He points to Old European hydronyms (river names) across the continent, which he reinterprets as having Basque-related origins rather than Indo-European ones.
This "substrate" influenced the vocabulary and structure of the languages that eventually replaced them. Europa Vasconica-Europa Semitica
He even suggests these colonizers significantly impacted the development of Germanic languages , influencing everything from the invention of runes to the origins of deities like the Vanir . Academic Reception He points to Old European hydronyms (river names)
While provocative, Vennemann's theories are highly debated and generally rejected by the mainstream linguistic community. Critics often argue that: Academic Reception While provocative
Vennemann posits that starting in the fifth millennium BCE, Atlantic/Semitidic seafaring colonizers (related to Semitic speakers) settled the coastal regions of Western and Northern Europe.
Vennemann argues that after the last Ice Age, much of Western and Central Europe was inhabited by speakers of Vasconic languages , of which Basque is the only surviving member.