BG·41.5

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Inscription
Reading in transliteration:	ześu : poininos : kopenatis : tonoiso
Reading in original script:
Object:	BG·41 Carona (rock) (Inscriptions: BG·41.1, BG·41.2, BG·41.3, BG·41.4, BG·41.5, BG·41.6, BG·41.7, BG·41.8, BG·41.9, BG·41.10, BG·41.11, BG·41.12, BG·41.13, BG·41.14, BG·41.15, BG·41.16, BG·41.17, BG·41.18, BG·41.19, BG·41.20, BG·41.21, BG·41.22, BG·41.23, BG·41.24, BG·41.25, BG·41.26, BG·41.27, BG·41.28, BG·41.29, BG·41.30)
Position:	unknown
Orientation:	0°
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Script:	North Italic Script"North Italic Script" is not in the list (Greek script, Etruscan script, Latin script, North Italic script, Camunic script, none, unknown) of allowed values for the "script" property.
Letter height:	1–2.2 cm0.394 in <br />0.866 in <br />
Number of letters:	31
Number of words:	4
Number of lines:	1
Workmanship:	carved
Condition:	damaged
Archaeological culture:	unknown [from object]
Date of inscription:
Type:	votive
Language:	Celtic
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Casini & Fossati 2013: 380 (no. 5)

Commentary

First published in Casini et al. 2008: 80, 96f. (no. 5).

Images in Casini et al. 2008: 87, fig. 14 (photo) and 88, fig. 18 (drawing = Casini & Fossati 2013: 389, fig. 10).

Length 24.6 cm. Letters 13–17 damaged on top, but unambiguous. The first word is read zaśu by Casini and Fossati, but, judging by the photograph, a reading of the second letter as epsilon, as in the other two instances of the word, is possible.

The only entirely clear part of the inscription is the name of the deity Poeninos. ześu is opaque; it may be a nominative on-stem noun or possibly the verb dedu 'gave'. kopenatis tonoiso could be a name formula with an i-stem individual name and a genitival patronym in -oiso (thus Motta in Casini et al. 2008: 97), although -oiso is not otherwise known to form patronyms. Alternatively, kopenatis could be an adjectival epithet of poininos. This analysis has the advantage of resulting in a theonym in the nominative beside a (probable) donor's name in the genitive, instead of both elements in the nominative, even though a recipient in the nominative is still unusual, especially if ześu is interpreted as a verb form. How the elements of the inscription relate to each other syntactically is unclear.

Bibliography

Casini & Fossati 2013	Stefania Casini, Angelo Fossati, "Incisioni rupestri e iscrizioni preromane a Carona, Val Brembana (Bergamo)", Bulletin d'Études Prehistoriques et Archéologiques Alpines 24 (2013), 377–392.
Casini et al. 2008	Stefania Casini, Angelo Fossati, Filippo Motta, "Incisioni protostoriche e iscrizioni leponzie su roccia alle sorgenti del Brembo (Val Camisana di Carona, Bergamo). Note preliminari", Notizie Archeologice Bergomensi 16 (2008), 75–101.