Lusitanian language

Lusitanian

One of the inscriptions of Arroyo de la Luz.
Native to Inland central-west Iberian Peninsula
Region Beira Alta, Beira Baixa and Alto Alentejo Portugal and Extremadura and part of province of Salamanca Spain
Extinct 2nd century AD
Indo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-3 xls
Linguist list
 xls
Glottolog lusi1235[5]

Lusitanian (so named after the Lusitani or Lusitanians) was a Paleohispanic language that apparently belonged to the Indo-European family. There has been support for either a connection with the ancient Italic languages[1][2] or Celtic languages.[3][4] It is known from only five sizeable inscriptions, dated from circa 1 CE, and numerous names of places (toponyms) and of gods (theonyms). The language was spoken in the territory inhabited by Lusitanian tribes, from the Douro to the Tagus rivers, territory that nowadays falls in Portugal, and Western Spain.[6]

Lusitanian language in the context of paleohispanic languages

Lusitanian is an Indo-European language but it was quite different from the Celtiberian languages of the Iberian Peninsula. It is not considered a Celtic language under existing definitions of linguistic Celticity.[6] The Lusitanian inscriptions retain Indo-European p in positions where Celtic languages would not, most unambiguously in PORCOM 'pig' in one inscription, PORGOM in another, a feature considered non-Celtic.[6] Prósper, in her Lusitanian etymologies (2002; 2008), demonstrates that not only does Lusitanian not agree closely with the usual Celtic reflexes but that it is closer to Italic, in which case there were two well-differentiated branches of Indo-European in the Iberian Peninsula before the Romans, with Lusitanian belonging to the non-Celtic branch. Villar and Pedrero (2001) connect Lusitanian with the Italic languages. They base their finding on parallels in the names of deities and some lexical items, such as the Umbrian gomia, Lusitanian comaiam, and some grammatical elements.[2] Prósper also sees Lusitanian as predating the introduction of Celtic and shows that it retains elements of Old European, making its origins possibly even older.[7]

On the other hand, Koch says there is no unambiguous example of the reflexes of the Indo-European syllabic resonants *l̥, *r̥, *m̥, *n̥ and the voiced aspirate stops *bʱ, *dʱ, *ɡʱ.[6] Additionally, names in the inscriptions can be read as Celtic, such as AMBATVS, CAELOBRIGOI and VENDICVS.[6] Dagmar Wodtko argues that it is hard to identify Lusitanian personal or place-names that are without question not Celtic.[8] Some argue that the p- in PORCOM does not alone mark Lusitanian as not Celtic,[9] and that it could be classed as a Celtic dialect, but one that preserved Indo-European *p (or possibly an already phonetically weakened [ɸ], written P as an archaism).[6][10][11] This is based largely on numerous apparently Celtic personal, deity, and place names.[12][13]

Lusitanian possibly shows /p/ from Indo-European *kʷ in PVMPI, pronominal PVPPID from *kʷodkʷid,[14] and PETRANIOI derived from *kʷetwor- 'four', but this is a feature found in many Indo-European languages from various branches (including P-Celtic), and by itself has no bearing on the question of whether Lusitanian is Celtic.[15] Bua Carballo even suggests that pairings on different inscriptions such as Proeneiaeco and Proinei versus Broeneiae and Lapoena versus Laboena may cast doubt on the presence of a P sound in Lusitanian.[16]

Geographical distribution

Geographical distribution of known Lusitanian inscriptions

Inscriptions have been found in Arroyo de la Luz (in Cáceres), Cabeço das Fragas (in Guarda) and in Moledo (Viseu) and most recently in Ribeira da Venda. Taking into account Lusitanian theonyms, anthroponyms and toponyms, the Lusitanian sphere would include modern northeastern Portugal and adjacent areas in Spain, with the centre in Serra da Estrela.

The most famous inscriptions are those from Cabeço das Fráguas and Lamas de Moledo in Portugal and Arroyo de la Luz in Spain. Ribeira da Venda is the most recently discovered (2008).

Writing system

All the known inscriptions are written in the Latin alphabet. It is difficult to determine if the letters have a different pronunciation than the Latin values, but the frequent alternations of c with g (porcom vs. porgom) and t with d (ifadem vs. ifate), and the frequent loss of g between vowels points to a lenis pronunciation compared to Latin. In particular, between vowels and after r, b may have represented the sound /β/, and correspondingly g was written for /ɣ/, and d for /ð/.

Inscriptions

Lamas de Moledo:[8][17]

RUFUS ET
TIRO SCRIP
SERUNT
VEAMINICORI
DOENTI
ANGOM
LAMATICOM
CROUCEAI
MAGA
REAICOI PETRANIOI R[?]
ADOM PORGOMIOUEA [or ...IOUEAI]
CAELOBRIGOI

Cabeço das Fráguas:[18]

OILAM TREBOPALA
INDO PORCOM LAEBO
COMAIAM ICONA LOIM
INNA OILAM USSEAM
TREBARUNE INDI TAUROM
IFADEM REUE...

Translation:[13]

A sheep [lamb?] for Trebopala
and a pig for Laebo,
[a sheep] of the same age for Iccona Loiminna,
a one year old sheep for
Trebaruna and a fertile bull...
for Reve...

