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The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship

The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship 704 Dissertationes Batavae / G.C.L.M. Bakkum / Mnemosyne 62 (2009) 1 Bakkum, G.C.L.M. 2009. Th e Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship. Amsterdam, Vossiuspers UvA/Amsterdam University Press. lii, 678 p. Supervisor: prof.dr H. Pinkster, Universiteit van Amsterdam. Th e area known as the ager Faliscus is centered on the ancient town of Falerii, modern-day Civita Castellana, c. 50 km to the north of Rome. Although the ager Faliscus lay between the areas where Etruscan, Latin and Sabellic languages were spoken, the inscriptions from the area from before c. 150 BCE show that it used a speech of its own, referred to as Faliscan. Today, most scholars agree that Faliscan is linguistically close to Latin, but the hypothesis that it is in fact a Latin dialect has not been the subject of a major publication until now. Volume II consists of a re-edition of 535 inscriptions, including not only all known inscriptions from the ager Faliscus and the adjacent ager Capenas (includ- ing those that are clearly Latin or Etruscan), but also inscriptions from other or unknown origin that are or have been regarded as Faliscan. Th is edition is in many cases based on autopsies, and replaces the edition by Gabriella Giacomelli in La lingua falisca (1963). A separate chapter of volume II deals briefl y with the epi- graphic issues concerning the Faliscan corpus. Volume I consists of an exhaustive analysis of the linguistic data provided by the inscriptions, and a linguistic comparison between Faliscan and the languages of the surrounding areas. Analysis and comparison are divided into separate mono- graphic chapters on phonology, nominal and pronominal morphology, verbal morphology, lexicon, onomasticon, syntax and textual structures, and language contact. Th e data confi rm that Faliscan does indeed stand very close to Latin, and moreover, it shows that where there are diff erences between Latin and the Sabellic languages, Faliscan virtually everywhere sides with Latin. Such diff erences as there are between Faliscan and contemporary Latin are mostly of recent date. Th e only major exception to this appears to be the diachronic development of the ‘voiced aspirates’, where the development in Faliscan echoes that in the Sabellic languages. Th e main conclusion is therefore that Faliscan is a Latin dialect that may have become geographically and linguistically separated from Latin as spoken in Latium. A separate chapter of volume I is dedicated to the sociolinguistic aspects of Faliscan, its survival during the period of Etruscan cultural dominance, and its disappearance following the Roman expansion in the area after the First Punic War. A recurrent theme here is the possible existence of a local identity, and the role that Faliscan itself may have played in establishing this identity. Mauvestraat 12-2, 1073 RK Amsterdam, Th e Netherlands Gabriël C.L.M. Bakkum gclmb@planet.nl © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/156852510X456255 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Mnemosyne Brill

The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship

Bakkum, Gabriël
Mnemosyne , Volume 62 (4): 704 – Jan 1, 2009
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2009 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0026-7074
eISSN
1568-525X
DOI
10.1163/156852510X456255
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See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

704 Dissertationes Batavae / G.C.L.M. Bakkum / Mnemosyne 62 (2009) 1 Bakkum, G.C.L.M. 2009. Th e Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship. Amsterdam, Vossiuspers UvA/Amsterdam University Press. lii, 678 p. Supervisor: prof.dr H. Pinkster, Universiteit van Amsterdam. Th e area known as the ager Faliscus is centered on the ancient town of Falerii, modern-day Civita Castellana, c. 50 km to the north of Rome. Although the ager Faliscus lay between the areas where Etruscan, Latin and Sabellic languages were spoken, the inscriptions from the area from before c. 150 BCE show that it used a speech of its own, referred to as Faliscan. Today, most scholars agree that Faliscan is linguistically close to Latin, but the hypothesis that it is in fact a Latin dialect has not been the subject of a major publication until now. Volume II consists of a re-edition of 535 inscriptions, including not only all known inscriptions from the ager Faliscus and the adjacent ager Capenas (includ- ing those that are clearly Latin or Etruscan), but also inscriptions from other or unknown origin that are or have been regarded as Faliscan. Th is edition is in many cases based on autopsies, and replaces the edition by Gabriella Giacomelli in La lingua falisca (1963). A separate chapter of volume II deals briefl y with the epi- graphic issues concerning the Faliscan corpus. Volume I consists of an exhaustive analysis of the linguistic data provided by the inscriptions, and a linguistic comparison between Faliscan and the languages of the surrounding areas. Analysis and comparison are divided into separate mono- graphic chapters on phonology, nominal and pronominal morphology, verbal morphology, lexicon, onomasticon, syntax and textual structures, and language contact. Th e data confi rm that Faliscan does indeed stand very close to Latin, and moreover, it shows that where there are diff erences between Latin and the Sabellic languages, Faliscan virtually everywhere sides with Latin. Such diff erences as there are between Faliscan and contemporary Latin are mostly of recent date. Th e only major exception to this appears to be the diachronic development of the ‘voiced aspirates’, where the development in Faliscan echoes that in the Sabellic languages. Th e main conclusion is therefore that Faliscan is a Latin dialect that may have become geographically and linguistically separated from Latin as spoken in Latium. A separate chapter of volume I is dedicated to the sociolinguistic aspects of Faliscan, its survival during the period of Etruscan cultural dominance, and its disappearance following the Roman expansion in the area after the First Punic War. A recurrent theme here is the possible existence of a local identity, and the role that Faliscan itself may have played in establishing this identity. Mauvestraat 12-2, 1073 RK Amsterdam, Th e Netherlands Gabriël C.L.M. Bakkum gclmb@planet.nl © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/156852510X456255

Journal

Mnemosyne – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2009

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