Editing Oscan language (section)

==Phonology==

===Vowels===
Vowels are regularly lengthened before ''ns'' and ''nct'' (in the latter of which the ''n'' is lost) and possibly before ''nf'' and ''nx'' as well.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=47}}
[[Anaptyxis]], the development of a vowel between a [[Liquid consonant|liquid]] or [[Nasal consonant|nasal]] and another consonant, preceding or following, occurs frequently in Oscan; if the other (non-liquid/nasal) consonant precedes, the new vowel is the same as the preceding vowel. If the other consonant follows, the new vowel is the same as the following vowel.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=50}}

====Monophthongs====

=====A=====
Short ''a'' remains in most positions{{sfn|Buck|1904|pp=29–30}}
Long ''ā'' remains in an initial or medial position. Final ''ā'' starts to sound similar to {{IPA|[ɔː]}} so that it is written ''ú'' or, rarely, ''u''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=30}}

=====E=====
Short ''e'' "generally remains unchanged;" before a labial in a medial syllable, it becomes ''u'' or ''i'', and before another vowel, ''e'' raises to higher-mid [ẹ], written ''í''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|pp=31–32}}
Long ''ē'' similarly raises to higher-mid [ẹ], the sound of written ''í'' or ''íí''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=33}}

=====I=====
Short ''i'' becomes written ''í''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=34}}
Long ''ī'' is spelt with ''i'' but when written with doubling as a mark of length with ''ií''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=35}}

=====O=====
Short ''o'' remains mostly unchanged, written ''ú'';{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=36}} before a final ''-m'', ''o'' becomes more like ''u''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=37}}
Long ''ō'' becomes denoted by ''u'' or ''uu''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=38}}

=====U=====
Short ''u'' generally remains unchanged; after ''t'', ''d'', ''n'', the sound becomes that of ''iu''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=40}} 
Long ''ū'' generally remains unchanged; it changed to an ī sound in monosyllables, and may have changed to an ''ī'' sound for final syllables.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=41}}

====Diphthongs====

Oscan had the following diphthongs:{{sfn|Wallace|2007|p=13}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| /ay/ || /ey/ || /oy/
|-
| /aw/ || /ew/ || /ow/
|}

The sounds of [[diphthong]]s remain unchanged from the Proto-Indo-European origins.{{sfn|Buck|1904|p=18}}

===Consonants=== 
The consonant inventory of Oscan is as follows:{{sfn|Wallace|2007|p=11}}

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2"|
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- 
! rowspan="2"|[[Occlusive|Plosive]]
! <small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|p}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|t}}
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|k}}
| 
|- 
! <small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|b}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|d}}
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|ɡ}}
| 
|- align="center"
! colspan="2"| [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|f}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|s}}
| 
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|h}}
|- 
! colspan="2"| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|m}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|n}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
| 
| colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;"| {{IPA link|l}}
| 
| 
|- 
! colspan="2"| [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| 
| colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;"| {{IPA link|r}}
| 
|
|- 
! colspan="2"| [[Semivowel]]
|
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|j}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|w}}
|
|- 
|}

====S====
In Oscan, ''s'' between vowels did not undergo [[Rhotacism (sound change)|rhotacism]] as it did in Latin and Umbrian; but it was voiced, becoming the sound {{IPA|/z/}}. However, between vowels, the original cluster ''rs'' developed either to a simple ''r'' with lengthening on the preceding vowel, or to a long ''rr'' (as in Latin), and at the end of a word, original ''rs'' becomes ''r'' just as in Latin. Unlike in Latin, the s is not dropped, either Oscan or Umbrian, from the consonant clusters ''sm'', ''sn'', ''sl'': Umbrian ''`sesna'' "dinner,"  Oscan '''kersnu''' vs Latin ''cēna''.{{sfn|Buck|1904|pp=73–76}}