Siculian

Last updated
Siculian
Sicel
Region Sicily
Ethnicity Sicels
Eraattested late 6th century to 4th century BCE [1] [2]
Greek alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3 scx
scx
Glottolog sicu1234
Iron Age Italy.svg
Ethnolinguistic map of Italy in the Iron Age, before the Roman expansion and conquest of Italy

Siculian (or Sicel) is an extinct Indo-European language spoken in central and eastern Sicily by the Sicels. It is attested in fewer than thirty inscriptions from the late 6th century to 4th century BCE, and in around twenty-five glosses from ancient writers. [1]

Contents

Classification

Ancient sources state that Siculians entered Sicily from the Italian Peninsula 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. [4]

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. [5]

Attestations

They used the Greek alphabet, along with a native one based upon Western Greek scripts, probably the Euboic-Chalkidic version. [1] According to scholar Markus Hartmann, "of the fewer than thirty inscriptions in total, only six appear to be at least in part intelligible and to be Siculian (i.e., most certainly neither Greek nor belonging to some other Italic or pre-Italic language)." [6]

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.

Stele from Sciri Sottano (c.600 BCE) [7] [6]

tamuraabesakedqoiaves ˌ eurumakes ˌ agepipokedḷutimbe levopomanatesemaidarnakei- buṛeitaṃomịaetiurela

Amphora from Montagna di Marzo (late 6th–early 5th century BCE) [6]

ΙΑΜ ΑΚΑΡΑΜ ΕΠΟΠΑΣ ΚΑΑΓΙΙΕΣ ΓΕΠΕΔ ΤΟΥΤΟ FΕΡΕΓΑΙ ΕΣΗΕΙΚΑΔ[.] ΑΛΑ
iamˌakaramˌe?p??asˌkaag?esˌgẹpẹḍ2te?toˌveregai- es? ˌ eka ˌ doara[ịẹạḍ]

Block of sandstone from Mendolito (late 6th century BCE) [8] [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 (or askos) from Centorbi (early 5th century BCE) [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Hartmann 2017, p. 1854.
  2. Siculian at MultiTree on the Linguist List
  3. Giacomo Devoto (1951). Gli antichi Italici (second ed.). Florence: Vallecchi. p. 68.
  4. de Simone 1999 , p. 500; de Simone 2006 , p. 690; Hartmann 2017 , p. 1854.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hartmann 2017, p. 1855.
  6. "Inscribed Stele inscribed in the Sikel language". Voci di Pietra. Castello Ursino Civic Museum.
  7. Tribulato, Olga; Mignosa, Valetina (2021). "Marking identity through graphemes? A new look at the Sikel arrow-shaped alpha". In Boyes, Philip J.; Steeleand, Philippa M.; Astoreca, Natalia Elvira (eds.). The Social and Cultural Contexts of Historic Writing Practices. Oxford, England: Oxbow Books. p. 324. ISBN   978-1-78925-479-2. JSTOR   j.ctv2npq9fw.21. OCLC   1243743745.

Bibliography

Further reading