Information About ™Duenos Inscription |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DUENOS INSCRIPTION | |
| roman archaeology | |
| inscriptions | |
| earliest known manuscripts by language | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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The DUENOS Inscription is one of the earliest known Old Latin texts, dating from circa the 6th Century BC . It was found by Heinrich Dressel in 1880 on a vase on the Quirinal Hill in Rome . It is difficult to translate, as there are very few spaces and some letters are hard to distinguish, particularly since they are in Old Latin . Below is a transcription and stepped-interpretation of the text as far as possible. For each line is given: :a. the direct transcription :b. direct transcription with possible macrons and word breaks :c. a speculative interpretation in Classical Latin :d. an English translation of that interpretation. Line 1: :a. IOVESATDEIVOSQOIMEDMITATNEITEDENDOCOSMISVIRCOSIED :b. iouesāt deiuōs qoi mēd mitāt, nei tēd endō cosmis vircō siēd :c. Iurat deos qui me ''mittit'', ni in te (=''erga te'') comis virgo sit :d. The person who sends(?) me swears by the gods: if the girl is not kind towards you Line 2: :a. ASTEDNOISIOPETOITESIAIPACARIVOIS :b. as(t) tēd noisi o(p)petoit esiāi pācā riuois Line 3: :a. DVENOSMEDFECEDEN MANOMEINOMDVENOINEMEDMALOSTATOD :b. duenos mēd fēced en mānōm einom duenōi nē mēd malo(s) statōd :c. Bonus me fecit in''manom einom'' bono, ne me malus (tollito, clepito) :d. A good man made me ?? for a good man, let an evil person not steal(?) me "Duenos" is an older form of Latin ''bene'', "good", just as ''bellum'' (war) is from Old Latin ''duellum''. The Præneste Fibula was once thought to be the earliest surviving evidence of Latin and to date to the 7th Century BC , but is now believed by most scholars to have been a well-informed hoax. REFERENCES
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