Siculian
| Siculian | |
|---|---|
| Sicel | |
| Region | Sicily |
| Era | attested late 6th century to 4th century BCE[1][2] |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | scx |
scx | |
| Glottolog | sicu1234 |
 | |
Siculian (or Sicel) is an extinct Indo-European language spoken in central and eastern Sicily by the Sicels. It is attested in less than thirty inscriptions from the late 6th century to 4th century BCE, and in around twenty-five glosses from ancient writers.[1]
Classification
Historical sources state that Siculians entered Sicily either around the 13th century or the middle of the 11th century BCE (or in two waves), driving the prior inhabitants, the Sicanians and Elymians, to the west of the island.[1]
The prevalent modern view is that Siculian was an Italic language, although the scarcity of sources and the difficulties in interpreting inscriptions and glosses make it impossible to come to a definitive conclusion.[3][4][1]
Attestations
They used the Greek alphabet, along with a native one based upon Western Greek scripts, probably the Euboic-Chalkidic version.[1]
ΝΕΝΔΑΣ Π̣Υ̣[----]Σ ΤΕΒΕΓ ΠΡΑΑΡΕΙ ΕΝ ΒΟ[.]ΡΕΝΑΙ ϜΙΔΕ ΠΑΓΟΣΤΙΚΕ ΑΙΤΕ[--]ΛΥΒΕ
nendas ˌ puṛẹṇọṣ ˌ tebeg ˌ praarei ˌ en ˌ bo?renai ˌ vide ˌ pagostike ˌ aite?ṇ?ụbe.
tamuraabesakedqoiaves ˌ eurumakes ˌ agepipokedḷutimbe levopomanatesemaidarnakei- buṛeitaṃomịaetiurela
— Amphora from Montagna di Marzo (late 6th–early 5th c. BCE)[6]
iamˌakaramˌe?p??asˌkaag?esˌgẹpẹḍ2te?toˌveregai- es? ˌ eka ˌ doara[ịẹạḍ]
— Block of sandstone from Mendolito (late 6th c. BCE)[6]
nunus ˌ teṇti ˌ mím ˌ arustainam ˌ íemitom ˌ esti ˌ durom ˌ nanepos ˌ durom ˌ íemitom ˌ esti ˌ velíom ˌ ned ˌ emponitantom ˌ eredes ˌ vịino ˌ brtome
— Guttus from Centorbi (early 5th c. BCE)[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e Brixhe 2017, p. 1854.
- ^ Siculian at MultiTree on the Linguist List
- ^ Palmer 1988, pp. 43–45.
- ^ Tribulato 2012, p. 167.
- ^ "Stele inscritta in lingua sicula" [Stele inscribed in the Siculian language]. Voci di Pietra (in Italian).
- ^ a b c d Brixhe 2017, p. 1855.
Bibliography
- Brixhe, Claude (2017). "Siculian". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 3. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-054243-1.
- Palmer, Leonard Robert (1988). The Latin Language. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2136-9.
- Tribulato, Olga (2012). Language and Linguistic Contact in Ancient Sicily. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-85193-0.