγέτας, Mycenaean ra-wa-ke-ta = λαFαγέτας (chief of the people). The Phrygian form does not seem to be borrowed from Greek, and may be considered as a part of a Graeco-Phrygian inherited vocabulary. (My note, MEB: In Linear B script, Mycenaean Greek: ���������� ra-wa-ke-ta λαFαγέτας. λαός/laos = people (in Homeric times : people under arms) + ηγέτης /hegetes = leader, and also Modern Greek: λαοηγέτης/laoegetes = people´s leader.)

FΑΝΑΚΤΕΙ vanaktei, dative, singular, masculine, consonated stem "lord, master, sire". To be compared with Greek άναξ / anaks "lord, master, sire" (with initial F- preserved in dialects and reflected in Homeric texts), Mycenaean wa-na-ka. Phrygian vanak- is not necessarily a Greek loanword. (My note, MEB: Ιn Mycenaean Linear B: ������ wa-na-ka Fάναξ. άναξ/anax άνακτος/anaktos, and modern Greek ανάκτορον/anaktoro = royal palace)

ΕΔΑΕΣ edaes, 3 singular, aorist, trans. Verb "dedicative". A sigmatic form nased on the zero-grade or on the full grade of IE *dhe- "put". An alternative etymology deriving edaes from IE *do- "give" is less probable.

The general meaning is as follows: "Attes, the senior official (and) the keeper of monuments, dedicated (this) to Midas, the (military) chief and the lord".

"The odds are that Midas´ titulature in M-01a, Midai lavagtai vanaktei, where appear two functions that are also found in the Mycenaean Greek documents (lawagetas and wanax), does not correspond to Greek borrowings, but rather reflects the existence of a common heritage",

is what the French linguist Claude Brixhe, the most authoritative scholar of the Phrygian language tells us in the chapter "Phrygian", in "The Languages of Asia Minor", published by the Cambridge University Press.

This statement is in fact quite easy to demonstrate. If someone were to translate the Midas tomb inscription in Modern Greek, so that even a grade school Greek child could read and understand it, yet still using essentially the same words as those which appear in the Phrygian text (ΑΚΕΝΑΝΟΓΑFΟΣ being the only one hard to translate in this case) the translation would have to be as follows:

(I am using capital letters to make the point more apparent to the non Greek-speaking reader)

ΑΤΕΣ : ΑΡΚΙΑΕFΑΙΣ : ΑΚΕΝΑΝΟΓΑFΟΣ : ΜΙΔΑΙ : ΛΑFΑΓΤΑΕΙ : FΑΝΑΚΤΕΙ : ΕΔΑΕΣ

ΑΤΗΣ, ΑΡΧΙΓΕΥΩΝ & ΚΤΗΜΑΤΟYXOΣ, εις ΜΙΔΑN ΛΑΟΗΓΕΤΗN & ΑΝΑΚΤΑ ΕΔΩΣΕN

ΑΡΧΙΓΕΥΩΝ can also be replaced with ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΥΣ and ΕΔΩΣΕN with ΕΘΕΣΕΝ (probably more proper anyway)

This, I need to repeat, is an inscription 2800 years removed from the modern Greek speaker, written in a foreign and ancient language that was broken off the main Hellenic language corpus about four to dour and a half thousand years ago (4000-4500), yet, using essentially the same words, albeit slightly altered, a modern Greek can still make perfect sense out of its text! If this is not amazing, I do not know what is…!

"Phrygian shares more features with Greek that with any other IE language, a few of which are further shared by Armenian and Indo-Iranian. On the basis of such similarities, a subgroup consisting of Greek, Phrygian, Armenian and Indo-Iranian has been suggested." says Benjamin. W. Fortson in "Indo-European language and culture". And O. Mason in "The Cambridge Ancient History" concludes that "the shared elements between Greek and Phrygian are of greater interest these include isoglosses…such as the participial suffix -meno-, the pronoun auto-, and the stem kako- "bad" (which cannot have been borrowed from Greek, as it forms a verb in Paleo-Phrygian), etc. These features reveal close pre-historic links between the two languages: do they arise from mere geographic proximity or from the fact that Greek and Phrygian belong to the same Indo-European branch? It is by no means impossible that we shall one day be able to speak of "Greco-Phrygian".

Enough has been said for now, I suppose, for that "Brygian tribe, the "Mushki", who lived in the 9th century before Christ, and whose name is identical to the noun "mushki" (men), which exists in other "Slavic" languages" and their king who "was called Mita a name which remains unchanged in a number of "Slavic" languages."

