| Lepontic | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Region | Cisalpine Gaul |
| Ethnicity | Lepontii |
| Era | attested 550–100 BC |
| Lugano alphabet (a variant ofOld Italic) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xlp |
xlp | |
| Glottolog | lepo1240 |
 | |
Lepontic is an ancientAlpineCeltic language that was spoken in parts ofRhaetia andCisalpine Gaul (nowNorthern Italy) between 550 and 100 BC. Lepontic is attested in inscriptions found in an area centered onLugano,Switzerland, and including theLake Como andLake Maggiore areas ofItaly. As aCeltic language, its name could derive fromProto-Celtic *leikʷontio- (which also was the basis ofLepontina, which became the modern(Val) Leventina).[1]
While some recent scholarship (e.g. Eska 1998) has tended to consider Lepontic simply as an early outlying form ofGaulish and closely akin to other, later attestations of Gaulish in Italy (Cisalpine Gaulish), some scholars (notably Lejeune 1971) continue to view it as a distinctContinental Celtic language.[2] In this latter view, the earlier inscriptions found within a 50 km radius ofLugano are considered Lepontic, while the later ones, to the immediate south of this area, are consideredCisalpine Gaulish.[3]
Lepontic was assimilated first by Gaulish, with the settlement of Gallic tribes north of theRiver Po, and then byLatin, after theRoman Republic gained control over Gallia Cisalpina during the late 2nd and 1st century BC.
Some scholars view Lepontic as a distinct Continental Celtic language.[4] Other scholars consider it as an early form of Cisalpine Gaulish (or Cisalpine Celtic) and thus a dialect of Gaulish.[5]
An earlier view, prevalent for most of the 20th century and until about 1970, regarded Lepontic as a "para-Celtic" westernIndo-European language, akin to but not part of Celtic, possibly related toLigurian.[6] However, Ligurian itself has been considered akin to, but not descended from, Common Celtic.[7]
Referring to linguistic arguments as well as archaeological evidence, Schumacher even considers Lepontic a primary branch of Celtic, perhaps even the first language to diverge from Proto-Celtic.[8] In any case, the Lepontic inscriptions are the earliest attestation of any form of Celtic, and given its very scanty attestation, it is unlikely that debates over how exactly it is to be classified within Celtic will be resolved any time soon to everyone's satisfaction unless further significant finds come to light.
The alphabet ofLugano, based on inscriptions found in northern Italy andCanton Ticino, was used to record Lepontic inscriptions, among the oldest testimonies of anyCeltic language, in use from the 7th to the 5th centuries BC. The alphabet has 18 letters, derived from the archaic Etruscan alphabet.
The alphabet does not distinguishvoiced and unvoicedocclusives, i.e. P represents /b/ or /p/, T is for /t/ or /d/, and K for /g/ or /k/. Z is probably for /ts/. U /u/ and V /w/ are distinguished. Θ is probably for /t/ and X for /g/. There are claims of a related script discovered inGlozel.
Lepontic is known from around 140 inscriptions written in the alphabet ofLugano, one of five mainNorthern Italic alphabets derived from theEtruscan alphabet. Similar scripts were used for writing theRhaetic andVenetic languages and theGermanicrunic alphabets probably derive from a script belonging to this group.
The grouping of all inscriptions written in the alphabet of Lugano into a single language is disputed. Indeed, it was not uncommon in antiquity for a given alphabet to be used to write multiple languages. And, in fact, the alphabet of Lugano was used in the coinage of other Alpine tribes, such as theSalassi,Salluvii, andCavares.[9]
While many of the later inscriptions are generally identified as Cisalpine Gaulish, the older material is commonly attributed to an indigenous language distinct from Gaulish, conventionally termed Lepontic. Until Lejeune (1971), Lepontic was usually regarded as pre-Celtic, possibly related to Ligurian.[10] Lejeune instead argued that it should be classified as a Celtic language, perhaps as divergent asCeltiberian, yet distinct from Cisalpine Gaulish, a view that has since become standard.[11] Others treat Lepontic as an early or local form of Cisalpine Gaulish itself.[12] The geographic distribution of the inscriptions supports a distinction, as the Cisalpine Gaulish texts are later and concentrated further south, while the earlier Lepontic material shows both similarities to and differences from them.[13]
Although the language is named after theLepontii, who inhabited parts of ancientRhaetia in the Alpine region between modernSwitzerland andItaly, bordering Cisalpine Gaul, some Celticists, including Joseph F. Eska, extend the term to all Celtic dialects of ancient Italy. This broader usage is disputed by scholars who regard the Lepontii as one of several indigenous pre-Roman Alpine groups, distinct from theGauls who later settled the northern Italian plains.
The earliest Lepontic inscriptions predate the 5th century BC, with examples fromCastelletto Ticino dated to the 6th century BC and possibly fromSesto Calende as early as the 7th century BC.[14] Their authors are generally associated with theGolasecca culture, a Celtic cultural horizon of northern Italy.[15] The disappearance of Lepontic is inferred from the absence of later inscriptions.
These are the most common inscriptions in Lepontic, often including merely the name of the deceased, with or without the wordpala "(tomb) stone." Two of the slightly longer ones are included below.
Probably: "Uenia Metel-ikna [and] Aśmina Krasan-ikna [dedicate this vase] to Metelos Maeśelalos".[16]
Probably: "Iśos dedicated (? or sealed?) [this] sacred (? ifteu is from *deywo-)pruiam (tomb?) [and] erected (?) [this] stone to/forPelkos."[17]
The apparent verbal formskarite andkalite seem to show a -t- preterite, a development also seen in Gaulish. The forms may be two distinct verbs both meaning 'call (for); command, order' (Proto-Celtic *kalyo- and *galwo-) in which case the meaning is more like, "Isos called for the sacred pruiam [to be dedicated] and ordered the stone [be erected]." On the other hand,karite may well be cognate with Gaulishkarnite "erected, constructed" (further cognates in Celtic include Old Irishcarn "tomb, heap of stones" whence through Scottish Gaelic the English wordcairn, and the Gaulish place nameCarnuntum).[18]
Probably: "[This]Naxian wine [is dedicated] to Latumaros and Sapsuta"
This inscription is notable for containing the "P-Celtic" form of the Proto-Indo-European conjuctive clitic *-kwe here -pe.[19]
On epigraphic and archaeological grounds, this inscription is datable to about 480–450 BC. (See image above.)
Probably: "Uvamakozis dedicated (literally 'gave') to Plialethos [these]uvltiaviop-s,arivonep-s [and]sits ("sacred mounds"? see note below)."[20]
Notes:
The nameUvamokozis probably is from Proto-Indo-European *up-mmo-ghostis "having most esteemed guests", the last element developing through Proto-Celtic*gostis with further cognates in Old Church Slavonicgostъ and Gothicgasts.[21] The apparent development of PIE *p to -v- here is of particular interest for understanding the development of this sound in Celtic (lost in most other branches).
The formsitis is probably from PIE *sēdns "seats" an accusative plural; compare Old Irishsid "sacred mound" from "seat (of the gods), and Latinsēdēs).[22]
The final formtetu probably from PIE *deh3- "give", seen also in Old Irishdorat "has given", Gaulishdede and Celt-Iberiantatuz on the firstBotorrita plaque.[23]
