List of reconstructed Dacian words

Map of the geographical distribution of attested placenames with the -dava suffix, a Dacian word meaning "settlement" or "fort."

This article contains a list of reconstructed words of the ancient Dacian language. They have been restored by some linguists from attested place and personal names (toponyms and anthroponyms) from the historical region of Dacia.[1][2]

In the case of words reconstructed from onomastic evidence, the original meanings ascribed to the names in question are derived from examination of closely cognate words and placenames in other Indo-European languages, complemented by analysis of the historical evolution of such placenames.[3][4] However, the results are hypothetical and subject, in many cases, to divergent etymological interpretations.[5]

Reconstructions derived from Romanian and Albanian words that have not been attested to be Dacian or that have not been documented in Dacian territory are speculatively based on the unproven theory that Dacian constitutes the main linguistic substratum of Romanian and a closely related language to Albanian, a circular method criticised by mainstream historical linguistics.[6]

  1. ^ Duridanov (1969) 90–5
  2. ^ Georgiev (1976) 276–8
  3. ^ Duridanov (1969) 12–13
  4. ^ Georgiev (1976) 277
  5. ^ Polomé 1982, p. 878
  6. ^ Ledesma, Manuel Sanz (1996). Ediciones Clásicas (ed.). El Albanés: gramática, historia, textos. Instrumenta studiorum: Lenguas indoeuropeas (in Spanish). pp. 37–38. ISBN 9788478822089..