Arroyo de la Luz (I & II):

AMBATVS
SCRIPSI
CARLAE PRAISOM
SECIAS ERBA MVITIE
AS ARIMO PRAESO
NDO SINGEIETO
INI AVA INDI VEA
VN INDI VEDAGA
ROM TEVCAECOM
INDI NVRIM INDI
VDEVEC RVRSENCO
AMPILVA
INDI
LOEMINA INDI ENV
PETANIM INDI AR
IMOM SINTAMO
M INDI TEVCOM
SINTAMO

Arroyo de la Luz (III):[19]

ISACCID·RVETI ·
PVPPID·CARLAE·EN
ETOM·INDI·NA.[
....]CE·IOM·
M·

Ribeira da Venda:[20]

[- - - - - -] XX•OILAM•ERBAM
HARASE•OILA•X•BROENEIAE•H
OILA•X•REVE AHARACVI•T•AV[...]
IEATE•X•BANDI HARACVI AV[....]
MVNITIE CARIA CANTIBIDONE•
APINVS•VENDICVS•ERIACAINV[S]
OVOVIANI[?]
ICCINVI•PANDITI•ATTEDIA•M•TR
PVMPI•CANTI•AILATIO

Alternative transcription of Ribeira da Venda:[1]

[- - - - - -] AM•OILAM•ERBAM [---]
HARASE•OILA•X•BROENEIAE•H[------]
[....]OILA•X•REVE AHARACVI•TAV[---]
IFATE•X•BANDI HARACVI AV[---]
MVNITIE CARIA CANTIBIDONE•[--
APINVS•VENDICVS•ERIACAINV[S]
OVGVI[-]ANI
ICCINVI•PANDITI•ATTEDIA•M•TR
PVMPI•CANTI•AILATIO

Main language areas in Iberia c. 300 BC

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Prósper, Blanca Maria; Villar, Francisco (2009). "NUEVA INSCRIPCIÓN LUSITANA PROCEDENTE DE PORTALEGRE". EMERITA, Revista de Lingüística y Filología Clásica (EM). LXXVII (1): 1–32. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Villar, Francisco (2000). Indoeuropeos y no indoeuropeos en la Hispania Prerromana (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. ISBN 84-7800-968-X. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 Kruta, Venceslas (1991). The Celts. Thames and Hudson. p. 55.
  4. 1 2 Stifter, David (2006). Sengoídelc (Old Irish for Beginners). Syracuse University Press. pp. 3, 7. ISBN 0-8156-3072-7.
  5. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Lusitanian". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Koch, John T (2011). Tartessian 2: The Inscription of Mesas do Castelinho ro and the Verbal Complex. Preliminaries to Historical Phonology. Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-907029-07-3.
  7. ↑ Prósper, BM (1999). "The inscription of Cabeço das Fráguas revisited. Lusitanian and Alteuropäisch populations in the West of the Iberian Peninsula". Transactions of the Philological Society. Wiley. 97 (2): 151–184. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.00047.
  8. 1 2 Wodtko, Dagmar S (2010). Celtic from the West Chapter 11: The Problem of Lusitanian. Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK. pp. 335–367. ISBN 978-1-84217-410-4.
  9. ↑ Ballester, X. (2004). "Hablas indoeuropeas y anindoeuropeas en la Hispania prerromana". Real Academia de Cultura Valenciana, sección de estudios ibéricos. Estudios de lenguas y epigrafía antiguas –ELEA. 6: 114–116.
  10. ↑ Anderson, J. M. 1985. «Pre-Roman Indo-European languages of the Hispanic Peninsula», Revue des Études Anciennes 87, 1985, pp. 319–326.
  11. ↑ Untermann, J. 1987. «Lusitanisch, Keltiberisch, Keltisch», in: J. Gorrochategui, J. L. Melena & J. Santos (eds.), Studia Palaeohispanica. Actas del IV Coloquio sobre Lenguas y Culturas Paleohispánicas (Vitoria/Gasteiz, 6-10 mayo 1985). (= Veleia 2-3, 1985–1986), Vitoria-Gasteiz ,1987, pp. 57–76.
  12. ↑ Pedreño, Juan Carlos Olivares (2005). "Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula". Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  13. 1 2 Quintela, Marco V. García (2005). "Celtic Elements in Northwestern Spain in Pre-Roman times". Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  14. ↑ Koch, John T (2010). Celtic from the West Chapter 9: Paradigm Shift? Interpreting Tartessian as Celtic. Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-84217-410-4.
  15. ↑ Wodtko 2010, p.252
  16. ↑ Búa Carballo., D. Carlos (2014). "I". III CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE CULTURA CELTA “Os Celtas da Europa Atlântica”. Instituto Galego de Estudos Célticos (IGEC). p. 112. ISBN 84-697-2178-X.
  17. ↑ Hübner, E. (ed.) Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum vol. II, Supplementum. Berlin: G. Reimer (1892)
  18. ↑ Untermann, J. Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum (1980–97)
  19. ↑ Villar, F. and Pedrero, R. La nueva inscripción lusitana: Arroyo de la Luz III (2001) (in Spanish)
  20. ↑ André Carneiro, José d'Encarnação, Jorge de Oliveira, Cláudia Teixeira "Uma Inscrição Votiva em Língua Lusitana", Palaeohispanica; 8 (2008) (in Portuguese) Their proposed translation was: For [...] twenty [...]. A pasture lamb to Harase. Ten lambs for Broineia H(arácua). Ten lambs for Reva Aharácuo. Ten T[?] AV[?] IEAT[?] to Banda Harácuo. AV[?]For Municia Caria Cantibidone. The shepherds Apino, Vendico, Eriacaino. Disclose your will through a sign. Let us record this prayer of joy.

Further reading

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