Dear Luisma,

The Ascoli Bronze Plate is thus called because it was found at Ascoli in Italy (ancient Asculum).

It records the names of 30 Iberian mercenaries who were given Roman citizenship in return for their assistance in the campaign against Sertorius in 72 BC.

The mercenaries are listed under the names of the turmae in which they served (10 in all). These are named after Iberian towns. Those which can be identified are located in the middle and upper Ebro regions.

According to the Plate itself, all but four of the mercenaries is given two names, the first being his own, and the second that of his father. The scribe who wrote the inscription may well be wrong on this point. If the names really were those of father and son, we would expect some to be identical (none is), and we would not expect to find curious phonological correspondences between the two (the partners in the pair sharing one of the same elements, or otherwise rhyming). In addition, some of the names are occupational and toponymic, making them look more like family names.

The Ascoli Bronze Plate is important because it demonstrates beyond any shadow of a doubt that Basque and Iberian were the same language (Basque being the descendant of the dialect of Iberian spoken in the Western Pyrenees). Nearly all of the name elements used can clearly be shown to be Basque (or closely related to Basque), and these are (1) spread all the way down the Ebro from Leiva to Lerida, and (2) are more or less identical to the personal name forms found in the Iberian alphabet inscriptions of Catalonia and the Levant or otherwise attested in classical sources.

It is of little surprise, therefore, that Larry Trask (who vociferously denies any link between Basque and Iberian) skips over the Plate with half a sentence in his portentously titled The History of Basque. (Rationalisation through cognitive dissonance, Larry?)

Below, I set out the names of turmae and mercenaries recorded on the Plate. Below that, I analyse each lexical element individually.

Salluitana

Sanibelser Adingibas

Illurtibas Bilustibas

Estopeles Ordennas

Torsinno Austinco

Bagarensis

Cacusin Chadar

Ucenses

Sosimilus

Irsecel

Elgaun

Nespaiser

Ilerdenses

Otacilius Suisetarten

Cn. Cornelius Nesille

P Eabiuis Enasagin

Begensis

Turtumelis Atanscer

Segienses

Sosinaden Sosinasae

Sosimilus Sosinasae

Urgidar Luspanar

Gurtarno Biurno

Elandus Ennegenses

Agirnes Benabels

Nalbeaden Agerno

Arranes Arbiscar

Umargibas Luspangibas

Ennegensis

Beles Umarbeles

Turinnus Adimels

Ordumeles Burdo

Libenses

Bastugitas Adimels

Umarillun Tabbantu

Suconsenses

Belennes Albennes

Atullo Tautindals

Illverensis

Balciadin Balcibil

 

Salluitana

Sallui- would appear to refer to the modern Zaragoza. The name was recorded as Salduba by Pliny and is found as Saldiue on a pre-Roman coin. The town was subsequently renamed Caesaraugusta in honour of the Emperor of that name.

*saldu/saldi seems to be cognate with Basque zaldi "horse" and normally appears as *saldu in Iberian personal names. *uba/iwe seems to equate to Basque ubi/ibi "ford". The whole is likely to mean "ford crossed by horses". The intervocalic -w- on the coin indicates that b and w were interchangable in this region. Note also the tribal name Vascones for *was-ko "of the forest" and the place-name Bene(h)arnum and its accompanying tribal name, Venarni.

The form Sallui- is corrupt. Pliny, who actually visited Spain, was more accurate.

Sanibelser Adingibas - *sani-bels-er "black hats" *adin-gibas "rumpled intellect"

Iberian *san- appears to be cognate with Basque zano "conical hat" and txano "hood, cowl". The word may have been *sano, but became *sani in compounds, a process analogous to final -o becomeing -a- in compounds in Basque. If you look at the pre-Roman coins, on some of them there is a figure wearing a conical hat. Was this a sano?

*bels is probably identical to Basque beltz "black". Iberian appears to have lacked a sound equivalent to Basque ts and tz, but this was probably present north of the Pyrenees, where the sound is represented by the Romans with a letter "x".

The final -er may be an example of plural -r. Note that here in Zaragoza the noun suffix comes after the qualifying adjective, as it does in Basque. Plural -r may once have existed in Basque. It is still present in fossilised form in words such as bider "times" and esker "thanks".

*adin is probably identical to Basque adin "age, intellect" (the latter meaning is more likely in this context). This is a very common element in Iberian personal names. An example is Besadin "arm intellect", a Turdetanian regulus.

