Oscan language
- Oscan language
-
Oscan 
Denarius of Marsican Confederation with Oscan legendSpoken in Samnium, Campania, Lucania, Calabria and Abruzzo Region south and south-central Italy Extinct Latest inscriptions 1st century BC Language family Indo-European- Italic
- Osco-Umbrian (Sabellic)
- Oscan
- Osco-Umbrian (Sabellic)
Writing system Old Italic alphabet Language codes ISO 639-3 osc 
Approximate distribution of languages in Iron Age Italy during the 6th century BCThis page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. Oscan is a term used to describe both an extinct language of southern Italy and the language group to which it belonged.
The Oscan language was spoken by a number of tribes, including the Samnites[1], the Aurunci, the Sidicini, and the Ausones. The latter three tribes were often grouped under the name "Osci". The Oscan group is part of the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic family, and includes the Oscan language and three variants (Hernican, Marrucinian and Paelignian) known only from inscriptions left by the Hernici, Marrucini and Paeligni, minor tribes of eastern central Italy. The language was spoken from approximately 500 BCE to 100 CE[2].
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[edit] Evidence
Oscan is known from inscriptions dating as far back as the 5th century BCE. The most important Oscan inscriptions are the Tabula Bantina and the Cippus Abellanus.
[edit] General characteristics
Oscan had much in common with Latin, though there are also many striking differences, and many common word-groups in Latin were absent or 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 shall want, he shall desire', English cognate 'yearn') as opposed to Latin vult (id.). Latin locus (place) was absent and represented by the hapax slaagid (place), which Italian linguist Alberto Manco has recently referred to a local surviving toponym.[3]
In phonology, Oscan also showed differences from Latin: Oscan 'p' in place of Latin 'qu' (Osc. pis, Lat. quis) (similar to the P-Celtic/Q-Celtic change in the Celtic languages); 'b' in place of Latin 'v'; medial 'f' in contrast to Latin 'b' or 'd' (Osc. mefiai, Lat. mediae).[citation needed].
Oscan is considered the most conservative of all the known Italic languages, and among attested Indo-European languages it is rivaled only by Greek in the retention of the inherited vowel system with the diphthongs intact.
[edit] Writing system
Oscan was written in the Latin and Greek alphabets, as well as in a variety of the Old Italic alphabet.
The native Oscan alphabet and a transliteration are as follows.
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Oscan language — Italic language formerly spoken in southern and central Italy, related closely to Umbrian and more distantly to Latin. It was probably the native tongue of the Samnite people of Italy s central mountainous region. Oscan was gradually displaced by … Universalium
Oscan — 1. adjective Of or pertaining to the Oscan language or Oscan people, or their writing system. 2. noun a) A member of an ancient group of Italic speaking peoples of Campania (the Osci). b) The language of the Oscan people … Wiktionary
Oscan — noun Etymology: Latin Oscus Date: 1753 1. a member of a people of ancient Italy occupying Campania 2. the language of the Oscan people see Indo European languages table … New Collegiate Dictionary
Oscan — /os keuhn/, n. 1. one of an ancient people of south central Italy. 2. the Indo European, probably Italic, language of the Oscans, written in an alphabet derived from the Etruscan. adj. 3. of or pertaining to the Oscans or their language. [1590… … Universalium
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