Umbrian language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the ancient language. For the modern Italian dialect, see Umbrian language (Romance).
Umbrian
Spoken in: Umbria, Italy
Language extinction: ?
Language family: Indo-European
 Italic
  Osco-Umbrian
   Umbrian 
Writing system: Old Italic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: ine
ISO/FDIS 639-3: xum

Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Its speakers were known as the Umbri.

Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC
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Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC

Umbrian is known from about 30 inscriptions. The by far largest one of them is called the Tabulae Iguvinae (Iguvium = modern Gubbio), seven bronze plates which contain some notes on the ceremonies and statutes for priests. These are written in the Old Italic alphabet. The inscriptions are dated from the 7th through 1st centuries BC.

Currently, the term is used to indicate a regional dialect of the Italian language.