North Italic Script

The North Italic Script is an alphabet system that has been widespread in northern Italy approximately between the 8^th century BC and the 1^st century AD. Several regional variants can be identified over this period of time.

Regional variants

In LexLep we do not distinguish between regional variants of the North Italic script as long as we have not defined significant formal criteria. Formerly established "alphabet areas" like those of Lugano, Sondrio, Bolzano, and so on (Pauli 1885, Lejeune 1971) seem to be inadequate since there are, with the one exception of Camunic alphabet around Sondrio, no graphic or orthographic borders between these areas. One may, though, recognise certain typical "Venetic", "Raetic" characteristics. The variation, for example, between the various sub-types of the Venetic script are more pronounced than are the differences between any of those variants and the Lepontic script. Only the "Camunic" script stands out very distinctly in the North-Italian area.

Comparison chart of North Italic alphabets by Morandi 2004

Supposed "Lepontic Alphabet"

This definition is mainly based on the definition of the "Lugano" alphabet by Lejeune 1971 (cf. p. 14, fig. 2).

Position	Character	Customary Name	Transliteration	Attestation in Lepontic inscriptions (18) (all variants, including alternative reading variants)
1			A	11 (show list)	61.11 %
2			E	8 (show list)	44.44 %
3			V	4 (show list)	22.22 %
4			Z	0 (show list)	0.00 %
5		theta	Θ	0 (show list)	0.00 %
6			I	11 (show list)	61.11 %
7			K	5 (show list)	27.77 %
8			L	6 (show list)	33.33 %
9			M	3 (show list)	16.66 %
10			N	4 (show list)	22.22 %
11			P	7 (show list)	38.88 %
12		san, sade	Ś	2 (show list)	11.11 %
13			Q	0 (show list)	0.00 %
14			R	7 (show list)	38.88 %
15			S	9 (show list)	50.00 %
16			T	5 (show list)	27.77 %
17			U	7 (show list)	38.88 %
18		phi	Φ	0 (show list)	0.00 %
19	File:Χ.png		Χ	0 (show list)	0.00 %
20			O	7 (show list)	38.88 %
		space, spatium	space	3 (show list)	16.66 %
		word separator	:	4 (show list)	22.22 %

Abecedarial texts

A curious feature of Lepontic, which aligns it with the Venetic and Camunic writing traditions, is the inclination to 'abecedarial' writing. Even though no full alphabetic sequence has been found so far in the Lepontic region, there are a number of sequences consisting of the initial elements of the alphabetic sequence (aev, maybe zv with reversed order of the first two consonantal signs) which serve as abridged surrogate of the full series.

Character Variants

All the character variants of the North Italic Script are rendered by a special character.

Please note that the hitherto defined character variants represent an interim result. Not all variants are confirmed yet. The listed variants include all readings (including several variant readings), and therefore some variants are listed a number of times. We are still working on the evaluation. A chronological analysis has not yet been conducted.

• Representing Vowels: A, E, I, O, U
• Representing Consonants: B, C, D, V, G, Z, Θ, I, K, L, M, N, P, Ś, R, S, T, U, X, Φ, Ψ
• Word separator: separator

Additional Literature

This list is not a comprehensive collection of relevant literature. It is a first result of the research work in progress.

North Italic Scripts

• Markey & Mees 2003: 126-127 (spread of alphabets in N-Italy, short overview; differenciation Venetic/Lepontic Script: 133-134)
• Tomaello 2002
• Pellegrini 1959 (origins and spread of alphabets in N-Italy)
• Prosdocimi 1990
• Prosdocimi 1991: 140-148
• Lejeune 1957
• Mommsen 1853

Alphabet of Lugano

• Sign variants, chronology and phonology:

Lejeune 1974: 343 (alpha, theta), 373-375 (<z> / <ś>); regarding theta cf. Bermond Montanari 1988: 242 (Etruscan script), further to theta and alphabet variant from Chiusi cf. Maggiani & Prosdocimi 1976: 262, Briquel 1973 (in MEFRA 85): 75 ff., Cristofani 1974 (in REE 1974): n. 333, Tibiletti Bruno 1975: 47-57 (chronology and typology of sign-variants); Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 172-175 (phonetic value of χ, v, z, ś); Salzani & Solinas 1998: 143-148 and Verger 1998: 280 fn. 42, 284-287, fn. 58 (phonetic value of ś)

• Early literature:
  • Mommsen 1853
  • Pauli 1885
  • Lattes 1901
  • Giussani 1902: 57-58 (resume of the definitions of Mommsen and Pauli, esp. Paulis differenciation of the Lepontic Alphabet and the one of Sondrio)
  • Rhŷs 1913
  • Whatmough 1933: 65-206
  • Krahe 1936

