The Latino-Faliscan or Latinian languages form a group of the Italic languages within the Indo-European family. They were spoken by the Latino-Faliscan people of Italy who lived there from the early 1st millennium BCE.
| Latino-Faliscan | |
|---|---|
| Latinian | |
| Geographic distribution | Originally Latium in Italy, then throughout the Roman Empire, especially in the western regions; now also throughout Latin America, Eastern Canada, and many countries in Africa |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Latino-Faliscan |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | lati1262 |
 Latino-Faliscan languages and dialects in different shades of blue. | |
Latin and Faliscan belong to the group, as well as two others often considered dialects of archaic Latin:[citation needed]Lanuvian and Praenestine.
As the power of Ancient Rome grew, Latin absorbed elements of the other languages and replaced Faliscan. The other variants went extinct as Latin became dominant. Latin in turn developed via Vulgar Latin into the Romance languages, now spoken by more than 800 million people, largely as a result of the influence of the Roman Empire initially, and in later times the Spanish, French and Portuguese Empires.
Lanuvian
Lanuvian was an archaic Latino-Faliscan language. It was spoken by Latins who lived close to Rome and could have been a dialect of Latin.
Praenestinian
Praenestinian was an archaic dialect of Latino-Faliscan. It was spoken in eastern Old Latium in modern day Lazio, Italy.
Linguistic description
Latin and Faliscan have several features in common with other Italic languages:
- The late Indo-European diphthong /*eu/ evolved into ou.
- The late Indo-European /*ə/ from vocalic laryngeals evolved into a.
- The Indo-European syllabic liquids /*l̥, *r̥/ developed an epenthetic vowel o, giving Italic ol, or.
- The Indo-European syllabic nasals /*m̥, *n̥/ developed an epenthetic vowel e, giving Italic em, en.
- Word-initial aspirated stops from Indo-European were fricativised: /*bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ, gʷʰ / > f, f, h, f.
- The sequence /*p...kʷ/ was assimilated into kʷ...kʷ (Proto-Indo-European *penkʷe 'five' > Latin quinque).
Latin and Faliscan also have characteristics not shared by other branches of Italic. They retain the Indo-European labiovelars /*kʷ, *gʷ/ as qu-, gu- (later becoming velar and semivocal), whereas in Osco-Umbrian they become labial p, b. Latin and Faliscan use the ablative suffix -d, seen in med ("me", ablative), which is absent in Osco-Umbrian. In addition, Latin displays evolution of ou into ū, though this happens later than the Latino-Faliscan era, occurring around the 2nd century BCE (Latin lūna < Proto-Italic *louksnā < PIE *lówksneh₂ "moon").
Phonology
It is likely that the consonant inventory of Proto-Latino-Faliscan was basically identical to that of archaic Latin. Consonants not found in the Praeneste fibula are marked with an asterisk.
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-
velarGlottal Plosive voiceless *p *t k *kʷ voiced *b d *g *gʷ Fricative f s *h Sonorants *r, *l j *w Nasal m n
The /kʷ/ sound still existed in archaic Latin when the Latin alphabet was developed, since it gives rise to the minimal pair quī /kʷiː/ ("who", nominative) > cuī /ku.iː/ ("to whom", dative). In other positions there is no distinction between diphthongs and hiatuses: for example, persuādere ("to persuade") is a diphthong but sua ("his"/"her") is a hiatus. For reasons of symmetry, it is quite possible that many sequences of gu in archaic Latin in fact represent a voiced labiovelar /gʷ/.[citation needed]
See also
References
- "Lanuvian". LINGUIST List. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
- Sturtevant, E. H. (1920). "The Italic Languages". The Classical Weekly. 14 (9): 66–69. doi:10.2307/4388079. ISSN 1940-641X. JSTOR 4388079.
- Pei, Mario; Gaynor, Frank (1954). Dictionary of Linguistics. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 173. ISBN 9781442234055.
- Bakkum 2008, pp. 61–3.
- Bakkum 2008, p. 58, 59.
- Bakkum 2008, p. 64.
- Bakkum 2008, p. 70.
- Bakkum 2008, p. 65.
- Bakkum 2008, p. 69.
- Villar, Francisco [in Italian] (1997). Gli Indoeuropei e le origini dell'Europa [Indo-Europeans and the origins of Europe] (in Italian). Bologna, Il Mulino: Il mulino. ISBN 88-15-05708-0.
- Vineis, Edoardo (1995). "X. Latin". In Giacolone Ramat, Anna; Ramat, Paolo (eds.). Las lenguas indoeuropeas [The Indo-European languages] (in Spanish). Madrid: Cátedra. pp. 349–421. ISBN 84-376-1348-5.
- Bakkum, Gabriël C.L.M. (2008). The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus : 150 Years of Scholarship. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. doi:10.5117/9789056295622 (inactive 10 January 2025). ISBN 978-90-5629-562-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2025 (link)
Further reading
- 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.
- Giacomelli, Roberto. 1979. "Written and spoken language in latin-faliscan and greek-messapic." Journal of Indo-European Studies 7 no. 3–4: 149–75.
- 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.
- Palmer, Leonard R. 1961. The Latin language. London: Faber and Faber.
- Joseph, Brian D., and Rex E. Wallace. 1991. "Is faliscan a local latin patois?" Diachronica: International Journal for Historical Linguistics/Revue Internationale Pour La Linguistique Historiqu 8, no. 2: 159–86.
- Rigobianco, Luca. 2019. Faliscan. Language, Writing, Epigraphy. Aelaw Booklet 7. Zaragoza.
- Rigobianco, Luca. 2020. «Falisco», Palaeohispanica 20: 299–333.
