Italic Languages

Italic Languages, subdivision of the Indo-European languages including around 48 languages. In its broadest sense considered to be a subfamily that includes Latin, its modern descendants, the Romance languages, and certain other tongues spoken in ancient Italy. (Some writers reserve the term Italic languages for the ancient languages only.) The ancient Italic languages fall into two branches that are closely related in their sound systems but more diverse in their grammar. Some linguists consider them independent Indo-European subfamilies that share traits setting them off from other Indo-European subfamilies, but another widely accepted older view is that they are branches of a single subfamily. The two branches are (1) Latinian or Latin-Faliscan, which contains both the Latin language (originally spoken in Latium, the region surrounding Rome and the Tiber River in west-central Italy); and Faliscan, closely related to Latin and documented in a few inscriptions from a small area between Latium and Etruscan territory; (2) Osco-Umbrian, an extinct group once spoken over a wide region in ancient Italy, and including two principal members, Oscan and Umbrian. A third branch, Venetic, is sometimes cited as belonging to the Italic languages, although there is much debate over its origins and all that is known for certain is that it belongs to the Indo-European family (it is usually placed in an Unclassified Indo-European branch, along with seven other languages). Venetic was a north-eastern language preserved in some inscriptions from the area between the River Po and Istria.

It should be understood that the term Italic languages includes only some of the languages of ancient Italy. Information on these languages has come from Greek and Roman sources, particularly inscriptions. The predominance of Latin was gradually established throughout Italy in the course of Roman territorial expansion. In prehistoric times and well into classical times, however, speakers of other Italic and non-Italic tongues often amounted to a majority of the population in the Italian Peninsula. Prominent among the non-Italic languages were Etruscan, a non-Indo-European language once dominant in western Italy north of Latium; Gaulish, a Celtic language spoken further to the north-west; Messapic, spoken in the so-called heel of boot-shaped Italy and apparently related to the Indo-European Illyrian language of the Balkans; and Greek, which was spoken in colonies in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. By ad 100, Latin had supplanted all other dialects between Sicily and the Alps.

Of the Italic languages, only Latin is completely known, through extensive inscriptions and literature; Oscan and Umbrian are fairly well documented in inscriptions. Oscan was spoken throughout central and southern Italy by many tribes, including the Samnites and probably the Sabines, and Oscan texts survive from cities such as Pompeii and Capua (now Santa Maria Capua Vetere). Closely related to Oscan was Umbrian, spoken in central Italy and documented largely in the religious texts inscribed on the Iguvian Tablets. Found at Gubbio, Italy, these seven bronze tablets contain one of the most extensive inscriptions known of an ancient dead language.

Selected statistical data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, SIL International.