Oscan language

Denarius of Marsican Confederation with Oscan legend.

Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC

Oscan, the language of the Osci, is in the Sabellic branch of the Italic language family, which is a branch of Indo-European and includes Umbrian, Latin and Faliscan. It was spoken in Samnium and in Campania, as well as in Lucania and Abruzzo. Oscan is known from inscriptions beginning in the 5th century BC. The most important Oscan inscriptions are the Tabula Bantina and the Cippus Abellanus. Oscan was written in the Latin and Greek alphabets, as well as in a variety of the Old Italic alphabet.

Dialects of Oscan include Samnite, Marrucine, Paelignan, Vestinian, Sabine, and Marsian.

Oscan had much in common with Latin, though there are also many striking differences, and many common word-groups in Latin were absent and represented by entirely different forms. For example, Latin volo, velle, volui, and other such forms from the Proto-Indo-European root *wel ('to will') were represented by words derived from *gher ('to desire'): Oscan herest ('he wants, desires') as opposed to Latin vult (id.). Latin locus (place) was absent and represented by slaagid (place).

In phonology Oscan also showed differences from Latin: Oscan 'p' in place of Latin 'qu' (Osc. pis, Lat. quis); 'b' in place of Latin 'v'; medial 'f' in contrast to Latin 'b' or 'd' (Osc. mefiai, Lat. mediae).

Considered the most conservative of all the known Italic languages, Oscan is rivaled only by Greek in the retention of the inherited vowel system with the diphthongs intact.

Example of an Oscan text (the Cippus Abellanus):

ekkum[svaí píd herieset trííbarak[avúm tereí púd liímítú[m] pernúm [púís herekleís fíísnú mefi[ú íst, ehtrad feíhúss pú[s

 herekleís fíísnam amfr 
 et, pert víam pússtíst 
 paí íp íst, pústin slagím
 senateís suveís tangi
 núd tríbarakavúm lí
 kítud. íním íúk tríba
 rakkiuf pam núvlanús 
 tríbarakattuset íúk trí
 barakkiuf íním úíttiuf 
 abellanúm estud. avt
 púst feíhúís pús físnam am
 fret, eíseí tereí nep abel
 lanús nep núvlanús pídum
 tríbarakattíns. avt the 
 savrúm púd eseí tereí íst,

pún patensíns, múíníkad ta[n ginúd patensíns, íním píd e[íseí thesavreí púkkapíd ee[stit a]íttíúm alttram alttr[ús h]erríns. avt anter slagím a]bellanam íním núvlanam s]úllad víú uruvú íst . edú e]ísaí víaí mefiaí teremen n]iú staíet.

References

* Buck, Carl Darling. 1904. A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian. With a Collection of Inscriptions and a Glossary. Reprinted by Evolution Publishing, 2005.
* Salvucci, Claudio R. 1999. A Vocabulary of Oscan. Evolution Publishing.

External link

* Oscan vocabulary.

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