The Venetic language
Venetic is the Indo-European language spoken by the ancient Veneti population and attested by more than 500 inscriptions dated from the 6th to the 1st cent. BC.
Epigraphic sources have been mostly found in modern Veneto region (except for the provinces of Verona and Vicenza, belonging to the Rhaetian culture), and also in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Austria and Slovenia. The inscriptions are written in different varieties of a local Etruscan-based alphabet; they include funerary, votive, and public texts, presenting in most cases the same formulaic schema; this makes hard to interpret texts which differ from such models (see e. g. the Tabula Atestina).
Venetic is a fragmentary language, whose grammar can be hardly and only partially reconstructed. Personal onomastic is nonetheless well attested. Even though problems of classification persist, Venetic is certainly an Indo-European language belonging to the Italic branch. It is still hard to define its position with respect to Sabellian languages and Latin. Phonetic evidence account for an affinity with Latin since the languages share the outcome of Indo-European voiced aspirated stops *bh, *dh > f- (es. fagsto < *dhh1-), -b- (-bos < *-bhos), -d- (loudero- < *leudh-), *gh> h- (hosti- < *ghosti-) and labiovelars *kw > -kv- (-kve > *-kwe), *gw > v- (vivo- < *gwiwo-). They also share morphological features such as the -i genitive. The lack of documentation does not allow for a unanimous hypothesis.
To the Venetic corpus also belong a set of about 200 written fragments and a group of approximately 50 inscriptions called “Veneto-Latin”, i.e. inscriptions written in Latin alphabet but showing Venetic linguistic features.
Among the funerary texts, the funerary-commemorative inscriptions on stone and stele stand out; important groups of such texts have been found in Este and Padua. Nonetheless, they are hard to be dated, their dating being proposed on the basis of stylistic and textual evidence, the support and, if possible, the archaeological context. Inscriptions on rocks or fragments are infrequent compared to the other epigraphic traditions. The most used supports are clay instruments of different shapes; stone-made objects such as stelae, cippi and little pillars; bronze objects such as leaves, styluses and containers.
Beyond the funerary inscriptions, sacred (votive) and public inscriptions have been found. Some bronze alphabetical tablets – which are uncommon for ancient Italy – are also attested: they are dedications coming from the sanctuary of the goddess Reitia in Este, in many cases reproducing set of exercises for writing learning. Dedications from the Reitia sanctuary are also inscribed on bronze styluses.
Bibliography
Grammars and linguistc outlines:
- Pellegrini, G. B., Prosdocimi, A. L. 1967. La lingua venetica, I-II, Padova-Firenze.
- Lejeune, M. 1974. Manuel de la langue vénète, Heidelberg : C. Winter.
- Prosdocimi, A. L. 1988. «La lingua». In I Veneti antichi. Lingua e cultura, a cura di A. L. Prosdocimi e G. Fogolari. Padova.
Texts:
- Marinetti, A. 1999. «Iscrizioni venetiche. Aggiornamento 1988-1998», Studi Etruschi 63: 461-476.
- Marinetti, A. 2004. «Venetico: rassegna di nuove iscrizioni (Este, Altino, Auronzo, S. Vito, Asolo)», Studi Etruschi 70: 389-408.
- Marinetti, A. 2009. «Le iscrizioni venetiche dal santuario in località Fornace di Altino (VE)», Studi Etruschi 73: 421-450.
- Marinetti, A. 2016. «Iscrizioni venetiche dalla necropoli di Montebelluna (TV): prime evidenze», Studi Etruschi 78: 261-268.
Introductions:
- Marinetti, A. 2020. «Venetico», Palaeohispanica 20: 367-401.
Last update
10.04.2021