| Noric | |
|---|---|
 The Grafenstein inscription | |
| Native to | Austria,Slovenia |
| Ethnicity | Taurisci |
| Era | attested 2nd century AD |
| Old Italic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nrc |
nrc | |
| Glottolog | nori1240 |
A language believed to have been Celtic was spoken in ancient times in theRoman province ofNoricum. This language is referred to asNoric orEastern Celtic. It was probably aContinental Celtic language but the data is too limited to allow for classification. Its existence is inferred from only two fragmentary inscriptions, one inGrafenstein,Carinthia,Austria, the other inPtuj,Slovenia. These inscriptions provide limited information but it is believed to have been similar to otherCeltic languages near it, such asGaulish. No evidence yet shows when it became extinct.
The Ptuj inscription, discovered in 1894, is written right to left in anorthern Italic alphabet[1] and reads:
𐌀𐌓𐌕𐌄𐌁𐌖𐌈𐌆𐌁𐌓𐌏𐌙𐌈𐌖𐌉
ARTEBUDZBROGDUI
This is interpreted as two personal names:Artebudz [son] ofBrogduos.[2] The nameArtebudz may mean "bear penis"[3] (compare Welsharth "bear" and Irishbod "penis"), whileBrogduos may contain the elementbrog-, mrog- "country"[4] (compare Welshbro "region, country"). Alternatively, the inscription may be interpreted asArtebudz [made this] forBrogdos, with the second name in thedative case.[5]
The Grafenstein inscription, on atile from the 2nd century AD that was discovered in a gravel pit in 1977, is incomplete, but the extant part has been transcribed as follows:[1]
MOGE · ES[P· II- LAV · EX[
ṆE · SAḌỊÍES[
OLLO · SO · VILO[
ỌNẠ C[…]OLLO · SO · ? [
P LṾGNṾ · SI
Here,Moge seems to be a personal name or an abbreviation of one,P· II- lav a Latin abbreviation indicating a weight,ne sadiíes a verbal form possibly meaning "you (singular) do not set",ollo so perhaps "this amount", andLugnu another personal name. The text may therefore be a record of some sort of financial transaction.[1]
Other readings of the inscription have also been proposed, including:
MOGE · ES+[---]PET(?) LAV · EX[---]
NE · SAMES[---]
OLLO · SO · VILO ·[---]
ONA O(?) + ++OLLO · SO ·+
+ LVGNI · SI
and
MOGV · CISS [---PETILAV · IEX[---
NE · SADIIES[---
OLLO · SO · VILO ·[---
ONA DOM...OC[OLLO · SO · VIA .[
ILVGNV.SI[
