Messapic

Messapic or Messapian is an extinct language that was spoken in the south east of Italy in what is now Apulia between about the 6th and 1st centuries BC. It was spoken by the Messapians, Peucetians and Daunians and may have been related to the Illyrian language. It became extinct after the region was conquered by Rome and the population was assimilated.

Messapic is know from abou 300 inscriptions, only some of which have been deciphered. The Messapic alphabet is thought to have derived directly from the Greek alphabet, rather than developing from the Etruscan alphabet.

Notable features

Messapic alphabet

Sample text

Sample inscription in the Messapic alphabet

http://lila.sns.it/mnamon/index.php?page=Scrittura&id=50&lang=en

Links

Information about Messapic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messapian_language
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Messapic-language
http://www.altosalentorivieradeitrulli.it/nuova_pagina_17.htm
http://lila.sns.it/mnamon/index.php?page=Scrittura&id=50&lang=en

ALPHABETUM - a Unicode font for ancient scripts, including Classical & Medieval Latin, Ancient Greek, Etruscan, Oscan, Umbrian, Faliscan, Messapic, Picene, Iberian, Celtiberian, Gothic, Runic, Old & Middle English, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Old Nordic, Ogham, Kharosthi, Glagolitic, Anatolian scripts, Phoenician, Brahmi, Imperial Aramaic, Old Turkic, Old Permic, Ugaritic, Linear B, Phaistos Disc, Meroitic, Coptic, Cypriot and Avestan.
https://www.typofonts.com/alphabetum.html

Alphabets

A-chik Tokbirim, Adinkra, ADLaM, Armenian, Avestan, Avoiuli, Bactrian, Bassa (Vah), Beitha Kukju, Berati, Beria (Zaghawa), Borama / Gadabuursi, Carian, Carpathian Basin Rovas, Chinuk pipa, Chisoi, Coorgi-Cox, Coptic, Cyrillic, Dalecarlian runes, Elbasan, Etruscan, Faliscan, Fox, Galik, Georgian (Asomtavruli), Georgian (Nuskhuri), Georgian (Mkhedruli), Glagolitic, Global Alphabet, Gothic, Greek, Hurûf-ı munfasıla, Irish (Uncial), Kaddare, Kayah Li, Khatt-i-Badíʼ, Khazarian Rovas, Koch, Korean, Latin, Lepontic, Luo Lakeside Script, Lycian, Lydian, Manchu, Mandaic, Mandombe, Marsiliana, Medefaidrin, Messapic, Mongolian, Mro, Mundari Bani, Nag Chiki, Naasioi Otomaung, N'Ko, North Picene, Novo Tupi, Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong, Odùduwà, Ogham, Old Church Slavonic, Oirat Clear Script, Ol Chiki (Ol Cemet' / Santali), Old Italic, Old Nubian, Old Permic, Ol Onal, Orkhon, Osage, Oscan, Osmanya (Somali), Pau Cin Hau, Phrygian, Pollard script, Quốc âm tân tự, Runic, Székely-Hungarian Rovás (Hungarian Runes), South Picene, Sutton SignWriting, Sunuwar, Tai Viet, Tangsa, Todhri, Toto, Umbrian, (Old) Uyghur, Vellara, Veso Bey, Wancho, Yezidi, Zoulai

Other writing systems

Page last modified: 15.03.23

[top]


Talk in Arabic - Learn Egyptian, Iraqi, Levantine, Sudanese, Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian or Saudi Arabic

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways.

If you find all the adverts annoying, there is now an Ad-free version of Omniglot which you can access for a small monthly or annual donation.

Cloud Web Hosting - Kualo

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

[top]