Taulantiī
Meaning
- An Illyrian tribe settled on the coast of modern Albania.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | — | Taulantiī |
| genitive | — | Taulantiōrum |
| dative | — | Taulantiīs |
| accusative | — | Taulantiōs |
| ablative | — | Taulantiīs |
| vocative | — | Taulantiī |
| locative | — | Taulantiīs |
incola, Sil. 15, 294; Luc. 6, 16.Origins
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". 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 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.