Vestinian language

Vestinian
Region	East-central Italy
Era	ca. 250–100 BC
Language family	Indo-European Italic Osco-Umbrian Oscan? Vestinian
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xvs
Glottolog	vest1239

Vestinian is an extinct Italic language documented only in two surviving inscriptions of the Roman Republic. It is presumed to have been anciently spoken by the tribe of the Vestini, who occupied the region within current Abruzzo from Gran Sasso to the Adriatic Sea in east-central Italy during that time. Vestini is the Roman exonym for the people. Not enough of their presumed language survives to classify it beyond Italic. Vestinian is one of a number of scantily attested Italic languages spoken in small regions of the Apennines directly east of Rome called generally "the minor dialects". There is currently no agreement on their precise classification. However, de Vaan's consensus classification has it as Osco-Umbrian, closely related to Oscan (see Italic languages § Classification).

Corpus

Only two inscriptions survive.

Sample text

CIL 1².394 from near Navelli in the Abruzzo, dates from the mid-third-century BC. The inscription reads:

Vestinian text:

t.vetio | duno | didet | herclo | iovio | brat | data

Translation into Latin:

T. Vetius donum dedit Herculi Jovio. Grate data.

Translation into Italian:

Tito Vezio ha dato un dono a Ercole Giovo. Dato con gratitudine.

Translation into Spanish:

Tito Vecio le dio un don (regalo) a Hércules Jovio. Dado con gratitud.

Translation into English:

Titus Vetius gave (this as) a gift to Hercules Jove. Gratefully given.

Bibliography

• Stuart-Smith, Jane (2004). Phonetics and philology: sound change in Italic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Adams, J. N. (2007). The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC - AD 600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88149-4.