Illyrian Language

The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans in former times by ethnic groups identified as Illyrians: Delmatae, Pannoni, Illyrioi, Autariates, Taulanti (see List of Illyrian tribes). The Illyrian languages are generally, but not unanimously, reckoned as centum languages.

Some sound-changes and other language features are deduced from what remains of the Illyrian languages, but because no writings in Illyrian are known, there is not sufficient evidence to clarify its place within the Indo-European language family aside from its probable centum nature. Because of the uncertainty, most sources provisionally place Illyrian on its own branch of Indo-European, though its relation to other languages, ancient and modern, continues to be studied and debated.

Spoken in Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, parts of Croatia, Serbia, Greece, and portions of other regions. The Albanian language is a descendant.