ALBANIANS AND ILLYRIANS:
2 SKELETALLY AND LINGIUISTICALLY DIFFERENT POPULATIONS
Work
done in Yugoslavia and Albania in the late 1980s and early 1990s and compiled
by John Wilkes helped to bring an end to Illyrian-Albanian myth…
In the matter of physical character, skeletal evidence
from prehistoric cemeteries suggests no more than average height (male 1.65 m;
female 1.53). Not much reliance should perhaps be placed on attempts to
define an Illyrian anthropological type as short and dark-skinned similar to
modern Albanians.
John Wilkes
The Peoples of Europe: The
Illyrians
Page: 219
1992
Blackwell Publishers
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In other words, Illyrians & Albanians are morphologically different people - so they cannot represent an evolutionary continuity from one to the other. The basis on which continuity is claimed for these two different ethnic groups is purely linguistic:
The evidence for (llyrian origin) is primarily linguistic; its
significance has become clear only with the development of the (modern) science
of historical linguistics.
Noel Malcolm
Myth of Albanian National Identity:
Some Key Elements
Quoted from:
Albanian Identities: Myth and History
Edited by: Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers & Bernd
J. Fischer
Page: 74
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The
linguistic associations between Illyrian & Albanian rest on the few
associations between Illyrian toponyms & Albanian vocabulary.
But Albanian & Illyrian languages belong to two different linguistic branches of Indo-European: Illyrian - centum; Albanian - satem, making them mutually exclusive of one another. Wilkes elaborates:
In the case of Illyrian, the problems appear to be
multiplying: if Illyrian belongs not to the satem group but to the centum,
the common etymology of Gentius and gens must be discarded. There is no
evidence in fact that Illyrian belongs to the satem group but the
argument that it does is crucial to the case that modern Albanian is descended
from Illyrian.
John Wilkes
The Peoples of Europe: The
Illyrians
Page: 73
1992
Blackwell Publishers
http://geocities.datacellar.net/CapitolHill/Lobby/7681/faqe_wilkes_73.jpg
Below,
Colin Renfrew shows that Albanian and Illyrian belong to two linguistic
branches of the Indo-European family:
Centum (western
branch) | Satem (eastern branch)
|
Germanic |
Baltic |
|
Venetic |
Slavic |
|
Illyrian |
Albanian |
|
Celtic |
Thracian |
|
Italic |
Phrygian |
|
Greek |
Armenian |
|
Tocharian |
Iranian |
|
|
Indian |
Table XIII The centum/satem subdivision
A centum language
cannot evolve into a satem language anymore than Swedish can evolve into
Sanskrit. Illyrian could not possibly evolve into Albanian on the exact same
grounds. Albanian is a satem language, transplanted to the Balkans at
approximately 1300 BC, when the culture bearers of Albanian ethno-tribal
identity & language settled along the Thracian-Illyrian border.
John
Wilkes concludes his book with a caustic condemnation of the state of Albanian
Archaeology, accusing Albanian scholars of deliberately distorting the facts:
On the other hand, it is hoped that the
unfortunate distortions which have marred outstanding progress in Albanian
Archaeology will soon be corrected. As new guidebooks are
demonstrating, the Albanian culture, as fascinating and varied as any in that
quarter of Europe, is an inheritance from several languages, religions
and ethnic groups known to have inhabited the region since prehistoric times, among
whom were the Illyrians.
John Wilkes
The Illyrians
Chapter: Prehistoric Illyrians
Page: 280
Blackwell Publishers
1992