*gibas may be cognate with Basque geatz "rumpled" (the intervocalic -b- has been elided here).

Illurtibas Bilustibas - *ilur-tibas "greedy snow" *bilus-tibas "naked/greedy"

*ilur appears to be cognate with Basque elur "snow". Initial i- in Basque frequently becomes i- in Iberian (*isker for esker, *iski for ezki). *ilur is found in the following deity names recorded on Roman era insciptions: Ilurbeda "snow portal" (Condeixa a Velha and Covas dos Ladroes, both Portugal), Ilurberixus "new snow" (Tibiran-Jaunac, Hautes-Pyrenees) and Ilurberixus Anderexus "new snow lady" (Escunhau, Spain). It is also found in the place name Illurbida "snow path", recorded by Ptolemy and assigned to the Carpetani (alternatively, this latter may mean "hawthorn path").

*bilus appears to be cognate with Basque biluz/biluzi "naked". In the Iberian alphabet inscriptions, which are mostly well to the east of Zaragoza, the word usually appears as *bilos. Note how this, like other words found on the Plate, more resembles Basque than its cognates further east and south.

*tibas seems to be cognate with Basque txibiz "greedy, affected, envious". It is also found in the personal name Elbertibis "greedy new moon", recorded on the Liria Vase.

Estopeles Ordennas *asto-beles "donkey/hawk"  *ordin-nes "I am brave"

*esto may be cognate with Basque *asto "donkey". This is found as *asto in the deity name, Astoilunnus "dark donkey", recorded on a Roman era inscription at Saint-Beat, Haute-Garonne. Ultimately, *asto may be a loanword, but loaned from where? (Compare Latin asinus, Sumerian anshu, Turkish eshek, etc.)

*peles is more usually recorded as *beles, and seems to be cognate with Basque belatz "hawk".

In the Iberian alphabet inscriptions, which are found mainly in the coastal regions of Catalonia and the Levant, *orden appears as *ordin. The word probably means "brave, valiant", and may be cognate with Basque ordongo "brave, valiant". The name survives in Spanish as Ordono.

*nas is also found as *nes, *nus and *nius (the latter two mainly in the coastal regions). It seems to be the first person singular synthetic form of the cognate of Basque izan "to be", which in Basque is usually naiz (but also naz and nez). Other examples are Attenas (*ate-nas "I am a door") and Luxinius (*lusi-nius "I am tall"), both Turdetanian reguli.

Torsinno Austinco *torsi-no "I am eight" *auso-tin-ko "of this specific neighbourhood, ie local"

*torsi may be cognate with Basque zortzi "eight". This would be an example of a Basque initial s- which reflects an earlier initial t-.

*no may be the first person singular synthetic form of the cognate of Basque egon "to remain", which in Basque is nago. If so, the weak intervocalic -g- has been lost (as is the case in the plural forms in Basque: gaude, zaude and daude).

*no is rarely encountered as an element in the personal names of the Iberian alphabet inscriptions (which are found mostly along the coast of Catalonia and the Levant). A rare example in this region (but from a Roman source) is the name of the war god, Semnocosus. This may be a Roman rendering of *seme-no koso. *seme = "son", *no = "I am", and *koso is a common epithet, probably cognate with Basque gozo "sweet".

Iberian *aus- and Basque auzo (both "neighbour, neighbourhood") are probably identical in form and meaning (the Iberian word may also have a final -o which has been lost through assimilation). The word is found in the tribal names Ausci (possibly *aus-ko, the Romans having attempted to pluralise the final -o), and Ausetani. Note too, Basque Eusko "Basque", which may once have been *aus-ko "of the neighbourhood".

*din may be a noun suffix meaning "particular, precise", as it is in Basque. Note that d becomes t after s, as in Basque.

*-ko, a noun suffix meaning "of, pertaining to", seems to have been as ubiquitous in Iberian as it is in Basque.

Bagarensis

This could well be Baga, Catalonia. The word bagarok, recorded on the Alcoy Lead Tablet, bears a superficial similarity and appears to mean "people of Baga or Bagar", but this is unlikely to have any connection with the present Bagar, given the geographical distance. *bagarok could as easily mean "community of rulers (those who have autonomy)".

