Pauli, who has published all the known inscriptions of the Heneti, holds that the language is Illyrian, closely connected with Messapian.
The use of double consonants which has been already pointed out in the Messapian inscriptions has been very acutely connected by Deecke with the tradition that the same practice was introduced at Rome by the poet Ennius who came from the Messapian town Rudiae (Festus, p. 293 M).