The Carian language was the language of the Carians. It was an Anatolian language, apparently closer to Lydian than to Lycian. It is attested by a number of proper names (Sangodos, Kaphenos, Truoles, Nastes, Nomion, Mausolos, etc.) and a small corpus of inscriptions, from which some Carian words have been identified (see some examples below). For other uses, see Caria (disambiguation). ... The Anatolian languages are a group of extinct languages, either Indo-European or (in some classifications) closely related to Indo-European, which were spoken in Asia Minor, including Hittite. ... Lydian was an Indo-European language, one of the Anatolian languages, that was spoken in the state of Lydia in Anatolia, present day Turkey. ... Lycian was an Indo-European language, one of the Anatolian languages, that was spoken in the Iron age city-state of Lycia in Anatolia, present day Turkey. ... Mausolus (more correctly Maussollus), was satrap of the Persian empire and practically ruler of Caria (377-353/352 BC). ...

The Carian language was heavily influenced by older aboriginal languages of Anatolia, such as the pre-Indo-European tongue of the Leleges who also dwelt in Caria (and with whom the Carians were sometimes confounded). Hellenization of Caria would lead to the extinction of the Carian language in the first century BC or early in the Common Era. Anatolia (Greek: ανατολή anatolē or anatolí, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish associated with Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion... The Pre-Indo-European population of Europe included an unknown number of ethnic groups that dwelt on the continent before the coming of the speakers of Indo-European languages (though some scholars dispute the Indo-European invasion theory: see Paleolithic Continuity Theory). ... The Leleges were one of the aboriginal peoples of Greece, the Aegean and southwest Anatolia (compare Pelasgians), who were found there when the Indo-European Hellenes arrived. ... Caria (Greek Καρία) was a region of Asia Minor, situated south of Ionia, and west of Phrygia and Lycia. ...

Carian words

• avka 'definition, situation' (Lydian avka-, 'a situation')
• cehi 'him' (Lycian se-si, 'him')
• glous 'robber, pirate'
• kave 'a priest' (Lydian kave, 'a priest')
• lile 'atonement' (Hittite 'lila', 'atonement')
• mukwar 'a prayer' (Hittite mugawwar, 'a prayer')
• ravmi 'liberated' (Hittite arawa, 'free')
• sav- 'to glorify'
• sav, sava 'something good' (Lydian sav-, 'good')
• tavse 'powerful' (Lydian tavs'a, 'power' <PIE *teu, 'powerful, swollen')
• ul-, velu- (Hittite walla, 'to praise' <PIE *wel, 'to wish, will')
• usselos 'spear-carrier' (<PIE *wedh, 'to thrust, strike')
• ussos 'spear' (<PIE *wedh, 'to thrust, strike')