Ancient Italic language
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 colonized by Samnites, who spoke Oscan. Pre-Samnite is recorded in a few short inscriptions dating from around 500 BC. The language belongs to the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, and may be closely related to Oscan, but shows a number of archaic features which were lost from Oscan. However, the material is too scant to enable a precise determination of the relation of Pre-Samnite either to Oscan or to the other Sabellian languages.
Sample text.
The following text is a proposed reconstruction of a Pre-Samnite inscription found in Tortora:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;"[πον/πονν]ει ι[ι]οϝιιοι
fεfικεδ [ε]κ[υ] ρε[κ] 
[τ]ισυμαδ αματες 
[ν]ε πυσμοι αυνοι ϝι[τλοι] 
[ε]ντρο[σ]δ οσερϝια[τοδ] 
[2]ενς [ν]ει ϙοβετι[ϝ]το α [h]ιρνενι[α] 
[ν]οι ϝολαισυμος fυfϝοδ ο fρι 
ϙτο[ς] αστ εσ[μ]ι τερμανι[ν] 
[πραι]τοϝτιδ νεπ ιες
σ[ϝ]εδ ϝολος fυfυϝοδ 
νεπ ιστα[κ] ιοσϙτοδ 
αα [h]ιρνενια"
The proposed translation for this text reads:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;"Whenever one sacrificed (a yearling lamb) to Jovius, thus they very rightly decreed: no one shall observe this yearling lamb’s entrails by speaking; no one shall libate in the vase nor on the flawless roasted (entrails) by uttering words; and at this border sign before the city no one shall libate on these flawless (entrails) or pour broth on this vase."
Another proposed reconstruction of the Tortora inscriptions reads:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;[5]ειι[.]οϝιιοι…[-- 
--]fεfικεδ[.]κ[.]ρε.[-- 
--]ισυμαδαματεσ[-- 
--]επυσμοιαυνοιϝι[-- 
--]ντρο[.]δοσερϝια[-- 
[2]ενσ[.]ειϙοβετι[.]τοα[.]ιρνενι[
--]οιϝολαισυμοσfυfϝοδο(vacat)fρι[?] 
ϙτο[..]αστεσ[.]ιτερμανι[-- 
--]τοϝτιδνεπιεσε[-- 
--]σ[.]εδϝολοσfυfυϝοδ 
νεπιστα[.]ιοσϙτοδ[--
--]αα[.]ιρνενια 
[4-5]νια[.]ε[.]ιι[?]υ[.]αμ[.]υουϝ[6-9]Another Pre-Samnite inscription which was probably from Capua reads:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;niumsies tanunies est
paplam tens atriiam fufuhud niumsis tanunis eises ulsu dunum dedum
The original text was written in "scriptio continua" and in the Oscan alphabet.
References.
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