Osco-Umbrian languages

Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC

The Osco-Umbrian languages or Sabellic languages are a group of languages that belong to the Italic language family of the Indo-European languages. They were spoken in central and southern Italy before Latin replaced them as the power of the Romans expanded. Quantities of text in Osco-Umbrian have survived.

The following languages belong to this group: languages of the Umbrian group (the Umbrian language, the Aequian language, the Volscian language, and the Marsian language), the Oscan language, and the South Picene language.

Past usage

Sabellic was the name originally given by Theodor Mommsen in his Unteritalische Dialekte to the pre-Roman dialects of Central Italy which were neither Oscan nor Umbrian. Since then, the name has fallen out of use; nowadays, it is used again to describe the Osco-Umbrian languages as a whole. The North Picene language was considered Sabellic; it is now believed to be a non-Indo-European language.

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