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.

Pre-Samnite
Native to	Italy
Region	Campania
Era	6th–5th centuries BC
Language family	Indo-European Italic Osco-Umbrian (unclassified) Pre-Samnite
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	pres1240

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 possibly 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

1. Piwowarczyk, Dariusz R. (2011). "Formations of the perfect in the Sabellic languages with the Italic and Indo-European background". Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis. 128 (128): 103–126. doi:10.2478/v10148-011-0017-1.
2. Sabellian Languages, R. E. Wallace, in The Ancient Languages of Europe, Ed. R. D. Woodward.^{[page needed]}
3. Sabellian Demonstratives: Forms and Functions, Emmanuel Dupraz.^{[page needed]}
4. Calabrese, Matteo (2021-01-01). "The sacred law from Tortora". Latomus.
5. Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, Lajara. Some remarks on the new Opic "Pre-Samnite" inscription of Niumsis Tanunis ( corrected proofs).