Punic is a Semitic language originating in North Africa. It developed from Phoenician and is located in the Canaanite subfamily, alongside Hebrew. It is more distantly related to Aramaic and Arabic.

In Real Life

Punic developed from Phoenician around the 9th century, when Carthage split from Phoenician culture. Punic was the de facto official language of the Carthaginian Empire but was used throughout North Africa in other cultures as well.

Presently, there are no speakers of Punic, native or as a second language. A Punic revival seems unlikely as very little of Punic has been translated - there is simply insufficient texts to allow Punic to be entirely translated into a more well known language.

Phonetically, there are two interesting characteristics of Punic. The Punic written language, much like Phoenician, lacks any sort of vowels. Punic is also written using the Latin alphabet but even then, it still lacks written vowels, the vowel sounds are simply implied. This necessitates a knowledge of the spoken form or a Punic word before it's written form for proper pronunciation.

The second interesting characteristic of Punic is the loaned sound of an aspirative "h". Aspiration is the release of air that follows a sound (Though it can occur before, known as preaspiration). The aspirate "h" is found in modern English as well as a number of European and African languages.

In Nation States

Punic is the de facto official language of Former Carthage.