Oskanca

Also known as Oscan language

extinct language of southern Italy

AI overview

Oscan was an ancient language spoken in southern Italy that eventually died out as Latin became dominant in the region. It matters to historians and linguists because surviving Oscan texts and inscriptions provide valuable evidence about the early peoples of Italy and how languages changed during the Roman period.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Native to: Samnium , Campania , Lucania , Calabria and Abruzzo
Region: south and south-central Italy
Extinct: >79 AD
Language family: Indo-European Italic Osco-Umbrian (Sabellic) Oscan
Early forms: Proto-Indo-European Proto-Italic
Dialects: Hernican Marrucinian Oscan proper Paelignian Vestinian ?
Writing system: Old Italic alphabet , Greek alphabet , later the Latin alphabet
Iso 639 3: osc
Linguist list: osc
Glottolog: osca1245