The Lusitanian language (so named after the Lusitani or Lusitanians) was a paleo-Iberian Indo-European language known by five inscriptions and numerous names of places (toponyms) and of gods (theonyms). The language was spoken before the Roman conquest of Lusitania, in the territory inhabited by Lusitanian tribes, from Douro to the Tagus rivers in Portugal. Roman province of Lusitania, 120 AD Lusitania, an ancient Roman province approximately including current Portugal and part of western current Spain (specifically the present autonomous community Extremadura), named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people. ... This is a list of languages ordered by number of first-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ... The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe, as well as many languages of Southwest and South Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ... SIL International is a non-profit, Christian, scientific organization with the main purpose to study, develop and document lesser-known languages for the purpose of expanding linguistic knowledge, promoting world literacy and aiding minority language development. ... This list of languages is alphabetical by English name. ... The Lusitanians were a tribe, or various tribes, from the western Iberian peninsula, who spoke a Lusitanian language until the conquest of their territory by the Romans. ... Iberia can mean: The Iberian peninsula of southwest Europe; That part of it once inhabited by the Iberians, who spoke the Iberian language. ... In geography and cartography, a toponym is a place name, a geographical name, a proper name of locality, region, or some other part of Earths surface or its natural or artificial feature. ... Roman province of Lusitania, 120 AD Lusitania, an ancient Roman province approximately including current Portugal and part of western current Spain (specifically the present autonomous community Extremadura), named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people. ... The Lusitanians are seen as the ancestors of the Portuguese, that lived in the western area of the Iberian Peninsula. ... View of the river mouth from Portos Crystal Palace Gardens, facing West Douro (Latin Durius, Spanish Duero, Portuguese Douro) is one of the major rivers of Portugal and Spain, flowing from its source near Soria across central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Oporto. ... View over Tejo River from Almourol Castle in Portugal (May 2005). ...

History

The Lusitanians were the most numerous people in the western area of the Iberian peninsula, and there are those who consider that they came from the Alps; others believe the Lusitanians were a native Iberian tribe. In any event, it is known that they were established in the area by the 6th century BC. topographic map of the Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... The term native as an adjective or noun has the following meanings. ... Viewed historically or developmentally, a tribe consists of a social formation existing before the development of, or outside of, states. ... (7th century BC - 6th century BCE - 5th century BCE - other centuries) (600s BCE - 590s BCE - 580s BCE - 570s BCE - 560s BCE - 550s BCE - 540s BCE - 530s BCE - 520s BCE - 510s BCE - 500s BCE - other decades) (2nd millennium BCE - 1st millennium BCE - 1st millennium) The 5th and 6th centuries BCE were...

Circa 150 BC, Lusitania was conquered by the Roman Empire. Like all other Iberian languages, except for the Basque language, the Lusitanian language succumbed to the pressure and prestige of Latin over time. Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC - 150s BC - 140s BC 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC Years: 155 BC 154 BC 153 BC 152 BC 151 BC - 150 BC - 149 BC 148 BC... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Classification and related languages

Lusitanian appears to have been an Indo-European language which was quite different from the languages spoken in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It would be more archaic than the Celtiberian language. Celtiberian (also Hispano-Celtic) is an extinct Celtic language spoken by the Celtiberians in northern Spain before and during the Roman Empire. ...

The filiation of the Lusitanian language is still in debate. There are those who endorse that it is a Celtic language. This Celtic theory is largely based upon the historical fact that the only Indo-European tribes that are known to have existed in Portugal at that time were Celtic tribes. The apparent "Celticity" of most of the lexicon---the anthroponyms and toponyms---may also support a Celtic affiliation. Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Celtic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages. ... A Celtic cross. ...

There is a substantial problem in the Celtic theory however: the preservation of initial /p/, as can be seen in PORCOM. The Celtic languages had lost that initial /p/ in their evolution: comparing with athir / orc (Gaelic) and pater / porcum (Latin) meaning "father" and "pig", respectively. However, the presence of this /p/ does not necessarily preclude the possibility of Lusitanian being Celtic: Lusitanian could have split off from the other Celtic languages before the loss of /p/, or when /p/ had become /ɸ/ (before shifting to /h/ and then being lost); the letter P could be used to represent either sound. The Goidelic languages are one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being the Brythonic languages). ...

A second theory, defended by Francisco Villar and Rosa Pedrero, relates Lusitanian with the Italic languages. The theory is based on parallels in the names of deities (Latin Consus / Lusitanian Cossue, Latin Seia / Lusitanian Segia, Marrucinian Iovia / Lusitanian Iovea(i)) and other lexical items (Umbrian gomia / Lusitanian comaiam), with some other grammatical elements. The Italic subfamily is a member of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family. ... The Marrucini were an ancient tribe which occupied a small strip of territory round about Teate (mod. ... Umbrian, an Indo-European language of the Italic family, is a dead language formerly spoken in Umbria, Italy. ...

Finally, Ulrich Schmoll proposed a new branch which he called "Galician-Lusitanian".

No Lusitanian text of sufficient length, however, has surfaced in order for its affiliation to be clearly determined, one way or the other.

Geographical distribution

Inscriptions have been found in Arroyo de la Luz (in Cáceres), Cabeço das Fraguas (in Guarda) and in Moledo (Viseu). Taking into account Lusitanian theonyms, anthroponyms and toponyms, the Lusitanian sphere would include modern northeastern Portugal and adjacent areas in Spain, with the centre in Serra da Estrela. The following places are called Cáceres: The Cáceres province in Spain. ... Guarda is both a city and a district in north-east Portugal. ... Viseu is both a city and a district in central Portugal. ... Serra da Estrela (mountain range of the star) is the highest mountain range in Portugal and includes mainland Portugals highest peak (Pico mountain in the Portuguese Azores islands is higher), which has a natural altitude of 1993 m. ...

There are fundamental suspicions that the area of the Gallaecian tribes (North of Portugal and Galicia), Asturian and, probably, Vetonian; that is, all the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, spoke related languages with the Lusitanian and not with Celtic language, as it is commonly believed.

Writing system

The most famous inscriptions are those from Cabeço de Fraguas and Lamas de Moledo in Portugal. All the known inscriptions are written in the Latin alphabet. The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ...

Lamas de Moledo:

RUFUS ET
TIRO SCRIP
SERUNT
VEAMINICORI
DOENTI
ANGOM
LAMATICOM
CROUCEAO
MACA
REAICOI PETRANOI R(?)
ADOM PORCOM IOUEAS(?)
CAELOBRICOI

Cabeço das Fraguas:

OLIAM TREBOPALA
INDO PORCOM LAEBO
COMAIAM ICONA LOIM
INNA OILAM USSEAM
TREBARUNE INDI TAUROM
IFADEM REUE...

External links

• Lusitanian in LINGVÆ·IMPERII (Spanish)