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Reference.org
Punic language
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<p>The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the <a href="/facts/Phoenician_language/KFcxz467">Phoenician language</a>, a <a href="/facts/Canaanite_languages/S0NzB50W">Canaanite language</a> of the <a href="/facts/Northwest_Semitic_languages/jQvC3N5J">Northwest Semitic</a> branch of the <a href="/facts/Semitic_languages/WCYrz4Qm">Semitic languages</a>. An offshoot of the Phoenician language of coastal <a href="/facts/West_Asia/xXM15vIz">West Asia</a> (modern <a href="/facts/Lebanon/2dReTXyp">Lebanon</a> and north western <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a>), it was principally spoken on the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean</a> coast of <a href="/facts/Northwest_Africa/oIcU24Mz">Northwest Africa</a>, the <a href="/facts/Iberian_Peninsula/ztFXI8zt">Iberian Peninsula</a> and several <a href="/facts/List_of_islands_in_the_Mediterranean/a68FvXVf">Mediterranean islands</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Malta/FsqM3M37">Malta</a>, <a href="/facts/Sicily/E6fug03z">Sicily</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sardinia/7GGJNHCx">Sardinia</a> by the <a href="/facts/Punic_people/FLAl3pXD">Punic people</a>, or western <a href="/facts/Phoenicia/6GXLneNU">Phoenicians</a>, throughout <a href="/facts/Classical_antiquity/JBq8vEX9">classical antiquity</a>, from the 8th century BC to the 6th century AD. </p>