*baga may well be similar to Basque bago "beech tree". This is normally assumed to be Latin fagus, and the similarity is unquestionable. That does not mean, of course, that bago is a loanword. The Indo-European languages come from Asia, where the beech is not native. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that on their arrival in Europe, speakers of Indo-European adopted the local word. A deity, Fagus, is recorded on Roman era inscriptions at Generest, Ladivert and Tibiran-Jaunac, Hautes-Pyrenees. It is usually assumed that a native deity has been given a Latin name. Not necessarily. The native name may have been altered, albeit slightly, to coincide with the very similar Latin word for the same thing. Compare Proto-Yeniseian *bak "log" (Ket bagha, Yug bak, Kott peg), and Old Chinese *pak, "pole, post, column". Also, if bago is fagus, why has the initial f- become b-, instead of being elided, which is usually the case with Latin loanwords that exhibit initial f-?

Cacusin Chadar *kako-sin "key-keeper" *kada-r "blows" (?) or "measures" (?)

*kako/kaku/kaka seems to be cognate with Basque gako "hook, key". Compare Sumerian gak/kak "peg, spike, nail, hinge, joint, etc", and Proto-Yeniseian *kag "owl, hawk" (Arin kak "hawk"). *kaka is the form found on one one of the Celtiberian tesserae: ni biak(a) kordi kakar "I have both cart hooks" (ie, the horse on which the message is inscribed) ( - note the absence of an ergative marker in this dialect).

*sin appears to be cognate with Basque -zain, the suffix meaning "guard, protector".

In Basque, -kada is used almost exclusively as a suffix, indicating a stroke or blow, or a measure. Here, in the Iberian of Catalonia, it appears as an independent noun.

Ucenses

This place is unidentified. Since one of its natives is recorded as having a "money" name, one would expect it to be located close to Segia (Ejea de los Caballeros, Zaragoza). (See below.)

Sosimilus *sos-ir-mila "thousand coins"

*sos may be cognate with Basque sos "money", but could also mean "coin". This word is of Phoenician origin (a zuz was an ancient Palestinian silver coin).

*mila may well be identical to Basque mila "thousand". Thus we find here a very early Latin loanword. Or do we? Latin mille "thousand" is of non- Indo-European origin, and could well be Dene-Caucasian. Compare Sumerian lima "thousand" (with metathesis).

The linking -i- may well be present in the interests of euphony, or it could be plural -ir, with the -r lost through assimilation.

Note how the Roman scribe, unable to tolerate a male name exhibiting final -a, substitutes the Latin -us.

Irsecel *iru-sekel "three spears, ie trident"

*sekel is probably cognate with Basque sakil/zakil "penis", and may mean "spear, lance", as similar words do elsewhere in Dene-Caucasian. "Penis" is probably a secondary meaning of the Basque word, the older Basque word for "penis" being barroa. *sekel is found elswhere in Iberian personal names and occasionally appears as *tekel. The word may be compared with Sumerian sukur "spear, lance" and tukul "weapon", and two Na Dene forms (Tlingit takh'al "needle" and Eyak takl "arrow").

Elgaun *elga(u)n "border"

This may be cognate with Basque algan "border, hem".

Nespaiser *nes-baiser "I am a citizen"

*baiser is a common element in Iberian personal names. It is also found in the following deity names, recorded on Roman era inscriptions: Baeserte (Gourdan-Polignac, Haute-Garonne and Sost, Hautes-Pyrenees), and Beisirisse IOM (Cadeac, Hautes-Pyrenees).

*baiser may be compared with Basque (Bizkaian) bezer-a "milkwoman" and bezer-o "customer, client, patient" (note the added Spanish endings). It may mean something like "subject, citizen, gentleman". Compare Proto-Yeniseian *bes "widow" (Ket and Yug bassem, and Arin pas "slave"), and Proto- North Caucasian *p'asi "orphan, relative from a second marriage".

Note how b- becomes p- after s.

Ilerdenses

Ilerdenses presumably refers to Ilerda (modern Lerida). This may well be *ilar-di "place were peas or heather grows". Many historians and archaeologists have confused Ilerda with the Ildirda found on a number of pre-Roman coins. This is an entirely different name and almost certainly a different place. It seems to be *ildi-r-di "place of the crossroads". Note that Iberian archaeological remains have not been found at Lerida, suggesting that it was not an important place in pre-Roman times (at least, not important enough to issue coins).

Ilerda has nothing to do with the tribal name Ilergetes, which probably derives from *ilargi/ilarki "full moon". The Ilergetes may have indulged in moon worship. Indeed, Strabo speaks about a religious ceremony conducted on nights of the full moon in Northern Spain.

