| Osco-Umbrian | |
|---|---|
| Sabellian (former) | |
| Geographic distribution: |
Ancient south and central Italy |
| Linguistic classification: | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions: |
Oscan (extinct)
Umbrian (extinct)
|
Approximate distribution of languages in Iron Age Italy during the sixth century BC
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The Osco-Umbrian languages or Sabellic languages are a group of languages that belong to the Italic language family of the Indo-European languages. They were spoken in central and southern Italy before Latin replaced them as the power of the Romans expanded. Quantities of text in Osco-Umbrian have survived.
The following languages belong to this group: the Umbrian group; and the Oscan language.
Sabellic was originally the collective ethnonym of the Italic people who inhabited central and southern Italy at the time of Roman expansion. The name was later used by Theodor Mommsen in his Unteritalische Dialekte to describe the pre-Roman dialects of central Italy which were neither Oscan nor Umbrian. Nowadays, it is used to describe the Osco-Umbrian languages as a whole. The North Picene language was once considered Sabellic; it is now believed to be a non-Indo-European language.