Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 1, 2026

Sorothaptic language

Sorothaptic is a name coined by Joan Coromines for the hypothetical language of the presumably Indo-European, but pre-Celtic, 1000 BC people of the Urnfield culture in the Iberian Peninsula.

Last revised
Jun 1, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
231 w
Citations
6
Source
Sorothaptic
(disputed)
RegionIberian Peninsula
EthnicityUrnfield culture
Erac. 200 CE
Indo-European
  • (unclassified)
    • Sorothaptic
Language codes
ISO 639-3sxo
GlottologNone

Sorothaptic (sorotáptico, sorotàptic, from Greek σορός sorós 'funerary urn' and θαπτός thaptós 'buried') is a name coined by Joan Coromines for the hypothetical language of the presumably Indo-European, but pre-Celtic, 1000 BC people of the Urnfield culture in the Iberian Peninsula.

Coromines used the concept of Sorothaptic to explain problematic words in the Iberian Romance languages. He identified the language with inscriptions on lead tablets, ca. 2nd century CE, found at Amélie-les-Bains on the Catalan–French border; these include some Latin but also a non-Latin and non-Celtic component that Coromines believed to be Sorothaptic.123 Coromines identifies them with the Urnfield culture from a millennium earlier, claiming to have found such "Sorothaptic" place names across Europe.2 Like the better-known Vasconic substrate hypothesis, Coromines' Sorothaptic hypothesis has not been well received.4: 313 

References

References

  1. Coromines, Joan (1976). Els ploms sorotàptics d'Arles [The sorotaptic leads of Arles] (in Catalan). pp. 142–216.
  2. Brill's New Pauly, 2008, p. 50
  3. "Sorothaptic". ISO 639-3. Summer institute of linguistics. "MultiTree entry for Sorothaptic".
  4. Martines, Josep (2020). "General Lexicon". In Argenter, Joan A.; Lüdtke, Jens (eds.). Manual of Catalan Linguistics. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 311–350. ISBN 978-3-11-044831-3.
Bibliography

Bibliography

  • Glanville Price, editor. 2000. Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe.
  • Cancik, Schneider,& Salazar, eds. 2008. Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Brill.
  • Coromines, Joan. 1976. Entre dos llenguatges (II). Curial Edicions Catalanes.