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standard or central Oscan of Samnium. There can also be no reasonable doubt, though doubt has strangely been raised, that the popular farces at See also:

Rome called Atellanae were acted in Oscan; See also:

STRABO (born c. 63 n.c.)

Strabo (v. p. 233) records this most explicitly as a curious survival. This name, for what ought probably to be called the Samnite or Safine speech, is due to See also:

HISTORICAL

historical causes, but is, in fact, incorrect. The Osci proper were not See also:

SAMNITES

Samnites, but the See also:

ITALIC

Italic, Pre-Tuscan and Pre-Greek inhabitants of Campania. This is the sense in which Strabo regularly uses the name "OoKot (cf. v. 247), so that it is quite possible that we should connect them with the other tribes whose Ethnica were formed with the -co- suffix and with the See also:

PLEBS (from the root seen in Lat. plenus, full; cf. Gr. 7rXit9os)

plebs of Rome (see See also:

VOLSCI

Volsci and ROME). For further See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence as to the See also:

HISTORY

history of the names Osci, Opsci, Opici, see R. S.

See also:

Conway, The Italic Dialects, p. 149. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief monuments of the language, as spoken in Campania, come from See also:

POMPEII

Pompeii, See also:

NOLA

Nola, See also:

Capua and See also:

CUMAE (Gr. Kb/.m)

Cumae (q.v.). From the two towns last mentioned we have the interesting See also:

GROUP

group of heraldic inscriptions known as See also:

IOVILAE, or JOVILAE

Iovilae (q.v.), and two interesting curses inscribed on See also:

lead plates and, so to speak, posted in See also:

GRAVES, ALFRED PERCEVAL (1846— )

graves, for See also:

CONVEYANCE

conveyance to the deities of the Underworld. One of these may be quoted as a typical specimen of the Oscan of Campania: From the memnim-Curse luvikis uhtavis statiis gaviis See also:

nep fatium nep deikum putians; luvkis uhtavis nzsvellum velliam nep deikum nep fatlum putiad, nep memnim nep clam sifei heriiad. " (See also:

LUCIUS

Lucius Octauius, See also:

STATIUS, PUBLIUS PAPINIUS (c. A.D. 45-96)

Statius Gauius neue memorare neue indicare possint. Lucius Octauius Nouellum Velliam neue memorare neue Indicare possit, neue monumentum neue sepulcrum (?) See also:

SIBI

sibi adipiscatur.") The language as spoken in Samnium may be illustrated by a few sentences from the Tabula Agnonensis, now in the See also:

BRITISH

British Museum: status pies set See also:

HERON (Fr. heron; Ital. aghirone, airone; Lat. ardea; Gr. ipw&bs: A.-S. hragra; Icelandic, hegre; Swed. hager; Dan. heire; Ger. Heiger, Reiher, Heergans; Dutch, reiger)

heron kerriiin; diuvei verehasiui statif, diuvei regaturei stat , hereklui kerriiai statif, patanai partial statlf, deivai genetal statif. aasai purasiai saahtum lt i u id i hi tefrm are erep enesaaer. Anteuortae (?) Cereali statua, Nutrici Cereali statua, Florae Cereali statua, Mercurio patri statua.") It remains to See also:

NOTICE

notice briefly (I) the chief characteristics which See also:

mark off the Osco-Umbrian, or, as they might more conveniently be termed, the Safine group of dialects, from the Latinian, and (2) the features which distinguish Oscan and the dialects most closely allied to it, e.g. North-Oscan (see PAELIGNI), from the Umbrian or (more strictly) Iguvine dialect (see See also:

IGUVIUM (mod. Gubbio, q.v.)

IGUvIUM). (A.) Phonology.—I. The See also:

CONVERSION (Lat. conversio, from convertere, to turn or ,change)

conversion of the Indo-See also:

EUROPEAN

European velars into labials, e.g. Oscan and Umbrian pis = See also:

Lat. quis, Osc.

