Niumerts, Slabis, Trebts, in Meddis, censtur, pis, we recognise.
nouns^of the third declension.» Perum dolom mallom,
in the table of Bantia, is p e r dolum malum ,• and Abellanam
and Nujlanam may therefore represent similar forms in Greek
and'Latin. Sakaraklum Herekleis is plainly “ Sacellum,Her-
eulis,” and displays a similar form of the neuter in the second
and of the genitive in the third declension. In this manner
many forms of the declension have been made out. But it
is remarkable that the Latin antiquated form of the ablatiye
m d,—m sent&ntiad^ altod, marid, d ic tu to r e d ^ is found; $
have been prevalent in Oscan even in all declensions, as dolud
mallud, com preivatud, toutad prcesentid, for “ dblo -malo,
cum private, tota^-or “ e&„pr8esenti,” in the Bantian law,-' im
dicate,. The riBantian table has in verbs likewise the ^ending
in ud, as in the imperative licitud, evidently meant for liqetoj
in estud, fa c tu d , and actud. Here if is characteristicligtffthe
third person, which also :ends in d and t in the! Oscan language.
Verbal forms in the table of Bantia are ttp id , pruhipid, p ru -
h ip u s t; deivaid, d e iv a s t; dat, didist ; fefacid, fe fa cu s t; fu id ,
fu s t; amprufid, urust, herest, peremust, cebnust. In alt these
instances except one, £ stands after in forms corresponding
with the conjunctive perfect in Latin. In these forms the use
of s preceded that of r in the Latin itself, as,“ faxim,” cagf-
sim,” “ occisim,” are known to have stoodJor “ fecerim*^
“ ceperim,” “ occiderim.” The Oscan alsojetained. tle^re^
duplicative indicative of the perfect“ in more numerousliiinstances
than the Latin; thus fgfacust answers to fUcerit as
didist stood for dederit.- - The forms in id appear, however;
partly indicative of the perfect and partly of the present tense.
These correspondences in grammatical forms are sufficient
to prove the affinity of the Oscan language with the Latin, a
conclusion which is confirmed by a variety of particular words
preserved by ancient authors from the speech of the Opic or
Ausonianrace. Farriel, for famulus,is, an Oscan word, and the
root of many derivatives; ungulus, the Oscan word for “ a
ring,” is connected with u nguis; as is veia, for plaustrum, with
veho. The Latin word luat appears in Jupiter Lucetius of
the Oscans; and solidus, soiler’Sj-spllenis come from the-Oscan
solid, for lotus, omnis. Suppaius, thempper tunic of the Oscan,
domes from “ super.” Most of these words are wholly unconnected
with the Greek; but> ungulus is evidently of the
samefstock with o w l: the-roof of; luar is also Greek, and
Sollo is--related to ^ocf'-just as sat is^to/lAe, salio to aAAw,
sas or suas 'to1' dg. Thus fit appears that the Oscan inscriptions
contain words bèlöÉgirlsf to both portions of the
Latin tongue: it ■,has words’which are peculiar to the Latin
and exist not in Greek} ;and others which are common to that
language and the- Greek.* This’ fact sefemscto overturn the
hypothesis-of Niebuhr thatHhe-Oscfyn language only contained
the lipTgreek or. barbaric element of the Latin language. The
marks of affinlt^Bfetween the 'Oscan and Latin appear indeed
extend so far-into the Structuref'aiMf organization of lan-
,i^uage, alsftorëndeifnö* ‘other supposftiönfadmissible but that
th'ey#erè, in the strict sanserif thé term; dialects of one speech.
The ?G's'Gari' wast‘mèré fude and lelb^loli'shed in many'parts 6f
its'structure,, and in the Ié inétarifeés approached more nearly
to the’ common. character of the Indo-European idioms, but
^without any exclusion ofTorms' ör wor’d^known téfhe common
Itot'heJLatin and- Gi^k-dahguW%f'V*We have already taken
roccasioikt«rent-ark that, asirar as evrdëncêïcan be-collected’, a
similar opinion is supported in regard* to the Ssiculian idiom.
The feihajns of that idiom' actually prèservédf are not akin to,
- doyfone pörtion of>the Latin languageVxclusivelyfof the other;
and I dm disposed'on the whole "to adopt--thé conclusion
"that all the nations of Southern Italy, namely, the Latin,
the Opic, and the- Sicilian races'' spoke ‘cognate dialects ,of
one anbient speech.1 ' It will be found, if I am riot1 mistaken,
in the that a similar infereHceanay %e extended to thé
‘ horthern Italian nations; but before entering on this'triquiry it
' isAccessary to consider the arguments adduced: by Müller in
support of a differentOpim-’onJIt According to'this learned
writer, thel|Quthern parts of Italy wdfè inhabited by various
tribes,of Pelasgiöldéscentyèr allied to1 t'h |t,ancient Greeks.
They were - conquëiéd: in the region near the Tiber by the
*Aborigines, by whbpi only a portioir of the race We’r$ expelled
from tfoei^p^lye' «soil'the- -rest remained and coalesced into
‘ * Gela and Panis are expressly sstidMo have heen common to the Oscan ‘and
Sicilian languages. ■