Noric language
| Noric | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Austria, Slovenia |
| Ethnicity | Taurisci |
| Era | attested 2nd century AD |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nrc |
nrc | |
| Glottolog | nori1240 |
The Noric language is an unclassified Continental Celtic language or Germanic language (see Negau helmet). It is attested in only two fragmentary inscriptions from the Roman province of Noricum (one in Grafenstein, Austria, the other in Ptuj, Slovenia), which do not provide enough information for any conclusions about the nature of the language to be drawn. Due to the scanty evidence it is unknown when it became extinct.
Ptuj inscription
The Ptuj inscription, discovered in 1894, is written right to left in a northern Italic alphabet[1] and reads:
ARTEBUDZBROGDUI
This is interpreted as two personal names: Artebudz [son] of Brogduos.[2] The name Artebudz may mean "bear penis"[3] (compare Welsh arth "bear" and Irish bod "penis"), while Brogduos may contain the element brog-, mrog- "country"[4] (compare Welsh bro "region, country"). Alternatively, the inscription may be interpreted as Artebudz [made this] for Brogdos, with the second name in the dative case.[5]
Grafenstein inscription
The Grafenstein inscription, on a tile 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", and Lugnu 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[6]
and
MOGV · CISS [---
PETILAV · IEX[---
NE · SADIIES[---
OLLO · SO · VILO ·[---
ONA DOM...OC[
OLLO · SO · VIA .[
ILVGNV.SI[[7]
References
- ^ a b c David Stifter, 2007-10-12, Keltisch in Österreich (Powerpoint document) Archived 2011-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, (PDF of lecture) Archived 2010-05-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Encyclopédie de l'arbre celtique, Vase de Ptuj. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Il Vocabolario Celtico, p. 87, p. 89. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ A. Falileyev, Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-Names. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Indogermanistik Wien, University of Vienna, Quellentexte: Ptuj Archived 2007-05-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Indogermanistik Wien, University of Vienna, Quellentexte: Grafenstein Archived 2007-05-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Encyclopédie de l'arbre celtique, Tuile de Grafenstein. Retrieved 2008-01-09.