APPENDIX:

EXAMPLES OF GREEK AND PHRYGIAN GRAMMAR, ILLUSTRATING COMMON INNOVATIONS:

Adjective: Kakos (bad)

LANG.: Phrygian ~ Greek

Nom. KAKOS ~ KAKOS

Gen. KAKOYO ~ KAKOY

Dat. KAKOI ~ KAKOI

Acc. KAKON ~ KAKON

Noun: Appelan ~ Apollon

LANG.: Phrygian ~ Ionian Greek ~ Doric Greek

Nom. APELLAN ~ APOLLON ~ APELLON

Gen. APELLANOS ~ APOLLONOS ~ APELLONOS

Dat. APELLANEI ~ APOLLONI ~ APELLONI

Acc. APELLANAN ~ APOLLONA ~ APELLONA

PHRYGIAN GLOSSARY WITH LEXICAL COGNATES IN MODERN GREEK

What is the point of comparing Phrygian with Modern Greek

and finding cognates between the two languages?

Simply because I find it amazing that someone who lives

in Greece today, can still understand so many words from

the now dead language of a bronze age people, being at least

4000 years apart since the last time Greeks and Phrygians

could easily communicate in the same tongue.

FOUR thousand years!

Caution to Donski's pseudo-makedonians: DO NOT try this at home!

PHRYGIAN / Ancient Greek = Transtlation / Modern Greek usage

AGLAVO- / aglao-s = Brilliant / Aglaia - proper name

AKALO- / kalo-n = Beautifull / Kalos, kale, kalo

AKARAGAYO- / akar+gaio- = Mount (head) of earth / Akariaios, geologia

AKRAYO- / akraio-s = High, elevated / Akraios, akropoli

AKRODMA- / akrodme = Elevated (dome-structure) / Akrodomi, domikos

ANANKA / ananga, anangi = Need (loanword?) / Anangi

AN-EGER- / aneger- = Erect / Anegersis

ANAR- / aner- = Man, husband / Andras, Andreas

AP- / apo = From / Apo, apotheke

ARGO- / archo- = Beginning with / Arche, archontas

AS / eis = In/ Eis to, sto

AVTO- / auto- = Self- / Auto, autokinito

BEKOS / phogo = Bread, bake / Phagito

BROKION / brokion = Stupid / Blakas

DE / de = Emphatic particle / Kalos men achristos de

DEIK- / deik- = Show, indicate / Endeikneitai, anadeiksis

DEIMNO- / kre-demno-n = Building/battlement / Dema

DETO- / theto-s = Placed / Yotheto, topothetisi

DIE / die, dia = Through, at / Dia auto, diaphanes

DORUKANO- / dorukano-s = Young spear (man)/ Kainodoxia, doryphoros

EGER- / egeir-o = Erect / Egersi

EK-DA- / ekdosis = Give out / Ekdoseis

EKEI / ekei = There / Ekei

EKSA / ekses / Afterwards / Sto exis, ephexis

ETI / eti = Also / Eti kai eti

EUKA- / eucha- = wish, prayer / Eucharisto

EV- / eu- = Good / Eukolos

EV-MEM- / eumen-es = Benevolent / Eumenes

EVTEV-/ euthus = Straight / Euthus

GARIT- / charit-os =of glory, of devotion / Charitomeni

GONIO- / gonio- = Descending of / Gonios, gonikos

GONO / -gono-s = Descending of / Gonos, goneas

GRIB- / griph-asthai , grapho Inscribe, write / Grapho

KAI, KE / kai = And / Kai

KAKON / kakon = Bad / Kakos, kaki, kako

KTE- / kte-sis = Possession, establishment / Kataktesi, kataktetis

LAKE- / laki- = Tear to pieces Lakizo, lakise

LAVA- / lava-s, lao-s = People (in arms) / Laos, leophoreio

LAVAGETA- / lavagetas = Leader of the people Laoegetis

LEUKIO- / leukio-s = Bright white (borrowed?) / Leukos, leuki

LIK- / lei-po = Leave, being absent / Leipo

MAIMAREO- / marmareo-s = Of marble / Marmarou

MANI / menos (maniac) = Wrath / Maniakos, menos

MATERAN / meteran = Mother / Metera

MEYOMO- / meioma = Decrease / Meiosi, meiotikos

MEYON- / meion = Smaller / meion

MEKAS / megas = Big, great / Megas Alexandros, megalos

MIDAS / Midas = Hittite name: Mita / Midas ehei ota onou

MIKRO / micron = Small / Micros, mikri, mikro

MERAN / mera = Divide, share / Meirasia

MURO / moron = Imbecile, stupid / Moro, morophernei

NADROTO / androtes / Manly, strong / Andrikos

NEIVO / neios = Depth, deep earth / Peineios

NEKROYO / nekros = Dead / Nekros, nekri, nekrofora

ONOMAN- / onoma = Name / Onoma

OPAD- / opazo / Give, grant / Arpazo, diarpazo, synarpazo

OPITO / opiso = Back, behind / Piso, opiso, opisthen

ORBO- /orphanos = Orphan / Orphanos

ORO- / oros = Top/mountain top / Oros, oroseira

OV / ou = Not / Oudeis

OV KE / ou te = And not / Oute

PATER / pater = Father / Pater, pateras

MATER / meter or mater = Mother / Metera

PATRIO- / patrios = Kinsman, of paternal ancestors / Patrios, patrida, patriotis

POD- / pod-os = Related to foot, step / Podi, odos, epi podos

POLO- / pollo- = Multiple, many / Polla, pollaplos

PONT- / pontos = Sea / Pontos, pontios

POS / pos and pros = Towards / Pros

PROTI-STA / proti-sta = Set before everything else / Protista

PROTO- / proto- = First / Proto-

PUR- / para = For / Para

SO- / ho = This (masc.) / O (masculine article)

