Faliscan language
Faliscan | |
---|---|
Native to | ancient Italy |
Region | Southern Etruria (Northern Lazio) |
Extinct | about 150 BC[citation needed] |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
Etruscan, and Latin alphabets | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xfa |
xfa | |
Glottolog | fali1291 |
Map of Italy showing where Faliscan was spoken | |
Faliscan is an Extinct language according to the criteria of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
The Faliscan language is the extinct
Corpus
An estimated 355
A specimen of the language appears written around the edge of a picture on a
There are remains found in graves, which belong mainly to the period of Etruscan domination and give ample evidence of material prosperity and refinement. Earlier strata have yielded more primitive remains from the Italic epoch. Many inscriptions with mainly proper names may be regarded as Etruscan rather than Faliscan; they have been disregarded in the account of the dialect just given.[1]
The town of Feronia, in Sardinia, was named probably after their native goddess by Faliscan settlers. A votive inscription from some of them is found at S. Maria di Falleri.[4]
Phonology
Here are some of the phonetic characteristics of the Faliscan language:
- The retention of medial f, which Latin changed to b (FHEFHAKED /fefaked/ in the Praeneste fibula may be Proto-Latino-Faliscan);
- The palatalization of d followed by consonantal i into some sound, denoted merely by i-, the central sound of foied, from fo-died;
- The loss of final s, at least before certain following sounds (cra = Latin cras);
- The retention with Latin of the labiovelars (cuando = Latin quando, compare Umbrian pan(n)u);
- The assimilation of some final consonants to the initial sound of the next word: pretod de zenatuo sententiad (Conway, lib. cit. 321) = Latin praetor de senatus sententia (zenatuo for senatuos, an archaic genitive).[1]
Problem of f and h
The question of irregular, unexpected developments of the
In 1991, Rex E. Wallace and B. D. Joseph offered an explanation. They suggested that while it is documented also in Latin,[5] it is the Faliscan material that provides a clearer picture of the supposed developments.
They remark that the unexpected outcomes are absent from the archaic Faliscan inscriptions and that the regular outcomes largely outnumber the irregular ones in the Faliscan epigraphic corpus. The unexpected outcomes show up only in middle and late Faliscan. The following are the only instances:
- h for expected f:
- hileo (son) Middle Faliscan
- hirmia (gentilicium) Middle Faliscan (firmio is also attested)
- hirmio (gentilicium) Late Faliscan
- holcosio (gentilicium) Late Faliscan
- haba 'a kind of bean' < *bhabo- (cited by grammarian Quintus Terentius Scaurus as Faliscan)
- f for expected h:
- foied 'today' Middle Faliscan < *gho:d d(i)ed
- fe 'here' Late Faliscan < *ghey-ke
Wallace and Joseph suppose that the first change is a natural sound change that can be seen in many languages (
Alphabet
Faliscan inscriptions were typically recorded in a unique Faliscan alphabet. This alphabet appears in the earliest Faliscan inscriptions; it dates back to the 7th century BCE. It possibly derives from Western Greek alphabets.
The Greek letters “
Faliscan inscriptions from all time periods utilize “𐌄” as the standard symbol for the /e/ phoneme. Sometimes, “,” a less common alternative that lacked the line protrusion at the bottom of the letter was used instead. There are rare instances of the variant “” replacing the standard letter. Although this variant may be a writing error, it occurs multiple times in separate Faliscan inscriptions, indicating that it may be a legitimate alternative to the more common version. Various cursive forms of the letter are known. “II” is the most common cursive form in Faliscan inscriptions and is also the cursive form used in Latin.[7]: 384 One bronze strigil found near the necropolis by San Antonio one inscription contains the cursive variant “.” The inscription is possibly Middle Faliscan, however it is written in the Etruscan alphabet, and may be Etruscan. This is similar to an Etruscan letter “,” which was also found in a necropolis near San Antonio.[7]: 524 One rare form of the Faliscan “𐌄” is "." This form appears in two inscriptions.[7]: 384 Another example of this letter was found in a Latin inscription painted on the backs of three tiles in Ardea.[7]: 588 These more unique cursive forms may also be cursive variants of “𐌇.” The symbol "𐌇" was also used in Middle and Late Faliscan inscriptions to represent the /h/ phoneme, In some inscriptions, “" is used instead. This shape may be a simplification of "𐌇," or possibly a new symbol inspired by the Latin "H."[7]: 385 Another variant of "𐌇" is "." This form is a possibly cursive version of the letter and appears in only one inscription.[7]: 384
The transition from Early Faliscan to Middle Faliscan was accompanied by numerous changes to the Faliscan alphabet.