Umb. pod = Lat. quad. Umb. petur-pursus = Lat. quadrupedibus ; Osc. kombened = Lat. See also:

CONVENT (Lat. conventus, from convenire, to come together)

convent, from the Indo-European See also:

root *g°em-, Eng. come, See also:

SANSKRIT

Sanskrit gam-; Umb. See also:

ACCUSATIVE (Lat. accusativus, sc. casus, a translation of the Gr. aletartKI vrrwves, the case concerned with cause and effect, from atria, a cause)

accusative bum=Sanskritgam, Eng. cow, the Lat. bas, bouis having been borrowed from some Safine dialect, since the pure Latin See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form would have been *uos- 2. The extrusion or See also:

SYNCOPE (Gr. vvyKO7n , a cutting up or short, from Kbirrew, to cut)

syncope (a) of See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short vowels in the second syllable of a word, e.g. Oscan opsa-, Umbrian osa-, from an Italic See also:

STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem *See also:

OPERA (Italian for " work ")

opera-, " to See also:

WORK

work, build," cf. Lat. opera, " work," and operari (although this verb appears in Latin to have been invented only at a See also:

LATE

late See also:

period); Osc. actud, Umb. aitu=Lat. agito; Umb. mersto-, from Italic *medesto-, " iustus," beside Lat. modestus. (b) Of short vowels before final s, Osc. hiirz (pronounced horts)=Lat. hortus; Umb. ikuvins=Lat. Iguuinus; Osc. nom. p1. humuns, O. Lat. homones; Umb. abl. pl. avis for *avifos = Lat. auibus. 3. The preservation of s before n, m and 1 (whereas in Latin it is lost with " compensatory lengthening " of the previous vowel when the See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change is medial) : Umb. ahesnes, abl. pl.=Lat. ahenis; Paelignian prismu (nom. sing. fem.)=Lat. prima; Osc. Stabiis= Lat. Labius.

4. Instead of Lat. -nd- we have in Osco-Umbrian nn—which the Umbrian poet See also:

PLAUTUS, TITUS MACCIUS (originally perhaps MACCUS; cf. Asin. Prol. 11)

Plautus reproduces as a vulgarism in the well-known See also:

LINE

line (See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

Miles Glor., v. 14, I. 1399), distennite hominem, et dispennite; hence the gerundives, Osc. opsannam=Lat. operandam. So Umbrian pihaner, from pihanneis (gen. sing. masc.), See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent to Lat. piandi. It is not certain what the See also:

ORIGINAL

original group of sounds was which appears in the shape of -nn- in Osco-Umbrian and -nd- in Latin, nor whether this group of sounds, whatever it was (possibly -ni-), became -nd- before it became -nn-. 5. Final a became o in both Oscan (u.) and Umbrian (often written u), e.g. Oscan See also:

vie=Lat. uia; Umb. adro (nom. pl. neut.) =Lat. atra. 6. Italic a became closer in Osco-Umbrian; in the Oscan See also:

ALPHABET (see also WRITING)

alphabet it is denoted by a See also:

SPECIAL

special sign r, which is best reproduced by I (although the misleading See also:

SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

symbol i with an See also:

ACCENT

accent upon it is frequently used).

In the Umbrian alphabet (see IGUVIUM) It is variously written e and i, and in the Latin alphabet, when used to write Oscan and Umbrian, we have e, i, and occasionally even ei, e.g. Osc. ligatuis = Lat. legatis, but ligis (in Latin alphabet) =Lat. legibus; Umb. tref and trif = Lat. tres ; N. Osc. sefei = Lat. sibi. 7. An original short i in Osco-Umbrian became identical in quality, though not in quantity, with the vowel just described, and is written with just the same symbols in all the alphabets, e.g. Osc. Umb. See also:

PAL, KRISTO DAS (1839–1884)

pal- = Lat. quid. 8. Precisely analogous changes happened with Italic o and u; the resulting vowel being denoted in Oscan alphabet both by u and by iii (V), in Umbrian alphabet by u, in Latin alphabet by o. It is well to add here one or two other characteristics in which Oscan alone is more See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive, not merely than Latin, but even than Umbrian. (a) Oscan retains s between vowels, whereas in both Latin and Umbrian it became r. In Oscan it seems to have become voiced, as it is represented by z in Latin alphabet, e.g. gen. pl. fem. egmazum, rerum "; ezum, in Oscan alphabet esom, pres. infin.

" else." (b) Oscan retains the diphthongs ai, ei, oi, ou (representing both original eu and ou) and au even in unaccented syllables, e.g. abl. pl. feihuis, " muris "; dat. pl. diumpais, " lymphis "; infin. deicum dicere." (c) Oscan retains final, d, e.g. abl. masc. sing. do/nd Lat. dolo. (B.) See also:

MORPHOLOGY, (Gr. yopdsil, form)

Morphology.—I. In nouns. (a) Considerable levelling has taken See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place between the consonantal and the -o- stems; thus the gen. sing. masc. of Osc. teerom (neut. =Lat. " terra ") is teereis, just like that of the consonantal stem langin-, gen. tangineis. Conversely we have the all. tanginud on the See also:

PATTERN

pattern of o- stem ablatives, like doled. (b) In the a-stems and the e-stems we have several primitive forms which are obscured in Latin, e.g. gen. sing. See also:

FERN (from O. Eng. fearn, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch varen, and Ger. Farn; the Indo-European root, seen in the Sanskrit parna, a feather, shows the primary meaning; cf. Gr. rmep6 , feather, rTepis, fern)

fern. eltuas, " pecuniae "; gen. pl. masc. Nuvlanum, " Nolanorum "; and the locative is still a living See also:

case in both declensions, e.g. Osc. terei " in terra," vial " in via." II. In verbs. (a) The formation of the See also:

INFINITIVE

infinitive in -um-, e.g.

