Anatolian languages, extinct Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages spoken inAnatolia from sometime in the 3rdmillenniumbce until the early centuries of the present era, when they were gradually supplanted. By the late 20th century the term was most commonly used to designate the so-called Anatolian group ofIndo-European languages:Hittite,Palaic, Cuneiform Luwian, Hieroglyphic Luwian (seeLuwian language),Lycian,Lydian,Carian, and possiblyPisidian andSidetic. Hittite, Palaic, and Cuneiform Luwian are known from 2nd-millenniumcuneiform texts found mainly in the ancient capital of theHittite empire, Hattusa, near the modern town of Boğazkale (formerlyBoğazköy), Tur. Hieroglyphic Luwian is found on seals and inscriptions from circa 1400 to about 700bce. Lydian, Lycian, and Carian are known from texts in alphabetic script from circa 600 to perhaps 300bce. Although there is evidence enough to suggest that they belong to the Anatolian group, Sidetic (c. 300–100bce) and Pisidian (c. 1–200ce) are very poorlyattested languages.

Historical background of ancient Anatolia

The earliest non-Indo-European texts—and the oldest textual evidence from Anatolia—are the so-called Cappadocian tablets (2000–1735bce), cuneiform documents kept by the merchants of central Anatolia. They are written in one of theSemitic languages, Old Assyrian, and mainly stem from trading centres such as the ancient city of Nesha (also known as Kanesh; nowKültepe, Tur.).

It is customarily assumed that the Indo-Europeans entered Anatolia sometime in the 3rd millennium, although there are no specific archaeological data that might enable scholars to identify more closely the period of entry or the route the invaders followed.Hattian (or Hattic) was the substratumlanguage spoken in central and northern Anatolia before the entry of the Indo-European Hittites. Allextant Hattian texts have been found in Hittite archives. Hattian is completely unrelated to Hittite and its sister languages as well as toHurrian, a language also spoken in Anatolia but originally from the east. In theCaucasus region that centres onLake Van, Hurrian of the 3rd and 2nd millenniabce was replaced by the relatedUrartian language in the 1st millennium. However, the latter should not be considered a direct continuation of Hurrian. Hattian, Hurrian, and Urartian are all non-Indo-European.

Although the Hattian and Hurrian peoples did influence Hittiteculture, their contributions to the Hittite language were mostly limited to terms for local flora, fauna, and a few other categories. Comparisons of Hittite agricultural terms and those of other Indo-European subgroups indicate that the “Anatolians” seceded from the parent group before the creation of a common agriculturalnomenclature but after the onset of a common Indo-European notion of thehereafter, pictured as a pastureland with grazing cattle “for which the dead king sets out.” This suggests that the Indo-European forebears of the later speakers of Hittite, Palaic, and Luwian, as well as those of minor members of this group, entered Anatolia together, following a common route, as the Anatolian languages share a considerable number of losses as well asinnovations that presuppose a long common past.

In the central parts of Anatolia, within the bend of the Halys River (now called theKızıl River), and in the northern regions, Hittite and Palaic were influenced by Hattian as a substratum language. The Hattian culture also influenced the political and religious concepts of the newcomers, and a clear cultural dependency of the Indo-Europeans on the older Hattian population is evident. Some scholars have stressed the likelihood that farther to the south theLuwians might have beenconversant with a different substratum language. In view of the absence of textual evidence and because knowledge of the Luwian vocabulary is rather restricted, it is perhaps not surprising that this possible substratum element escapes definition.

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Ancient Anatolia

After the fall of the Hittite empire (c. 1180bce), the most important invaders of Anatolia were the Phrygians, but their entry into recorded history does not begin until the 8th centurybce. From then until the 3rd centurybce, OldPhrygian is attested as the main language in central Anatolia. An Indo-European language, Old Phrygian is not considered to be part of the Anatolian group; instead, it is considered akin toThracian,Illyrian, or possiblyGreek.

In the first half of the 1st millennium, the southern and western shores of Anatolia attracted Greek-speaking peoples; the western coast had attracted Greek settlers beginning in Mycenaean times, several centuries earlier. During the second half of the millennium, Greek entered central Anatolia as the language of the ruling caste; Latin took this role from about 200bce onward.

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In the Caucasus region to the east,Armenian-speaking invaders penetrated into the former Urartian territory well before the beginning of the Persian period, probably in the 7th and 6th centuriesbce. During Persian times (559–331bce), aPersian ruling caste entered Anatolia and was still clearly recognizable in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (e.g., inBithynia,Pontus,Cappadocia, andCommagene). Late data on names and scattered remarks made by Church Fathers indicate that until late Roman and perhaps evenByzantine times some Anatoliandialects remained in use in certain isolated parts of the interior. (See alsoAnatolia: Ancient Anatolia.)