Otacilius Suisetarten *otar-kile "basket maker" *suis-er-tarten "among the trees"

Otacilius has been Romanised to the extent of having a Roman gens -ius ending. The word itself seems to be *otar-kile "basket maker". Note how the final -r in *otar has been lost through assimilation (as happens in Basque, especially when lur, ur and zur are the first elements in compounds). In Basque, otar can also mean "gorse patch", and may have done so too in Iberian, as evidenced by the following place names: Autraka *otar-aka "place of the gorse patch" (Castrojeris, Burgos), and Uttaris *otar "gorse patch" (Trabaledo, Leon).

Iberian *suis "tree" is identical in meaning and close in pronunciation to Basque zu(h)aitz, also "tree". It is found in the tribal name, Suessetani (mentioned only by Livy), who occupied the region to the north-east of Zaragoza. They would be "woodland" people, like the Vascones (*was-ko "of the forest"), and the Onesi and Basates, north of the Pyrenees.

*tarten is probably cognate with Basque tartean "between". The linking -i- may be a plural -ir, with the -r lost through assimilation, or it could just be a "link" letter added in the interests of euphony.

Cn. Cornelius Nesille *nes-ile "I am (have?) hair"

*ile seems to be cognate with Basuqe ile "hair". If so, *nes is being used to mean "I have" rather than "I am".

This particular mercenary has already acquired a Roman name, even before his acquisition of Roman citizenship. We have to note that Ilerda is the city closest to the coast mentioned on the Plate.

P Eabiuis Enasagin *jabe "owner, proprietor" *enasa-gin "maker of shuttles (for the weaving industry)"

Eabiuis seems to be an attempt to give the cognate of Basque jabe "owner, proprietor" a Latin form.

Enasagin appears to be cognate with Basque anazka "shuttle" (a tool used in weaving) + *-gin, the agent suffix (no doubt a derivative of *egi-n "to do, make, create" - compare Sumerian aka/ag/ak "to do, act, place, make into".

Begensis

This could be Bega or Begeda, both unidentified places believed to have been located somewhere between the Ebro and the Pyrenees.

Begeda might possibly be *begi-di "place of the eye" (with the speciliased meaning here, "tutelary deity"). This resembles the British toponym Wight (as in Isle of). This was known to the Romans as Vectis, which may reflect an earlier *wek-ti "place of the eye" (-gd- having become -kt- through assimilation).

Turtumelis Atanscer *turtun-meles "robust stalk" *atan-isker  "entrance hall/thanks"

*turtun seems to be cognate with Basque zurten/zurtoin "stalk". The first element of this compound, *tur, appears to be cognate with Basque *zur "wood (substance)". If this is so, we may have to discount the notion that the zu- in tree words such as zu(h)aitz, zu(h)andor, zubel, zume, zumar, zume, zuzi, zuzun, etc, has anything to do with zur, since words of this sort, and all exhibiting intial s-, are found in Iberian toponyms (eg, Sosontigi (*susun-tigi), Sucro (*sukar), Suel (*subel), and also in Late Latin borrowings from Iberian (samera "elm seed" and suber "cork oak"). *su may well be a fossilised anterior noun classifier for trees which can be compared with Sumerian su "to grow, multiply". Examples of Basque words which probably do incorporate zur are zu(r)bi "bridge" (literally "wooden ford") and zulubi/zurubi "stairs". If the initial s- in zur really does reflect a Proto- Dene-Caucasian initial t-, then zur may well be cognate with Proto- Indo-European *deru-/doru- (Pok 214) (English tree, etc), and the following Turkic reflexes: Kazakh and Kyrgyz terek, Tatar tirak, Turkmen derek and Uighur and Uzbek terak (all "poplar").

*meles is probably cognate with Basque malats "strong, robust". The final -n in *adin is lost through assimilation.

Iberian *atan seems to be identical in form and meaning to Basque atan "entrance hall".

*isker could either mean "left" or "thanks". The latter seems more plausible, given the context. This would be cognate with Basque esker "thanks", which is a compound of eske "request, petition", plus a fossilised plural -r. Note how Basque initial e- commonly becomes i- in Iberian.

Isker is one of the most frequent compound elements in Iberian personal names. A leading example is Sakarisker "apple thanks", the Contestani magistrate who authored the Alcoy Lead Tablet.

