§1.29.1ἐμοὶ μέντοι δοκοῦσιν ἅπαντες ἁμαρτάνειν οἱ πεισθέντες ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἔθνος εἶναι τὸ Τυρρηνικὸν καὶ τὸ Πελασγικόν.
However, to me all those seem to be in error who have been convinced that the Tyrrhenian and the Pelasgian are one and the same nation.
τῆς μὲν γὰρ ὀνομασίας ἀπολαῦσαί ποτε αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀλλήλων οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν ἦν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλα δή τινα ἔθνη, τὰ μὲν Ἑλλήνων, τὰ δὲ βαρβάρων, ταὐτὸν ἔπαθεν, ὥσπερ τὸ Τρωικὸν καὶ τὸ Φρυγικὸν ἀγχοῦ οἰκοῦντα ἀλλήλων· ʽπολλοῖς γέ τοι γένος ἓν ἄμφω ταῦτʼ ἐνομίσθη, κλήσει διαλλάττον οὐ φύσεἰ καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τῶν ἄλλοθί που συνωνυμίαις ἐπικερασθέντων καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ §1.29.2ἔθνη.
For it was not at all strange that they should sometimes share each other's name, since indeed some other nations, both of Greeks and of barbarians, have experienced the same thing, just as the Trojan and Phrygian nations did, which lived near each other: "Indeed, by many these two have been considered as one race, differing in name but not in nature." And not least of all those who elsewhere have been confused by having the same name, the nations in Italy likewise experienced this.
ἦν γὰρ δὴ χρόνος ὅτε καὶ Λατῖνοι καὶ Ὀμβρικοὶ καὶ Αὔσονες καὶ συχνοὶ ἄλλοι Τυρρηνοὶ ὑφʼ Ἑλλήνων ἐλέγοντο, τῆς διὰ μακροῦ τῶν ἐθνῶν οἰκήσεως ἀσαφῆ ποιούσης τοῖς πρόσω τὴν ἀκρίβειαν· τήν τε Ῥώμην αὐτὴν πολλοὶ τῶν συγγραφέων Τυρρηνίδα πόλιν εἶναι ὑπέλαβον.
For indeed there was a time when both Latins, Umbrians, Ausonians and many others were called Tyrrhenians by the Greeks, since the long distance of their dwellings made the exact truth obscure to those far away; and many of the writers supposed Rome itself to be a Tyrrhenian city.
ὀνομάτων μὲν οὖν ἐναλλαγήν, ἐπεὶ καὶ βίων, πείθομαι τοῖς ἔθνεσι γενέσθαι· κοινοῦ δὲ ἄμφω μετειληφέναι γένους οὐ πείθομαι, πολλοῖς τε ἄλλοις καὶ μάλιστα ταῖς φωναῖς αὐτῶν διηλλαγμέναις καὶ οὐδεμίαν ὁμοιότητα σωζούσαις τεκμαιρόμενος.
Therefore, I am convinced that an exchange of names occurred among the nations, as also of lifestyles; but I am not convinced that both shared a common origin, judging by many other things and especially by their languages, which are different and preserve no similarity.
§1.29.3ʽκ̔αὶ γὰρ δὴ οὔτε Κροτωνιῆταἰ ὥς φησιν Ἡρόδοτος ʽοὐδαμοῖσι τῶν νῦν σφεας περιοικεόντων εἰσὶν ὁμόγλωσσοι οὔτε Πλακιηνοί, σφίσι δʼ ὁμόγλωσσοι.
"For indeed neither the Crotoniates," as Herodotus says, "are of the same language as any of those who now dwell around them, nor are the Placians, but they are of the same language as each other.
δηλοῦσι δὲ ὅτι, τὸν ἠνείκαντο γλώσσης χαρακτῆρα μεταβαίνοντες ἐς ταῦτα τὰ χωρία, τοῦτον ἔχουσιν ἐν φυλακᾖ. καίτοι θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις, εἰ Πλακιανοῖς μὲν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον οἰκοῦσιν ὁμοίαν διάλεκτον εἶχον οἱ Κροτωνιᾶται, ἐπειδὴ Πελασγοὶ ἦσαν ἀμφότεροι ἀρχῆθεν, Τυρρηνοῖς δὲ τοῖς ἔγγιστα οἰκοῦσι μηδὲν ὁμοίαν.
And they show that the character of the language which they brought with them when they migrated to these places, they still keep in their possession." And yet, one would wonder if the Crotoniates had a dialect similar to the Placians who dwell around the Hellespont, since both were originally Pelasgians, but one not at all similar to the Tyrrhenians who dwell nearest to them.
εἰ γὰρ τὸ συγγενὲς τῆς ὁμοφωνίας αἴτιον ὑποληπτέον, θάτερον δή που τῆς διαφωνίας· §1.29.4οὐ γὰρ δὴ κατά γε τὸ αὐτὸ ἐγχωρεῖ νομίζειν τἀμφότερα.
For if relationship is to be assumed as the cause of the same language, surely the other must be the cause of the difference in language; for indeed it is not possible to hold both views in the same case.
καὶ γὰρ δὴ τὸ μὲν ἕτερον καὶ λόγον τινʼ ἂν εἶχε γενόμενον, τὸ δὴ τοὺς πρόσω τὰς οἰκήσεις ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων ποιησαμένους ὁμοεθνεῖς μηκέτι διασώζειν τὸν αὐτὸν τῆς διαλέκτου χαρακτῆρα διὰ τὰς πρὸς τοὺς πέλας ὁμιλίας· τὸ δὲ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς οἰκοῦντας χωρίοις μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν κατὰ τὴν φωνὴν ἀλλήλοις ὁμολογεῖν ἐκ ταὐτοῦ φύντας γένους οὐδένα λόγον ἔχει.
For indeed the one situation would have some reason in its occurrence—namely, that those of the same nation who made their dwellings far from one another should no longer preserve the same character of dialect because of their intercourse with their neighbors; but that those who dwell in the same places, though born from the same stock, should not agree with one another in language even in the slightest degree, has no reason at all.