External links
- "Languages and Cultures of Ancient Italy. Historical Linguistics and Digital Models", Project fund by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (P.R.I.N. 2017)
The Latino Faliscan or Latinian languages form a group of the Italic languages within the Indo European family They were spoken by the Latino Faliscan people of Italy who lived there from the early 1st millennium BCE Latino FaliscanLatinianGeographic distributionOriginally Latium in Italy then throughout the Roman Empire especially in the western regions now also throughout Latin America Eastern Canada and many countries in AfricaLinguistic classificationIndo EuropeanItalicLatino FaliscanProto languageProto Latino FaliscanSubdivisionsLatin including Romance languages Faliscan Lanuvian Praenestinian Siculian Language codesISO 639 3 Glottologlati1262Latino Faliscan languages and dialects in different shades of blue Latin and Faliscan belong to the group as well as two others often considered dialects of archaic Latin citation needed Lanuvian and Praenestine As the power of Ancient Rome grew Latin absorbed elements of the other languages and replaced Faliscan The other variants went extinct as Latin became dominant Latin in turn developed via Vulgar Latin into the Romance languages now spoken by more than 800 million people largely as a result of the influence of the Roman Empire initially and in later times the Spanish French and Portuguese Empires LanuvianLanuvian was an archaic Latino Faliscan language It was spoken by Latins who lived close to Rome and could have been a dialect of Latin PraenestinianPraenestinian was an archaic dialect of Latino Faliscan It was spoken in eastern Old Latium in modern day Lazio Italy Linguistic descriptionLatin and Faliscan have several features in common with other Italic languages The late Indo European diphthong eu evolved into ou The late Indo European e from vocalic laryngeals evolved into a The Indo European syllabic liquids l r developed an epenthetic vowel o giving Italic ol or The Indo European syllabic nasals m n developed an epenthetic vowel e giving Italic em en Word initial aspirated stops from Indo European were fricativised bʰ dʰ gʰ gʷʰ gt f f h f The sequence p kʷ was assimilated into kʷ kʷ Proto Indo European penkʷe five gt Latin quinque Latin and Faliscan also have characteristics not shared by other branches of Italic They retain the Indo European labiovelars kʷ gʷ as qu gu later becoming velar and semivocal whereas in Osco Umbrian they become labial p b Latin and Faliscan use the ablative suffix d seen in med me ablative which is absent in Osco Umbrian In addition Latin displays evolution of ou into u though this happens later than the Latino Faliscan era occurring around the 2nd century BCE Latin luna lt Proto Italic louksna lt PIE lowksneh moon Phonology It is likely that the consonant inventory of Proto Latino Faliscan was basically identical to that of archaic Latin Consonants not found in the Praeneste fibula are marked with an asterisk Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio velar GlottalPlosive voiceless p t k kʷvoiced b d g gʷFricative f s hSonorants r l j wNasal m n The kʷ sound still existed in archaic Latin when the Latin alphabet was developed since it gives rise to the minimal pair qui kʷiː who nominative gt cui ku iː to whom dative In other positions there is no distinction between diphthongs and hiatuses for example persuadere to persuade is a diphthong but sua his her is a hiatus For reasons of symmetry it is quite possible that many sequences of gu in archaic Latin in fact represent a voiced labiovelar gʷ citation needed See alsolanguages portalItalic peoplesReferences Lanuvian LINGUIST List Archived from the original on 5 June 2019 Retrieved 2024 12 24 Sturtevant E H 1920 The Italic Languages The Classical Weekly 14 9 66 69 doi 10 2307 4388079 ISSN 1940 641X JSTOR 4388079 Pei Mario Gaynor Frank 1954 Dictionary of Linguistics Rowman amp Littlefield p 173 ISBN 9781442234055 Bakkum 2008 pp 61 3 Bakkum 2008 p 58 59 Bakkum 2008 p 64 Bakkum 2008 p 70 Bakkum 2008 p 65 Bakkum 2008 p 69 Villar Francisco in Italian 1997 Gli Indoeuropei e le origini dell Europa Indo Europeans and the origins of Europe in Italian Bologna Il Mulino Il mulino ISBN 88 15 05708 0 Vineis Edoardo 1995 X Latin In Giacolone Ramat Anna Ramat Paolo eds Las lenguas indoeuropeas The Indo European languages in Spanish Madrid Catedra pp 349 421 ISBN 84 376 1348 5 Bakkum Gabriel C L M 2008 The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus 150 Years of Scholarship Amsterdam Amsterdam University Press doi 10 5117 9789056295622 inactive 10 January 2025 ISBN 978 90 5629 562 2 a href wiki Template Cite book title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint DOI inactive as of January 2025 link Further readingLibrary resources about Latino Faliscan languages Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries 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 Giacomelli Roberto 1979 Written and spoken language in latin faliscan and greek messapic Journal of Indo European Studies 7 no 3 4 149 75 Mercado Angelo 2012 Italic Verse A Study of the Poetic Remains of Old Latin Faliscan and Sabellic Innsbruck Institut fur Sprachen und Literaturen der Universitat Innsbruck Palmer Leonard R 1961 The Latin language London Faber and Faber Joseph Brian D and Rex E Wallace 1991 Is faliscan a local latin patois Diachronica International Journal for Historical Linguistics Revue Internationale Pour La Linguistique Historiqu 8 no 2 159 86 Rigobianco Luca 2019 Faliscan Language Writing Epigraphy Aelaw Booklet 7 Zaragoza Rigobianco Luca 2020 Falisco Palaeohispanica 20 299 333 External links Languages and Cultures of Ancient Italy Historical Linguistics and Digital Models Project fund by the Italian Ministry of University and Research P R I N 2017
