Pre-Samnite language

Pre-Samnite
Native to Italy
Region Campania
Era 5th–6th centuries BCE
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog None

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 colonised by Samnites, who spoke Oscan.[1] Pre-Samnite is recorded in a few short inscriptions[1] dating from around 500 BC.[2] The language belongs to the Sabellian group of languages, and may be closely related to Oscan, but shows a number of archaic features which were lost from Oscan.[3] However, the material is too scanty to enable a precise determination of the relation of Pre-Samnite either to Oscan or to the other Sabellian languages.

References

  1. 1 2 Sabellian Languages, R. E. Wallace, in The Ancient Languages of Europe, Ed. R. D. Woodward
  2. ↑ Formations of the perfect in the Sabellian languages with the Italic and Indo-European background, D. Piwowarczyk
  3. ↑ Sabellian Demonstratives: Forms and Functions, Emmanuel Dupraz
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