• Source: Pre-Samnite language

Pre-Samnite was an ancient language spoken in southern Campania, in Italy. The name Pre-Samnite refers to the fact that the language was spoken in early times in an area that was later colonized by Samnites, who spoke Oscan. Pre-Samnite is recorded in a few short inscriptions dating from around 500 BC. The language belongs to the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, and may be closely related to Oscan, but shows a number of archaic features which were lost from Oscan. However, the material is too scant to enable a precise determination of the relation of Pre-Samnite either to Oscan or to the other Sabellian languages.




Sample text


The following text is a proposed reconstruction of a Pre-Samnite inscription found in Tortora:

"[πον/πονν]ει ι[ι]οϝιιοι
fεfικεδ [ε]κ[υ] ρε[κ]
[τ]ισυμαδ αματες
[ν]ε πυσμοι αυνοι ϝι[τλοι]
[ε]ντρο[σ]δ οσερϝια[τοδ]
[2]ενς [ν]ει ϙοβετι[ϝ]το α [h]ιρνενι[α]
[ν]οι ϝολαισυμος fυfϝοδ ο fρι
ϙτο[ς] αστ εσ[μ]ι τερμανι[ν]
[πραι]τοϝτιδ νεπ ιες
σ[ϝ]εδ ϝολος fυfυϝοδ
νεπ ιστα[κ] ιοσϙτοδ

αα [h]ιρνενια"
The proposed translation for this text reads:

"Whenever one sacrificed (a yearling lamb) to Jovius, thus they very rightly decreed: no one shall observe this yearling lamb’s entrails by speaking; no one shall libate in the vase nor on the flawless roasted (entrails) by uttering words; and at this border sign before the city no one shall libate on these flawless (entrails) or pour broth on this vase."
Another proposed reconstruction of the Tortora inscriptions reads:

[5]ειι[.]οϝιιοι…[--
--]fεfικεδ[.]κ[.]ρε.[--
--]ισυμαδαματεσ[--
--]επυσμοιαυνοιϝι[--
--]ντρο[.]δοσερϝια[--
[2]ενσ[.]ειϙοβετι[.]τοα[.]ιρνενι[
--]οιϝολαισυμοσfυfϝοδο(vacat)fρι[?]
ϙτο[..]αστεσ[.]ιτερμανι[--
--]τοϝτιδνεπιεσε[--
--]σ[.]εδϝολοσfυfυϝοδ
νεπιστα[.]ιοσϙτοδ[--
--]αα[.]ιρνενια

[4-5]νια[.]ε[.]ιι[?]υ[.]αμ[.]υουϝ[6-9]Another Pre-Samnite inscription which was probably from Capua reads:
niumsies tanunies est
paplam tens atriiam fufuhud niumsis tanunis eises ulsu dunum dedum
The original text was written in scriptio continua and in the Oscan alphabet.




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Pre-Samnite language
• Samnites
• Osco-Umbrian languages
• Proto-Indo-European language
• Samnite religion
• Italic languages
• List of Indo-European languages
• List of languages by time of extinction
• List of extinct languages and dialects of Europe
• Socii