Segienses

Segia (probably Ejea de los Caballeros, Zaragoza), is recorded as Setia by Ptolemy.

Sosinaden Sosinasae *sos-ir-n-aden "if I am coins (ie, I would like to be rich)" *sos-ir-nasai "lots of coins"

*n-aden appears to be the first person singular subjunctive of the Iberian cognate of Basque izan "to be" (actually edin).

*nasai seems to be cognate with Basque nasai "abundant, prolific".

Sosimilus Sosinasae *sos-ir-mila "thousand coins" *sos-ir-nasai "lots of coins"

The "money" names appear to be restricted to this small area to the north-west of Zaragoza.

Urgidar Luspanar *urgi-dar "native of Urgi" *lus-pan-ar "delays"

Urgi appears to be the name of a place, meaning perhaps "place of water" or "birch tree", followed by the *-dar/-tar suffix, which means "native of" in Basque and presumably did so too in Iberian.

*lus-pan is a gerund, incporporaqting a verb stem *lus + the gerund suffix which is -pen/-men in Basque and may have been *-pan in this particular dialect of Iberian. *lus- seems to be cognate with Basque luze "long, tall", and is found in the tribal names Lusitani and Lusones. *lus- may have had a verbal aspect with meanings like "to lengthen, delay, etc" (like Basque luza-tu). -ar seems to be the plural suffix. The whole may mean "lengthenings" or "delays".

Another example of *-pen in Iberian is the place name Salpensa (Cortijo de la Coria, Andalucia). This seems to be *sal-pen-sa "place of selling, ie market".

Gurtarno Biurno *gurt-ari-no "I am a cart driver" *biur-no "I am twisted"

Note that in *gurtar(i) "cart driver" (?), the d in *gurdi "cart" becomes t in compounds, just as it does in Basque. Segia is very close to the present-day Basque Country, so one expects the language here to be closer to Basque than dialects further afield. This is confirmed if we look at the word for "cart" from other sources. On one of the Celtiberian tesserae is the following inscription: ni biak(a) kordi kakar "I have both cart hooks" (ie, the horse on which the inscription is written). Here, the -u- we find in Segia becomes -o-. Whether or not the g- remains g- or becomes k-, we cannot tell. Now let's go south to Andalucia, where we find Corduba (*kordi-ubi "ford crossed by carts"?). Here, we find that the -u- has shifted to -o- and the g- to k-.

Iberian *biur and Basque biur/biurri (both "twisted, curved"?) seem to be identical in form and meaning. In the personal name pair Sosinbiur "straight/twisted" (found on the Castellon Execratio), we find an interesting contrast in adjectival meanings.

Elandus Ennegenses *elandi "Greek" *ennega "native of Ennega"

The people of this region would have been familiar with the Massiliot Greeks, a strange people from the East who arrived in ships laden with luxury goods. Basque Elendi and Iberian *elandi (both "Greek"?) are all but identical.

Agirnes Benabels *agir-nes "I am visible" *bena-bels "black house " (place name)

*ager and *agir are probably the same word, and may be identical in form and meaning to Basque ager/ageri "visible".

*bena seems to be connected to the place-name element *bena, found in Bene(h)arnum (Lescar, Pyrenees-Atlantiques) and in the modern place-names Benegorri, Benasperi, Benasque, Benabarre, Izabena, etc. It may have a verb aspect found in Basque i-beni and i-pini "to put, set, establish", and could mean "place, house, building, etc". It should not be confused with the Arabic place-name element of similar form and meaning. Compare Guanche bena "place" and Proto-Yeniseian *ba'ng "earth" (Ket and Yug ba'ng, Kot pang, Arin peng and Pumpokol bing).

Nalbeaden Agerno *n-albe-aden "if I am strong, ie, I would like to be strong" *ager-no "I am visible"

Nalbeaden seems to comprise an adjective *albe, possibly cognate with Basque albi "strength, valour", combined with the verb *edin, whose Basque cognate is used as the present tense subjective of izan "to be". The initial n- marks it as the first person singular.

Arranes Arbiscar *arrano-nes "I am an eagle" *arri-biskar "stone back"

Note how the final consonant and vowel of *arrano "eagle" (?), and the final -i of *arri "stone" (?) are lost through assimilation. In Basque, (h)arri "stone" normally loses its final -i when it is the first element in a compound (as in argin, arbel, arkaitz, etc). The loss of the final -i in Arbiskar is consistent with this. In Iberian, the final -i remains in place where *arri is the second part of a compound (as in the personal name pair, Borarri, and the place name, Aurariola *aurre-arri-ola "place in front of the rock" (Orihuela, Alicante).

