Oscan language

Oscan is an old language that is no longer spoken today. It was part of a group of languages called Indo-European and belonged to the Osco-Umbrian branch, which is related to Umbrian and South Picene.

Many tribes in southern Italy spoke Oscan. These tribes included the Samnites, Lucani, Aurunci, Ausones, and Sidicini. Sometimes these tribes were called Osci.

Oscan was written using an alphabet that came from the Etruscan alphabet. People used this writing system in Campania and nearby areas from around 500 years before Christ until at least the year 100 after Christ.

Evidence

Oscan is known from inscriptions that date back to the 5th century BCE. Some important Oscan writings are the Tabula Bantina, the Oscan Tablet, and the Cippus Abellanus. In Apulia, old money had Oscan writing on it before 300 BCE, found in Teanum Apulum. Oscan graffiti on the walls of Pompeii show the language was still used in cities as late as the 1st century AD.

By 2017, people had found 800 Oscan texts, and more are being found each year. Oscan was written in different ways depending on when and where, using the Oscan script, a version based on Greek called the South Oscan script, and later the Roman Oscan script.

Demise

In parts of Southern Italy near the coast, Oscan lived on for three hundred years alongside Greek from 400 to 100 BCE. Both languages were used without one replacing the other. But during the Roman period, both Oscan and Greek slowly disappeared from Southern Italy. The use of Oscan went down after the Social War. Writing on walls in towns where Oscan was spoken shows that people still used it in everyday life. One example is Oscan writing found in Pompeii on walls that were rebuilt after an earthquake of 62 CE, meaning the writing was done between 62 and 79 CE. Some experts say this does not prove Oscan was still an official language because public writings in Oscan stopped after the Romans took over. It seems that Latin was used for important things like government and religion, while Oscan was used more in daily life. This mix of languages is called diglossia with bilingualism. There are a few examples of Oscan writing from the 1st century CE, but it is hard to find proof that Roman citizens with Latin spoke a non-Latin language at home.

General characteristics

Oscan speakers lived near the people of Latium. Early writings in Latin were found close to where Oscan was spoken. For example, the Garigliano Bowl was found near Minturnae, not far from Capua, a big Oscan town.

Oscan shared some similarities with Latin, but it also had many differences. Some words in Latin had completely different forms in Oscan. In sounds, Oscan also differed from Latin. For example, where Latin used "qu," Oscan used "p," and Latin "v" was like Oscan's "b."

Oscan is thought to be one of the oldest forms of the Italic languages, keeping many original sounds just like Greek did.

Writing system

Alphabet

Oscan used a special "Oscan alphabet" that came from the Old Italic scripts related to the Etruscan alphabet. Later, people also used the Greek and Latin alphabets.

The Etruscan alphabet

The Osci began using the old Etruscan alphabet around the 7th century BCE. A clear Oscan version appeared in the 5th century BCE. By the early 3rd century BCE, they added new signs to the Etruscan alphabet, including special forms of I and U called Í and Ú.

The Greek alphabet

When Oscan was written with the Greek alphabet, it used the normal Greek letters plus two extra ones for sounds from the native alphabet.

The Latin alphabet

In the Latin alphabet, the Oscan letter Z stood for the sound [z] instead of [ts], which is different from how it worked in the native alphabet.

Transliteration

When Oscan writings are shared today, those in the "Oscan" alphabet are shown in Latin boldface, those in the "Latin" alphabet are shown in Latin italics, and those in the "Greek" alphabet are shown in the modern Greek alphabet. All letters are written in lower case.

Phonology

Oscan has special ways of changing sounds, especially vowels. Vowels can get longer when certain letters like ns or nct come after them. Sometimes a new vowel appears between a special sound (like l or n) and another consonant.

Vowels

A

The short sound a stays mostly the same. The long sound ā stays in the beginning or middle of words. At the end of words, ā starts to sound a bit like ú or sometimes u.

E

The short sound e usually stays the same. But before certain letters in the middle of a word, it can change to u or i. Before another vowel, e can sound higher, written as í. The long sound ē also raises and is written as í or íí.

I

The short sound i is written as í. The long sound ī is written with i and sometimes shown with doubling as ií.

O

The short sound o mostly stays the same and is written ú. Before the ending -m, it can sound more like u. The long sound ō is shown with u or uu.

U

The short sound u usually stays the same. After certain letters like t, d, or n, it can sound like iu. The long sound ū mostly stays the same but can change to an ī sound in single-letter words and maybe at the end of words.

Diphthongs

Oscan had the following diphthongs:

These diphthong sounds stayed the same from their original ancient roots.

Consonants

The consonant sounds of Oscan are shown here:

S

In Oscan, the sound s between vowels became voiced, turning into the sound /z/. When rs appeared between vowels, it could become a simple r with a longer vowel sound before it, or turn into a long rr. At the end of words, rs became r, similar to Latin. Unlike Latin, Oscan and Umbrian did not drop the s sound from clusters like sm, sn, and sl.

Morphology

Oscan nouns can show different meanings, such as naming something or showing ownership. Like Latin, Oscan nouns follow special patterns called declensions.

The first declension in Oscan has some unique traits. It uses different endings for some forms and keeps older patterns from very old Latin.

The second declension also has special features. For example, masculine nouns often end in -s in the single form, and the ending for showing ownership is -eís.

The third declension mixes two types of noun patterns, similar to Latin.

Verbs in Oscan change based on time (like past or future), mood (like commands), and person (like "I" or "they"). They also have different forms for active and passive actions.

Oscan has its own ways to form past tense verbs, such as repeating parts of the word, adding endings, or using different root words.

Examples of Oscan texts

From the Cippus Abellanus

Here is an example of an old writing in Oscan. It talks about rules for building near a temple. It says that people can build outside the walls around the temple, but not inside. It also mentions sharing treasures found in the area fairly.

From Tabula Bantina

First paragraph

This part of the text is about rules for voting and decisions made by leaders. It says that leaders must follow the will of most people.

Second paragraph

This section talks about what happens if a leader breaks the rules. It says there will be a big fine if someone does this.

Third Paragraph

This part explains more rules for leaders when they are making important decisions about people. It says leaders must ask the people many times before making a decision.

The Testament of Vibius Adiranus

Main article: Testament of Vibius Adiranus

This is a message from someone named Vibius Adiranus. He gave money to build something, and another person named Vibius Vinicius helped make sure it was built properly.