SORO- / soros = Sarcophagus / I soros tou nektou

TEKMAR- / tekmar-(tos) = Bordering / Tekmarto, tekmerio

TEN- / tein-o = Set, bring, stretch / Teino, antikteino

TIK- / tykos = Strike/chisel / Stiksis, stigma

TO- / to- = That/ To

TOTTI- / tossi- = So much / Tosos, tosi

TRAPEZA / trapeza = Table / Yrapezi, trapeza, trapezaria

UPSODAN- / upsothen = From above / Ypsothen, ypsos

URANIO- / uranio-= Heavenly / Ouranios, ourania

VANAK-T- / vanak-tos = Of the lord / Anaktoro, anaktorikos

VEIKON / eikon = Icon / Eikona, eikonisma

VELA- / eile & vela = Sun´s heat / Heliakos

VERGATEVO- / ergateuo = Work hard, toil / Ergatiko

VESTA- /(F)estia = Fire place, altar / Estia

VOIKA- / oik-os = Home / Oikonomia, katoikia

YO- / ho-s = Who, which / Opo-ios

ZEIRA- / phthora = Destruction / Phthora

ZEMELE / chthamale, Semele = Terrestrial , lowly / Chamelos, themelio, Semela, chamomele

Note: All the above glosses are taken from Vladimir Orel's book on Phrygian, "The language of the Phgrygians" as sited above. I selected words that would be easily understood by a modern Greek who has no knowledge of ancient Greek.]

FINAL NOTE -as an afterthought- ON A PHRYGIAN CITY IN NORTHERN GREECE:

There was an ancient Macedonian city named Ἔδεσσα (Édessa) in northern Mesopotamia, now part of Turkey, named Urfa. It was commemorated by Seleucus I Nicator in refounding a still more ancient city. It was founded by the Macedonians in memory of their old city also named Ἔδεσσα (Édessa), now in Central Macedonia, in northern Greece. The Macedonian Edessa is indeed a Phrygian foundation that was later conquered by the Macedonians. Its name been associated by modern scholars with the Phrygian word for water: βέδυ - bedu. Βέδυ is linguistically connected to the Greek word "hudor" Greek: ύδωρ , "water", from which other Greek words are derived: βίδρα / bidra = Otter (the water weasle), ίδρως / idros Greek for "sweat" and verb iδρώνω/idrono -ἰδρωσα/idrosa I sweat, I sweated. Ἔδεσσα (Édessa) means the "town of waters", due to its renowned river and waterfall and abundant water resources. In Greek it would be ΥΔΡΟΕΣΣΑ/Hudroessa, but the Greeks, kept the ancient, original Phrygian name. From Phrygian FΕΔΥ / Bedy > FΕΔΕΣΣΑ > Edessa > ΕΔΕΣΣΑ.

The Slavs who arrived into the lower Balkans by the 7th c AD named her Voden/Водьнъ, from voda, "water". It is mentioned in the 11th century as Vodena. Bulgarians and Slavomacedonians call it Воден / Voden. The Slavomacedonians claim that the proper "Macedonian" name of the city is Vodena, and deride the Greeks for "renaming" it with a Greek name after 1913. The truth of course lies elsewhere. The Greeks have actually kept the original ancient Macedonian name of the city which is of course (going further back from the 8th cBC and its capture by the Macedonians, through Byzantine and modern times), the name that its original settles, their cousins, the Phrygians had given it: FΕΔΕΣΣΑ, in Greek ΕΔΕΣΣΑ

Bibliography: 

GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICON – Liddel & Scott, Oxford University Press, 1843 - 1951 

PHRYGIAN - Diankonov & Neroznak, Caravam Book, NY, 1986

  

THE  LANGUAGE OF THE PHRYGIANS - Description and Analysis, Vladimir Orel, Caravan Books, NY, 1997  

THE ANCIENT  LANGUAGES  OF ASIA  MINOR - Edited by Roger D. Woodard, Cambridge University Press,2008 

THE  OXFORD  INTRODUCTION   TO   PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN AND  THE  PROTO-EUROPEAN WORLD – J.P.Mallory and D.Q. Adams, Oxford Linguistics, Oxford University Press, 2007