Definitions for volscianˈvɒl ʃən
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word volscian
An inhabitant of Volsci, or a person of Volscian descent.
Or, or relating to, the people or language of the Volsci.
An Italic language formerly spoken by the Volsci and becoming extinct sometime after the 3rd century BC.
Origin: Volsci + -an
Volscian was a Sabellic Italic language, which was spoken by the Volsci and closely related to Oscan and Umbrian. It is attested in an inscription found in Velitrae, dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; it is cut upon a small bronze plate, which must have once been fixed to some votive object, dedicated to the god Declunus. The language of this inscription is clear enough to show the very marked peculiarities that rank it close to the language of the Iguvine Tables. It shows on the one hand the labialization of the original velar q, and on the other hand it palatalizes the guttural c before a following i. Like Umbrian also, but unlike Latin and Oscan, it has degraded all the diphthongs into simple vowels. This phenomenon of what might have been taken for a piece of Umbrian text appearing in a district remote from Umbria and hemmed in by Latins on the north and Oscan-speaking Samnites on the south is a most curious feature in the geographical distribution of the Italic dialects, and is clearly the result of some complex historical movements.
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