Une nouvelle attestation du substrat « sicule » en Sicile ?

Abstract

A coin from Himera (in the Sicanian area of Sicily) bears on its reverse the legend ΚΙΜΑΡΑ. This form was already understood as a pun based on the Greek name of the he-goat (χίμαρος), the animal which appears on the obverse of the coin. The presence of a pun without a direct connection with the official name of the city would be highly surpris-ing on a coin, as coins are an official expression of the political power of the Greek polis. Therefore, it is much more likely that ΚΙΜΑΡΑ reflects first of all a rendering of the indig-enous name of the city, which was used in parallel with the standard form (Η)ΙΜEΡΑ. As it appears so rarely, this variant must have been considered less prestigious than (Η)ΙΜEΡΑ. The widespread use of the he-goat image on the coins of Himera could have triggered the use of the variant ΚΙΜΑΡΑ. This variant was then even accepted as a coin legend. It is not possible to establish whether ΚΙΜΑΡΑ was the direct Greek adaptation of the indigenous name or there were some intermediate phases, e.g. *ΧΙΜΑΡΑ. Nevertheless, the absence of the aspiration in ΚΙΜΑΡΑ (and probably in *κίμαρος) brings to mind the Sicilian loss of initial aspiration (tenuis aspirata), typical of the Siculian Greek area. As shown by recent research, it is impossible to clearly separate Sicanian and Siculian cultures from a linguistic and epigraphic point of view. The case of ΚΙΜΑΡΑ shows that the lin-guistic continuum between the two areas was more extended than previously thought.