RN-1

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Inscription
Transliteration:	laseke / maieχe
Original script:
Variant Reading:	laseke / mazeχe
Object:	RN-1 slab (porphyry)
Position:	upper area"upper area" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property.
Orientation:	90°
Script:	North Italic script (Sanzeno alphabet)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	4.54.5 cm <br /> – 6.6 cm
Number of letters:	12
Number of lines:	2
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	complete
Archaeological culture:	Late Iron Age [from object]
Date of inscription:
Date derived from:
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	PID 189 IR 3 LIR BZ-19
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 184

Images

Object RN-1 slab with inscription RN-1.

Commentary

First published in Menghin 1914: 71.

Images in Mayr 1959e (photo), IR (photo tav. XXXVI a) and LIR (drawing).

Length 23.5 cm and 24.8 cm resp. Engraved into what appears to have been the upper end of a stela, turned 90° counter-clockwise. Due to the comparative hardness of the stone, the letters are not much eroded and well discernible, though partly somewhat askew.

The only problematic letter is the third one in line 2: vs. . The second option was suggested by Mayr (see already Vetter 1943: 78) and accepted by Kretschmer 1943: 178, but rejected by Battisti 1944: 217. The hasta features distinct additional elements on its top and bottom end. In the bottom, a neat short horizontal scratch is clearly visible. On top, an irregular indentation, vaguely triangular, makes the interpretation difficult. While the indentation is the same breadth as the scratch in the bottom, a slight oblique scratch extends through it to merge with the medial bar of ; this latter may be a slip of the chisel when writing , or be interpreted as the upper bar of /, as suggested by Mancini's drawing. The hasta is possibly prolonged slightly beyond the indentation; the spot may be damaged and not reflect the original state. A reading as Zeta is less likely, since this letter has doubtful status in the Raetic alphabets. Cp. the Latinoid BZ-24 with a letter written with serifs.

A clear-cut oblique scratch is situated in the upper area between and in line 1, the attribution of which is doubtful. No separator would be expected in this position. Compare the oblique scratch, only tentatively interpreted as a separator, in line 1 of BZ-10.

Both forms would, if documented separately, be most conveniently interpreted as verbal forms with the preterite ending -ke, but their co-occurrence, as well as the divergent writing of the velar, makes this highly unlikely.

Further references: Hartmann 1920: 243, NRIE 86, Battisti 1936b: 593, Prosdocimi & Scardigli 1976: 225 (note 37); Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 230.

Bibliography

Battisti 1936b	Carlo Battisti, "Rassegna critica degli studi linguistici sull'Alto Adige nel quinquennio 1931-36", Archivio per l'Alto Adige 31/2 (1936), 561–611.
Battisti 1944	Carlo Battisti, "Osservazioni sulla lingua delle iscrizioni nell'alfabeto etrusco settentrionale di Bolzano", Studi Etruschi 18 (1944), 199–236.
Hartmann 1920	Felix Hartmann, "Literaturbericht für das Jahr 1916", Glotta 10 (1920), 246.
IR	Alberto Mancini, "Iscrizioni retiche", Studi Etruschi 43 (1975), 249–306.
Kretschmer 1943	Paul Kretschmer, "Die vorgriechischen Sprach- und Volksschichten (Fortsetzung)", Glotta 30 (1943), 84–218.
LIR	Alberto Mancini, Le Iscrizioni Retiche [= Quaderni del dipartimento di linguistica, Università degli studi di Firenze Studi 8–9], Padova: Unipress 2009–10. (2 volumes)