• Lejeune 1957b
• Lejeune 1971: 8-27
• Lejeune 1977
• Lejeune 1987
• De Marinis 1986
• De Marinis 1988: 170-171
• De Marinis & Motta 1990-1: ?
• Gambari & Colonna 1986: 144-150 (dating of Lep. alphabet)
• Granucci 1975: 266 (list of articles of Lejeune about the Lepontic script)
• Prosdocimi 1967: 201-205, fn. 16-17
• Prosdocimi 1990: 289-298 (Lepontic Script, some examples and characteristics)
• Eska 1998c: 65-66
• Markey & Mees 2003: 130-137 (esp. Characters of CO·48 compared with later variants)
• Motta 2000: 181-186
• Solinas 2002c
• Tibiletti Bruno 1970 (palaeographic classification of Lep. inscriptions, chronology basing on typology of signs and other elements)
• Tibiletti Bruno 1997
• Verger 2001: 288ff., 305-312 (origins and spread of a variant of the North-Etruscan alphabet confronting the inscription of JU·1 with VA·3 and others from northern Italy)

Camunic

Further to Camunic alphabetic signs:

• Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 212-213 (table of Rhetic and Camunic signs)
• Tibiletti Bruno 1990: 165 (Camunic script)
• Tibiletti Bruno 1992: 309-380
• Zavaroni 2001
• Zavaroni 2005
• Zavaroni 2005b
• Zavaroni 2008: 20-23
• Schürr 2007: 336, 337-340
• Morandi 1998: 99-124
• De Marinis 1992: 160-161
• Prosdocimi 1965

Interpretations

• Radke 1962
• Pellegrini 1957b: 148-152
• Pellegrini 1983: 38, fn. 28
• Prosdocimi 1965: 575-599
• De Marinis 1999 (culture-historical remarks)

Numerals

Since numeric characters were or became identical with alphabetic ones in the antique tradition there is some difficulty to identify them properly. While the Latin numeric characters (esp. I "1", V "5", X "10") normally pose no problem, there can only be presumptions concerning the North Italic numeral system due to poor attestation. Based on the Etruscan and early Roman numeral system (Ifrah 1986: 163-183) one may assume the following "North Italic" numeric characters:

Character	Value
	1
or	5
	10
Χ6 s or Χ s	50
	100
?	500
or	1000

Images

Chart showing the Lugano alphabet after Michel Lejeune 1971	Map showing the distribution of the so-called North Etruscan alphabets after Michel Lejeune 1971	Map showing the epigraphic distribution of the so-called Lugano alphabet	Comparison chart of North Italic alphabets	Lepontic alphabet after De Marinis (left: 6th to first half of 4th century BC, right: end of 4th to 1st century BC)
Comparison of some variations of the North Italic alphabet by Maria Grazia Tibiletti Bruno	Comparison chart of the variants of a in the north italic "Lepontic" alphabet after Tibiletti Bruno 1989	Comparison chart of the 4th variant of a in the north italic "Lepontic" alphabet and other typologies after Tibiletti Bruno 1989

Inscriptions in North Italic Script

none

Bibliography

Bermond Montanari 1988	Giovanna Bermond Montanari, "I Cippi di Rubiera", Studi Etruschi 54 (1988), 239-245.
De Marinis & Motta 1991	Raffaele C. De Marinis, Filippo Motta, "Una nuova iscrizione lepontica su pietra da Mezzovico (Lugano)", Sibrium 21 (1990–1991), 201–225.
De Marinis 1986	Raffaele De Marinis, "Lingua e alfabeto", in: Various authors, Como fra Etruschi e Celti, Como: Società Archeologica Comense 1986. (Catalogo della mostra), 73–76.
De Marinis 1988	Raffaele De Marinis, "Liguri e Celto-Liguri", in: Anna Maria Chieco Bianchi, Giovanni Colonna, Bruno d'Agostino, Francesco d'Andria, Ettore M. de Juliis, Raffaele de Marinis, Venceslas Kruta, Maurizio Landolfi, Francesco Roncalli (eds), Italia omnium terrarum alumna. La civiltà dei Veneti, Reti, Liguri, Celti, Piceni, Umbri, Latini, Campani e Iapigi, Milano: Scheiwiller 1988, 159–259.
De Marinis 1992	Raffaele C. De Marinis, "Il territorio prealpino e alpino tra i Laghi di Como e di Garda dal Bronzo recente alla fine dell'età del Ferro", in: Ingrid R. Metzger, Paul Gleirscher (eds), Die Räter / I Reti, Bozen: Athesia 1992, 145–174.
De Marinis 1999	Raffaele Carlo De Marinis, "La cultura Breno-Dos dell'Arca e il problema degli Euganei", in: Raffaella Poggiani Keller (ed.), Atti del II Convegno Archeologico Provinciale, Grosio 20 e 21 ottobre 1995, Sondrio: Tipografia Bettini 1999, 117–125.
Eska 1998c	Josef Francis Eska, "PIE *p (doesn't become) Ø in proto Celtic", Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft 58 (1998), 63-80.
Gambari & Colonna 1988	Filippo Maria Gambari, Giovanni Colonna, "Il bicchiere con iscrizione arcaica da Castelletto Ticino e l'adozione della scrittura nell'Italia nord-occidentale", Studi Etruschi 54 (1986 [1988]), 119–164.

Overview Pages:
Archaeological Overview I Cisalpine Celtic I Historical Overview I Inscriptions of doubtful relevance I Morphology I North Italic Script I Numismatics I Onomastics I Phonology