Some of these languages were documented directly through inscriptions, mainly in
Paleohispanic scripts, that date for sure between the 5th century BC, maybe from the 7th century in the opinion of some researchers, until the end of the 1st century BC or the beginning of the 1st century AD.
Aquitanian — Close relative of modern
Basque. Some scholars characterise Aquitanian as an ancestor of Basque, while others describe Aquitanian and Basque as siblings both descended from Proto-Basque.
Tartessian — Scholarly opinion places Tartessian definitely outside of the
Indo-European family, but
further classification remains uncertain. Tartessian seems to have borrowed many
place names from some
Celtic and/or other
Indo-European languages; but its syllable structure is totally incompatible with the phonology of any Indo-European language, and much more compatible with the phonology of the Vasconic languages and Iberian. Despite this phonological compatibility, a lack of data has thus far made it impossible to clarify any relationship with the
Vasconic languages or Iberian.
Lusitanian — Definitely an Indo-European language. Possibly
Celtic or Italic, but a lack of data has prevented scholars from determining exactly where Lusitanian fits within the Indo-European family.
Sorothaptic[3] (from Greek σορός sorós 'funerary urn' and θαπτός thaptós 'buried') is a hypothetical pre-Celtic language.
Joan Coromines identified problematic words in Catalan with inscriptions on lead tablets, from ca. 2nd century CE, found at
Amélie-les-Bains on the Catalan–French border. The inscriptions include some Latin but also a non-Latin and non-Celtic component that Coromines identifies with the
Urnfield culture from a millennium earlier, claiming to have found such "Sorothaptic" place names across Europe.[4][5] Like the better-known
Vasconic substrate hypothesis, Coromines' Sorothaptic hypothesis has not been well received.[6]
Of these languages, Celtiberian, Gallaecian, Lusitanian, and presumably Sorothaptic were
Indo-European languages; Celtiberian and Gallaecian were
Celtic languages, and Lusitanian may also have been, but the hypothetical Sorothaptic was not. Aquitanian was a precursor of
Basque, while Tartessian and Iberian remain
unclassified.[7]
^Broderick, George (2010). "Die vorrömischen Sprachen auf der iberischen Halbinsel" [The pre-Roman languages of the Iberian Peninsula]. In Hinrichs, Uwe (ed.).
Das Handbuch der Eurolinguistik [The Eurolinguistics Handbook] (in German) (1st ed.). Wiesbaden, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 304–305.
ISBN978-3-447-05928-2.
Correa, José Antonio (1994): «La lengua ibérica», Revista española de lingüística 24, 2, pp. 263–287.
Jordán, Carlos (2004): Celtibérico, Zaragoza.
Hoz, Javier de (1995): «Tartesio, fenicio y céltico, 25 años después», Tartessos 25 años después, pp. 591–607.
de Hoz Bravo, Jesús Javier; Churruca, Joaquín Gorrochategui Churruca. "Paleohispánica y Filología Clásica". In: Conuentus Classicorum: temas y formas del Mundo Clásico. Coord. por Jesús de la Villa, Emma Falque Rey, José Francisco González Castro, María José Muñoz Jiménez, Vol. 1, 2017, pp. 119-150.
ISBN978-84-697-8214-9
Rodríguez Ramos, Jesús (2005): «Introducció a l'estudi de les inscripcions ibèriques», Revista de la Fundació Privada Catalana per l'Arqueologia ibèrica, 1, pp. 13–144.
Untermann, Jürgen : Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum, Wiesbaden. (1975): I Die Münzlegenden. (1980): II Die iberischen Inschriften aus Sudfrankreicht. (1990): III Die iberischen Inschriften aus Spanien. (1997): IV Die tartessischen, keltiberischen und lusitanischen Inschriften.
Vallejo Ruiz, J. M. (2021). "Lengua lusitana y onomástica de Lusitania. 25 años después". In: Palaeohispanica. Revista Sobre Lenguas Y Culturas De La Hispania Antigua, 21, 369-395.
https://doi.org/10.36707/palaeohispanica.v21i0.409
Velaza, Javier (1996): Epigrafía y lengua ibéricas, Barcelona.