This
map shows the regions of the world where Oscan and Umbrian
were commonly spoken. Umbrian
(the upper left circle) was spoken by those Indo-European tribes
inhabiting the area north and west of Rome. Oscan (the
lower
right circle) was the language spoken by the Samnites and the
tribes of the southern Italian peninsula except for the
extreme
projections of Italy's "heel" and "toe." Both
the Oscan and Umbrian languages were very similar to Latin.
At least two other Indo-European linguistic groups, the Faliscans
and Sabellians (or Sabines), may have inhabited the Italian
peninsula, along with non-Indo-European races like the Etruscans,
who for a long time ruled over the Roman region of Latium. Eventually,
the Latin-speaking Romans in Latium threw off their Etrurian
chains and swallowed the entire region whole. Etruscan then
died out as a language; Faliscan, Oscan, and Umbrian were probably
absorbed into the new Latin-speaking entity, which, under the
Roman Empire, spread across Europe.
| Daniel M. Short originally created this
map and the other Indo-European language charts for his website at http://www.danshort.com/.
I reproduce these images here with the author's permission, but they are
copyrighted by Daniel Short as of 2002. These charts should not be reproduced
or reused without Mr. Short's approval. You may contact him at danshort@gte.net
for more information. These images are not public domain. |