Taulantii

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ταυλάντιοι (Taulántioi), possibly a misspelling of Illyrian *dauland- word meaning "swallow," from Proto-Indo-European *delh₁- (“to cut”), cognate to Albanian dallëndyshe (“swallow”), as another ethnonym used was Χελιδόνιοι (swollow). The name Taulantii appears to be connected with the word dallëndyshe, from Proto-Albanian *daulna meaning "swallow".^[1] According to Demiraj, the latin cluster -nt- has evolved into Albanian -nd-, as in the latin loans prind < parentem, argjend < argentum, Konstandin < Constantinus. Later on, the initial t- has evolved into d- probably under the influence of the following -d-, and finally the intervocalic Latin -l- has regularly evolved to Albanian -ll-. Thus, the historically phonemic correspondence between Taulant and Proto-Albanian *daulnānja (modern dallëndyshë) seems quite normal^[2]

This connection is also supported by Matzinger, who is sceptic about considering Albanian as a direct descendant of Illyrian, but rather as a closely related language to it and Messapic.^[3]

Proper noun

Taulantiī m pl (genitive Taulantiōrum); second declension

An Illyrian tribe settled on the coast of modern Albania.

Declension

Second-declension noun, with locative, plural only.

	plural
nominative	Taulantiī
genitive	Taulantiōrum
dative	Taulantiīs
accusative	Taulantiōs
ablative	Taulantiīs
vocative	Taulantiī
locative	Taulantiīs

References

^ Wilkes, John (1992) The Illyrians‎^[1], Wiley, →ISBN, page 244 "Names of individuals peoples may have been formed in a similar fashion, Taulantii from ‘swallow’ (cf. the Albanian tallandushe) or Erchelei the ‘eel-men’ and Chelidoni the ‘snail-men’."
^ Shaban. D. The origins of Albanians. Academy of science of Albania. Tirana. 2006
^ Matzinger, Joachim. (2018) Handbook of comparative and historical Indo-European linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. Vienna.

“Taulantii”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Wilkes, John (1992). The Illyrians. Wiley. p. 244

[Wilkes244-1] Wilkes, John (1992) The Illyrians‎^[1], Wiley, →ISBN, page 244 "Names of individuals peoples may have been formed in a similar fashion, Taulantii from ‘swallow’ (cf. the Albanian tallandushe) or Erchelei the ‘eel-men’ and Chelidoni the ‘snail-men’."

[2] Shaban. D. The origins of Albanians. Academy of science of Albania. Tirana. 2006

[3] Matzinger, Joachim. (2018) Handbook of comparative and historical Indo-European linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. Vienna.

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