Two inscriptions inGrafenstein,Carinthia,Austria andPtuj,Slovenia, written in aCeltic language potentially spoken in theRoman province ofNoricum.
| Noric | |
|---|---|
| (uncertain) | |
 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 |
The proposed language in which these inscriptions are written is referred to asNoric orEastern Celtic, likely aContinental Celtic language; no further evidence or proofs of its existence are found. No evidence yet shows when it became extinct; inscriptions are dated to the second or third century AD.[1]
The Ptuj inscription, discovered in 1894, is written right to left inOld Italic alphabet, and is unusual, since the vernacular writing traditions ofNorthern Italy are considered to have ceased in the late first century BC.[1] The inscription reads as follows:
𐌀𐌓𐌕𐌄𐌁𐌖𐌈𐌆𐌁𐌓𐌏𐌙𐌈𐌖𐌉
ARTEBUDZBROGDUI
This is interpreted as two personal names:Artebudz [son] ofBrogduos.[2] The nameArtebudz may mean "bear penis"[3] (compareWelsharth "bear" andIrishbod "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:[6]
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.[6]
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[