Throughout all of Faliscan history, “,” “,” and “𐊄” were used to represent the /t/ phoneme. The basic sign for /l/ was "𐌋," although sometimes a variant with a flattened bottom was used."" has various other forms, including "." The letter “𐌐” was typically used for the "/p/" phoneme. It has rare alternatives such as "Ρ" or "." The Faliscan letter “𐌏” which represented the “/o/“ phoneme, sometimes has a cursive variant with two open slits at the top and bottom.[7]: 385
Sample text
The following Faliscan text was engraved on a bronze tablet fastened with rivets. It is the youngest known inscription in the Faliscan alphabet; it is not significantly older than 150 BCE. It was a public dedication and utilizes the same language used by local officials. The left half was found in 1860 and the right half was found in 1870, the same year the full text was assembled and published:[7]: 494–495
"menerua· sacru
la·cotena·la·f·pretod·de
zenatuo·sententiad·uootum
dedet·cuando·datu·rected
cuncaptum"
Although it contains an almost entirely Faliscan orthography, it still several distinctly non-Faliscan features. Such as the "oo" in "uootum."[7]: 495
Another Faliscan inscription was identified on an impasto pitcher dating back to the 7th century BCE. The original text contained no word separation. It reads:[12]
"ecoqutoeuotenosiotitiasduenomduenassalue[to]duoltene:"
If it were written with word separation the text would read:[12]
"eco quto(n)e uotenosio titias duenom duenas salue[to]d uoltene."
Translated, it means:[12]
"I the-good pitcher of-Voltenus (and) of-the-good Titia. Let-it/he-greet, Voltenus."
The following Faliscan inscription dates back to the 7th or 6th century BCE and was identified on shards from a vase found in a tomb:
"ceres : far me[re]tom/me[lc]tom or me[lq]tom/me[le]tom or me[la]tom : *[3-5]uf[1-4]ui[..]m : p[ore]kad or a[dkap]iad euios : mama z[e]xtos med f[if]iqod/f[ef]iqod : prau[i]os urnam : soc[iai] porded karai : eqo urnel[a] [ti]tela fitai dupes : arcentelom huti[c?]ilom : pe:para[i] (por)douiad ["
Translated, it reads:[12]
"May Ceres extend/accept deserved/honeyed/ground spelt [3-5]uf[1-4]ui[..]m. Euius Mama Sextus fashioned/made me. Prauius/a-good?-(man) gave the-vase for-(his)-dear girlfriend."
References
- ^ a b c d Conway 1911.
- ^ G. C. L. M. Bakkum, The Latin dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 years of scholarship, University of Amsterdam Press, 2009, p. 1 for estimated number or inscriptions, p. 393ff. for Ceres inscription, and p. 406 for its general acceptance as the oldest example of Faliscan dialect.
- R. S. Conway, Italic Dialects, p. 312, b
- ^ Conway, ib. p. 335.
- ^ Proto-Indo-European *bher- > horda for forda, pregnant cow: Varro De re rustica II 5, 6; *ghaydo- fedus for hedus, goat Paulus Festi excerpta p. 84 M.
- ^ Rex E. Wallace and Brian D. Joseph "On the Problematic f/h Variation in Faliscan " in Glotta LXIX 1991 pp. 84–93.
- ^ ISBN 978-90-5629-562-2.
- ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5, retrieved 2024-02-01
- ^ Giles, Peter (1911). "Alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 – via Wikisource.
- ^ Petrie, William Matthew Flinders (1912). The Formation of the Alphabet. Macmillan and Company. p. 13.
- ^ Egbert, James Chidester (1923). Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions. American Book Company. p. 24.
- ^ a b c d Brien, Donald. Faliscan Inscriptions 2021-01-14. pp. 2–5.
Sources
- public domain: Conway, Robert Seymour (1911). "Falisci". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 148. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Adams, Douglas Q., and James P. Mallory. 1997. "Italic languages." In The encyclopedia of Indo-European culture. Edited by James P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, 314–19. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn.
- Bakkum, Gabriël C. L. M. 2009. The Latin dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 years of scholarship. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
- Baldi, Philip. 2002. The foundations of Latin. Berlin: de Gruyter.
- Clackson, James, and Geoffrey Horrocks. 2007. The Blackwell history of the Latin language. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Coleman, Robert. 1986. "The central Italic languages in the period of Roman expansion." Transactions of the Philological Society 84, no. 1: 100–131.
- Hadas-Lebel, Jean. La variante falisque. In: La variation linguistique dans les langues de l’Italie préromaine. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 2011. pp. 155–168. (Collection de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen ancien. Série philologique, 45)
- Mercado, Angelo. 2012. Italic Verse: A Study of the Poetic Remains of Old Latin, Faliscan, and Sabellic. Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität Innsbruck.
- Pulgram, Ernst. 1968. The tongues of Italy: Prehistory and history. New York: Greenwood.
- --. 1978. Italic, Latin, Italian, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1260: Texts and commentaries. Heidelberg, West Germany: Winter.
- Rigobianco, Luca. "Falisco". In: Palaeohispanica: revista sobre lenguas y culturas de la Hispania antigua n. 20 (2020): pp. 299–333.