Carthaginian or Punic was a Semitic language derived from Phoenician.It was spoken mainly in Carthage, present-day Tunisia and on the islands of the western Mediterranean by Carthaginians and Berbers.It is known to us from inscriptions, human names and references to Roman writers.
What we know about them
In some works by Roman writers, such as Plautus' Poenulus, phrases in Carthaginian are mentioned.Today there is great interest in them and linguistic studies and research are being carried out.Unlike the Carthaginian inscriptions which only marked vowels, these few phrases also mark the vowels, a fact of great importance for the reconstruction of Carthaginian.
The last great Roman poet who seems to have known Carthaginian was Augustus of Hippo,who lived hundreds of years after the destruction of Carthage in 400 AD.It seems that the language survived even then.
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| the Carthaginian empire at its height |
the Carthaginian alphabet
Chronologically it is divided into two periods the old one which was used only on monuments and the so-called Neo-Carchidonian which was more calligraphic and used for other purposes.It originated from the Phoenician alphabet.
Carthage history.
According to ancient traditions Carthage was founded in 300 BC by Phoenician colonists from Tyre, that's why the city was called New Tyre in Aramaic.
The Carthaginians were the greatest enemy and competitor of the Romans with whom they fought three wars called the Carthaginian wars until the conquest and destruction of Carthage by them.
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| Hannibal crossing the Alps into Italy |
Hannibal,the greatest Carthaginian general,starting from the Carthaginian possessions in Spain,proceeded along the coast,crossed the Alps with his army and elephants and reached northern Italy.
There he won important victories against the Romans threatening Rome itself.He was finally defeated by the Roman general Scipio the African.
At its peak, the Carthaginian kingdom extended over the entire northwest coast of Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, western Sicily, the Balearic Islands and southern Spain, as well as Malta, as shown by Carthaginian inscriptions.
The discovery of these inscriptions has led some linguists to argue that modern Maltese is derived from Carthaginian, which of course is not true since Maltese is derived from Sicilian-Arabic and has many, many Italian words.
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