Pelasgian

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Πελασγός (Pelasgós) +‎ -ian, presumably based on a Pre-Greek ethnonym. Compare Egyptian pwrꜣsꜣtj, an ethnonym listed as one of the Sea Peoples attacking Egypt around 1190 BCE.

Noun

Pelasgian (plural Pelasgians or Pelasgi)

1. An inhabitant of pre-Hellenic Greece.
   • 1830, Henry Malden, History of Rome, Baldwin and Cradock, page 70:

     It seems evident that the Hellenes much excelled the Pelasgians in the spirit of enterprise and in military accomplishments.

   • 1895, Evelyn Abbott, A History of Greece, G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 27:

     In Homer the Pelasgians¹ are of little importance. They are inhabitants of Asia Minor, where they possess a Larissa, and fight in the ranks of the Trojan army. We also hear of Pelasgi among the inhabitants of Crete.

Usage notes

According to Wikipedia:

• The name "Pelasgians" was used by classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the emergence of the Greeks. In general, "Pelasgian" has come to mean more broadly all the indigenous inhabitants of the Aegean Sea region and their cultures. British historian Peter Green comments on it as "a hold-all term for any ancient, primitive and presumably indigenous people in the Greek world". (For references, see Pelasgians on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )

Translations

inhabitant of pre-Hellenic or proto-Hellenic Greece

• Czech: Pelasg m
• Dutch: Pelasgiër
• German: Pelasger (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: Πελασγός (Pelasgós)

• Latin: Pelasgus

Proper noun

Pelasgian

1. The language spoken by the Pelasgians.
   • 1869, Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, New Series, Volume 1, Ethnological Society of London, Trübner and Co. page 324,

     Pelasgian, therefore, is regarded by him^{[Von Hahn]} as convertible with Illyrian, and that with Gueg, subject to modifications of Tosk and relations therewith.

   • 2002, Noel Malcolm, “Myths of Albanian National Identity”, in Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Bernd Jürgen Fischer, editors, Albanian Identities, Indiana University Press, page 76:

     […] Malte-Brun described Pelasgian as a primitive version of Greek, and distinguished it from Illyrian, which he regarded as a branch of the Thracian language.

Translations

language of the Pelasgians

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Adjective

Pelasgian (comparative more Pelasgian, superlative most Pelasgian)

1. Of or pertaining to the Pelasgians, their culture, etc.

   Synonym: Pelasgic

   • 1858, William Ewart Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Volume II, Oxford University Press, page 214:

     The very solemn and ancient observance of her^[Demeter's] worship in Attica, which was so eminently a Pelasgian state in the time of Homer, entirely accords with the indications of the Homeric text.

   • 2000, Rosalind Thomas, Herodotus in Context, Paperback edition, Cambridge University Press, page 119:

     Croesus learns that of the Spartans and the Athenians, the one ethnos, the Spartans, was Dorian, the other, the Athenians, was Ionian; the one (obviously Athenians) were Pelasgian of old, the other (the Dorians) were Greek (Hellenikon).

   • 2014, Harald Haarmann, Roots of Ancient Greek Civilization, McFarland & Company, page 17:

     Until recently, the investigation of Pelasgian language and culture was treated as a special field of Indo-European studies because the majority of scholars were convinced that the pre–Greek population of Greece must have been of Indo-European ethnic stock.

Translations

pertaining to Pelasgians

• Czech: pelasgický
• Dutch: Pelasgisch
• German: pelasgisch
• Greek:

  Ancient: Πελασγῐκός (Pelasgikós)

• Latin: Pelasgus

See also

• Hellene
• Hellas
• Pelasgia