an ancient Italic language (formerly referred to as Old Sabellic 【Old Sabellian】, or Central Adriatic) known from some two dozen short inscriptions (5th and 6th centuries BC) found in east-central Italy, primarily in the region of present-day Teramo (the southern part of ancient Picenum). The South Picene texts, written in a distinctive variety of the Etruscan alphabet also used sporadically elsewhere in Italy, are of considerable importance for both the history of the Italic languages and the development of writing in Italy. Some of the South Picene documents show extensive use of alliteration and other poetic features and are therefore of great interest for the study of Italic poetics. The South Picene language is most closely related to the Osco-Umbrian languages (q.v.), and more distantly related to Latin and Faliscan.