sistiatiens

Unknown. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). The initial "si-" is potentially a reduplicated syllable which was attached to the base stem *stiati-, which could have been further divided into *stia and *-ti-.

There is further debate about the morphology of *stiati-: One hypothesis holds that *stati- was a base noun to which the reduplicated prefix "si-" was added, leading to *sistati-. This formation may have then been suffixed with *-ens, creating *sistatiens and eventually sistiatiens.

Another hypothesis suggests that the prefix "si-" was added to a "-tu-" stem noun, *statū-, creating *sistatū. This form may have then morphed into sistiatiens due to the addition of the *-ens suffix. This theory would require as shift from /ū/ to /i/, which is possibly indicated by the noun bim. The root *statū- may be attested in Latin statūtus.

Alternatively, it may have originated from *sistā-, which itself has been interpreted as either an athematic stem or a remodeling of a thematic stem *sist(e/o). The linguist Rex Wallace prefers the latter interpretation, noting that in other Italic languages derivatives of Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- lost their athematic status.

This stem, *sistā-, may have been combined with the infix *-t(t)- and the suffix *-ens to create * sistāt(t)ens and eventually sistiatiens. The linguist Rex Wallace argued that the addition of the grapheme “i” is unexpected when considering a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-. This error may have emerged from epigraphical error and the intended form was *sistatiens, although Wallace argues there was little reason for a scribe to make this mistake. Other proposals suggests that the grapheme /i/ may have, at least in this instance, indicated palatalization. Italian scholar Marcello Durante posits that the term originated from *-seststu and the “/i/“ emerged due to contamination by Proto-Italic *sistō. If this theory were the true, the term would be a cognate with Latin sistō.

The morpheme *-t(t)- has been interpreted as a marker of the perfect tense; this perfect form shares similarities with morphemes found in Oscan and Paelignian (see Oscan 𐌃𐌖𐌖𐌍𐌀𐌕𐌄𐌃 (duunated), which contains this morpheme). If the term is a perfect formation, it may be a cognate with Latin statuērunt, an inflection of statuō.

sistiatiens (3rd person plural perfect active)

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: they have erected, dedicated

• 1985, Rex Wallace, “Volscian Sistiatiens”, in Glotta‎^[1], volume 63, number 1/2, →ISSN:
• 2005, Miles Beckwith, “Volscian Sistiatiens and the Osean -tt- Perfect”, in Historische Sprachforschung‎^[2], volume 118, →ISSN, pages 145–159: