Gjuhësi Ballkanike

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supporters of the centum character of Illyrian have sustained their thesis mainly through proper
nouns like Ves-cleves, Angros etc. of the northern Illyrians, or through the river noun Genusus
and the proper personal noun Gentius of the southern Illyrians. In moast cases, however, the
presupposed palatal guttural is followed by -1- or -r-, id est in a phonetical position, in which
even in the common words of the Albanian. I.E. stock the palatal guttural has been
depalatalized. Probelamtic remain such cases as Genusus and Gentius (see the Albanian
version). In such circumstances, the centum character of Illyrian seems not to be confirmed by
facts. (22).
Regarding the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, it is generally admitted to have been
inhabited by Thracians and some other tribes, as Mysians and Gets. (23). All of them were
deeply influenced by the Greeks and particularly by the Romans (24). It is generally admitted
that the Thracian and the other languages of the eastern Balkan were of satem character. (25-
26).
The ancient peoples of the eastern and western parts of the Balkan Peninsula were exposed
since early to a gradual romanization. The long Roman domination in this Peninsula gave rise to
the formation of two Romance languages - Rumanian and Dalmatian. The last one disappeared
definitively in the XIX century. (27).
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