Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- cambridge handbooks in language and linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Structures and Theories
- Part III Organization and Development
- Part IV Empirical Approaches
- 14 Studying Epigraphic Writing
- 15 Materiality of Writing
- 16 Data Collection and Interpretation
- 17 Philological Approaches
- 18 Exploring Orthographic Distribution
- 19 Comparative and Sociopragmatic Methods
- 20 Reconstructing a Prehistoric Writing System
- Part V Explanatory Discussions
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
14 - Studying Epigraphic Writing
from Part IV - Empirical Approaches
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2023
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- cambridge handbooks in language and linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Structures and Theories
- Part III Organization and Development
- Part IV Empirical Approaches
- 14 Studying Epigraphic Writing
- 15 Materiality of Writing
- 16 Data Collection and Interpretation
- 17 Philological Approaches
- 18 Exploring Orthographic Distribution
- 19 Comparative and Sociopragmatic Methods
- 20 Reconstructing a Prehistoric Writing System
- Part V Explanatory Discussions
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Summary
This chapter outlines some of the difficulties of studying orthography in fragmentary languages from Ancient Italy in the first millennium BC. The authors advocate for a multilevel approach to get the most information from short, challenging and (sometimes) poorly understood texts. The chapter includes a number of case studies from Republican Latin, Oscan, Umbrian and Venetic, highlighting the problems posed by different kinds of texts. For Latin, some grammarians provide relevant information about the perceived ‘standard’ language, but their points of view may not always reflect the usage of their contemporaries. Oscan is written using three main alphabets, which allows a comparison of orthographies and of the execution of spelling rules across different regions. The Iguvine Tables, written in Umbrian, are a long and detailed religious document, written by different individuals in a small group of priests, in two main phases, and show a number of orthographic practices specific to these documents. Finally, Venetic furnishes an example of how punctuation can be as important as spelling to a community’s orthographic practices.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography , pp. 285 - 304Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023