South Picene language
|
Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC |
South Picene is an extinct
Italic language, belonging to the
Sabellic subfamily. It was spoken by the
Sabini in east-central and southern Italy during the first millennium BC.
South Picene texts were first translated in
1985; they are written in an unusual version of the
Italic alphabet that includes several characters not found in other texts. Since then, South Picene has been identified as a Sabellic language that is neither
Oscan nor
Umbrian. The writers of South Picene were identified with the historically known tribe of the
Sabini, the northern neighbors of the Romans, because of their self-identification as
Safinos.
About 50 South Picene inscriptions are known; they were mostly found in
Picenum and were created in the
6th through
4th centuries BC. Some South Picene texts were found in
Campania,
Lucania, and
Bruttium; also in
Cures, the capital of the Sabini.
*
Rix, Helmut (2004). Ausgliederung und Aufgliederung der italischen Sprachen.
Languages in Prehistoric Europe. ISBN 3-8253-1449-9
