Anatolian Languages

Anatolian languages, extinct Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages spoken in Anatolia from sometime in the 3rd millennium bce 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 of Indo-European languages: Hittite, Palaic, Cuneiform Luwian, Hieroglyphic Luwian (see Luwian language), Lycian, Lydian, Carian, and possibly Pisidian and Sidetic. Hittite, Palaic, and Cuneiform Luwian are known from 2nd-millennium cuneiform texts found mainly in the ancient capital of the Hittite empire, Hattusa, near the modern town of Boğazkale (formerly Boğazköy), Tur. Hieroglyphic Luwian is found on seals and inscriptions from circa 1400 to about 700 bce. Lydian, Lycian, and Carian are known from texts in alphabetic script from circa 600 to perhaps 300 bce. Although there is evidence enough to suggest that they belong to the Anatolian group, Sidetic (c. 300–100 bce) and Pisidian (c. 1–200 ce) are very poorly attested languages.