Iberian *biskar and Basque bizkar (both "back") seem to be identical in form and meaning. And not only is the primary meaning identical, so is the secondary meaning, "ridge". Note the Roman era place name, Biscargis (Berros, Catalonia), and the mountain-name Viscarez, one of the Picos de Europa.

Umargibas Luspangibas *umar-gibas "rumpled adult" *lus-pan-gibas "rumpled delays"

*umar may be cognate with the umer- found in Basque umel "mature, ripe", uma-tu "to mature, ripen", umer-ezi "adult", etc. It probably has nothing to do with ume "child".

This compound element is rarely found in the Iberian alphabet inscriptions of the Levant. The only example I know in a personal name is (U)m(a)rbobatin "adult/affirmative particle/certain", recorded on the San Miguel de Liria Lead Tablet. Also recorded on this apparently votive inscription is what seems to be the name of a deity, Obon(u)m(a)r Errebe "best/adult/sister" (*errebe is a common epithet applied to female deities, usually rendered by Romans as revva or reus). There is also Umeritani, a deity recorded on a Roman era inscription at Otanes, Spain. (In the Iberian script, the m-sign is usally syllabic and multi-aspect, which makes reading difficult.)

Ennegensis

Ennega seems to have been located somewhere in Upper Aragon. The name appears a little obscure, but might have been *aun-aga "place of the headland". *aun "headland" is found in such names as Aunamendi, Vicus Aunigainum (*aun-gain "above the headland") (Ongayo, Cantabria) and Aunios Insula (the island of Ons, off the coast of Galicia).

Beles Umarbeles *beles "hawk" *umar-beles "adult hawk"

Turinnus Adimels *turri-nes "I am a fountain/spring" *adin-meles "robust intellect"

*turri appears to be cognate with Basque iturri "fountain, spring". Note how the initial i- which is present in the Basque word is absent from most dialects of Iberian, although it was present in Basque in the Roman period, because Ptolemy lists the place Iturissa (Roncesvalles?), which is also recorded as Turissa. Other examples of *turri in Iberian place-names are Turissa *turri-sa "place of the fountain/spring" (Tossa de Mar, Catalonia), Turiaso (Tarazona, Zaragoza), Iliturgi *ili-tur-gi "town of the place of the fountain/spring" (Cerro Maquiz), Abelterium *abel-terri "fountain/spring used by livestock" (Alter do Chao, Portugal), and the river names *bai-turri (the Guadalquivir, preserved in the territorial name, Baeturia - Baetis is a corrupt Roman rendering of this), Turia (on which stands Valencia) and the Durius (the modern Duero).

iturri/*turri may have cognates outside Dene-Caucasian: Proto- Indo-European *der-/dor/dr- (Pok 206) (Sanskrit drnati "it bursts", English tarn, etc), and Turkish dere "stream".

Ordumeles Burdo *ordin-meles "brave/robust" *burd-o "place of the hut" (place name)

Note how the final -n in *ordun is lost through assimilation. The same process is found at work in the Basque place-name, Unamuno (*unanu-muno "hill covered in asphodel").

*burd- seems to be cognate with Basque borda "hut". This is found in a number of ancient place names, including Burdigala (Bordeaux), Burdoga (Barja, Andalucia) and Burdua (Ermita de Nuestra Senora de Botoa, Badajoz) (the form recorded by Ptolemy).

The final -o is likely to be a toponymic suffix, the one found in Laur-o, Ass-o, Ildur-o, Ilur-o, etc.

Libenses

This would appear to be Libia, also recorded as Oliba, and by Ptolemy as Iliba, which is the modern Leiva, on the River Tiron in Rioja (the ruins are just outside Herramelluri). If Ptolemy's rendering is correct, then the name may be *ili-ibi "town by the ford".

Historians and archaeologists usually insist that the people who lived here were Celtic (by which they mean they spoke a Celtic language). The names listed below tell us that they spoke Iberian. Tabbantu may be Celtic, but the other three names are unmistakably Dene-Caucasian.

In the circumstances, I think we need say no more about the claim made by Trask and others that this region only became Basque in the 10th C AD.