Osc. ezum, Umb. erom, " esse "; opsaum, " operari, facere " (cf. See also:

art LATIN LANGUAGE, § 32). (b) The formation of the future, and future perfect indicative respectively, with stems in -es- and -us-; Oscan didest, " dabit "; deivast " iurabit " • censaze (n)t, " censebunt " Umb. ferest, " feret "; fut. perf. Osc. fefacust, " fecerit "; Osc. and Umb. just, "fuerit "; Umb. fakust, "fecerit," fakurent, "fecerint" furent, " fuerint." (c) Several new methods of forming the perfect from vowel stems, e.g. the Oscan and Umbrian -f- perfects. Osc. 1st sing. perf. manafum, " mandaui "; 3rd sing. aamanaffed, " mandauit, imperauit "; 3rd pl. Osc. fufens, " fuerunt " (cf. Umb. perf. subj. passive impersonal pihafei, " piatum sit °'). One other formation occurs frequently in Oscan (from a- verbs), whose origin is obscure. In this the perfect characteristic is -tt-, e.g. pr 'Vatted, " prohauit." (d) The See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar and interesting impersonal or semi-See also:

PERSONAL

personal forms which ultimately See also:

DEVELOPED

developed into a full passive, e.g. Osc. sakraf1r, sacrauerit aliquis " governing an accusative; Umb. ferar, ferat aliquis " (see the See also:

section on the passive under Latin Language). (C.) Syntax.—It may be said generally that there are very few if any peculiarities in the syntax of the Oscan and Umbrian inscriptions as compared with Latin usage, though a large number of See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar Latin idioms appear, such as the abl. See also:

ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute; the abl. fluusasiais az hurt um sakarater; pernai kerriiai statif, See also:

animal kerrliai statif, fluusal kerriiai statif, evklui paterei statif.

(" Qui erecti aunt in horto Cereali. Ioui uigiliarum patrono (?) statua, Ioui Rectori statua, Herculi Cereali statua, Pandae ll~ortg (i') statua, Divae Genetae statua. In ara ignea crematio sancta altero quoque festo (an ` See also:

ANNO, or HANNO, SAINT (c. Toro—ro75)

anno '?) sancitur (an ' sanciatur ' ?). Deabus Floralibus iuxta hortum sacratur (an ' sacrantur ' ?) : 346 of circumstance, the genitive in judicial phrases, the use of the neut. adj. as an abstract substantive, e.g. Oscan ualaemom touticom, optimum publicum," i.e. " optima rei publicae ratio." In verbal forms the same use of the gerundive combined with the noun to represent the See also:

TOTAL

total verbal See also:

ACTION

action, e.g. Umb. ocrer pehaner See also:

PACA

paca, " arcis piandae causa "; the usual sequence of tenses, e.g. the imperfect subj. in Oratio Obliqua representing the fut. indic. in Oratio Recta (see See also:

CIPPUS (Lat. for a " post " or " stake ")

Cippus Abellamus b 23, 25) ; and finally the use of the perf. subj. in Oscan in prohibitions (nep fefacid, ' neue fecerit "), but also in See also:

POSITIVE (or PORTABLE) ORGAN

positive commands (Osc. sakrafir, see above). See also:

Fuller accounts of the dialects in all these aspects will be found most exhaustively in Von Planta, Grammatik der Oskisch-umbrischen .Dialekte (See also:

STRASSBURG, or STRASBURG (French Strasbourg)

Strassburg, 1892-1897). Less fully, but very clearly and acutely in C. D. See also:

Buck's Oscan and Umbrian See also:

GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. ypaµ)

Grammar (See also:

Boston, U.S.A., 1904). R.

S. Conway, The Italic Dialects, vol. ii. (See also:

Cambridge, 1897), gives a fuller See also:

account of the alphabets and their history, a Conspectus of the See also:

ACCIDENCE (a mis-spelling of " accidents," from the Latin neuter plural accidentia, casual events)

Accidence and an account of the Syntax at some length. (R. S.

End of Article: OSCA LINGUA, or OSCAN

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