Bastugitas Adimels *baste-?? "other ??" *adin-meles "robust intellect"

*bastu may well be cognate with Basque beste "other, foreign". *bastu is also present in the tribal name Bastitani/Bastuli/Mastiani, which people occupied the coastal region of Andalucia (they were the "other" people, ie, their leaders were Phoenicians).

*gitas is opaque, though it may be *gibas mistranscribed.

Umarillun Tabbantu *umar-ilun * "dark adult" "??"

*ilun appears to be identical in form and meaning to Basque ilun "dark". It is also found in the personal name Sakaril(u)n "dark apple", recorded on a bilingual inscription at Tarragona (mentioned by Arnaiz-Villena and Alonso-Garcia), and in the deity names, Ilunus and Ilunnus "dark", recorded on Roman era inscriptions at Cadeac, Hautes-Pyrenees, Bagneres-de-Luchon, Haut-Comminges, Montauban-de-Luchon, Haute-Garonne, and Narbonne, Aude, and Arsilunnus "dark bear" and Astoilunnus "dark donkey", recorded on inscriptions at Cadeac, Argein, Ariege and Saint-Beat, Haute-Garonne, respectively.

Suconsenses

Succosa is recorded by Ptolemy as a town of the Ilergetes. *-sa is a toponymic suffix meaning "place of" (-tza in Basque). *suko may be the name of a tree. Alternatively it could be *su-ko "of fire", "ie, place where fires burn".

Succosa may be the modern Sucs/Suquets, a few miles north-west of Lerida.

Belennes Albennes *bele-nes "I am a crow" *albe-nes "I am strong"

*bele appears to be identical in form and meaning to Basque bela/bele "crow, raven".

*bela/bele is also found in the frequent Iberian personal name element belaur "baby crow", and in the personal name Belasko, which is present in the place name, Belaskoain, Navarra, and which survives in Spanish as Velasco.

*albe may be cognate with Basque albi "strength, valour". Note how, as in *balke "gold" (below), final -i in Basque becomes -e in Iberian.

Atullo Tautindals *aitu-lo "learned/sleep" (?)  *tautin-dals "statuette(?)??"

*atu may be the same as *aitu, found elsewhere in Iberian personal names, and could be cognate with Basque aitu "wise, learned". It could also be cognate with Basque ato "bundle of rope, atu "furniture, chattles" and ato/atu "herd". *lo seems to be idenitcal in form and meaning to Basque lo "sleep". This is also found in the name Lolegarkoe which is represented in the form of a seal on the Liria ceramics. We do not know who or what Lolegarkoe was.

*tautin is a relatively common element in Iberian personal names. It is possibly connected with Basque txatin "skittle" and may have referred to a votive statuette.

*dals is opaque.

Illverensis

This may well be Ilumberis (the modern Lumbier). The name is clearly *ili-berri "new town", but in this case Iberian placed -n- before the newly intervocalic -b- (a practice still prevalant in the Souletin dialect of Basque), and the Romans rendered the -n- as -m-. There was also an Elimberrum in Aquitaine (the modern Auch), and there was a deity, Ilumberus, recorded on a Roman era inscription at Saint-Beat, Haute-Garonne.

Balciadin Balcibil *balki-adin "golden intellect" *balki-bil "golden sphere"

*balki "gold" (literally "piece of gold") is usually recorded as *balke in the Iberian alphabet inscriptions. The -ki suffix "piece of" is also found in Basque in metal words such as tupiki "copper" and zilarki "piece of silver". Note how Iberian -e becomes -i in Basque, and in the dialect of Iberian spoken in Lumbier, which is actually in the present-day Basque Country.

Strabo records a version of *balke when he says that palae is the name given to chunks of almost pure gold found in mines. There is also a deity, Barciaecus (*balki-aiki?) recorded on a Roman era inscription at the site of the Roman gold-mine at Naraval, Asturias.

*balki survives in Basque as beilegi "orange-yellow", which is a folk-etymological reworking of *balki influenced by orlegi "green" and be(h)i "cow". The *bal- part of the word is preserved in Basque balandre "buttercup" (literally "golden lady") and beloi "yellow".

*bil seems to mean "sphere", just as it does in Basque (gurpil, barrabil, etc).

 

The Ascoli Bronze Plate needs to be shown to anyone who doubts or denies the unquestionably close connection between Basque and Iberian.

With best wishes,

 

Angus J Huck