1897-1059 Formations of the perfect in the Sabellic languages with the Italic and Indo-European background Piwowarczyk Dariusz R. author Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Polska, ul. Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków Correspondence to: Dariusz R. Piwowarczyk dariusz.piwowarczyk@uj.edu.pl 10 12 2011 Volume 128, Issue 1 2011 103 126 Copyright © 2011 2011 <p>The problem of the origin of the Sabellic perfects (in the older literature called Oscan-Umbrian) has been discussed at length very often in Indo-European linguistics ever since the 19th century and the monumental work of Robert von Planta (1892–1897). Still, to this very day it remains a mystery. Various hypotheses have been proposed but none of them explained everything clearly and without problems. Especially intriguing is the fact that the multiple formations of the perfect found in Sabellic languages (reduplicated, simple, -f-, -tt- and -nky-perfects) perform essentially the same function of the preterite tense, being the syncretism of both the Proto-Indo-European aorist and perfect, similarly as in Latin.<br />In the present article the author seeks to present the compelling hypotheses of the origin of the formations of the perfect in the Sabellic languages, evaluate them according to their supposed probability and present the most probable solution to the problem. The Sabellic perfects are classified into groups and each group is discussed as to its origin and development with the Indo-European background in mind. This is followed by some reconstructions underlying the attested forms. The Sabellic formations treated in this article are the reduplicated perfect, long-vowel perfect, s-perfect, simple perfect, -f-perfect, -tt-perfect, -k-perfect, -nky-perfect and the Sabellic future perfect with the characteristic -us- suffix. The discussion is closed by conclusions and the appendix with the complete list of the attested forms of the perfect.</p> 1 Adiego Lajara I. 1992. Protosabelio, osco-umbro, sudpiceno. Barcelona.  2 Beckwith M. 2005. Volscian sistiatiens and the Oscan -tt- perfect. – Historische Sprachforschung 118: 145–159.  3 Beckwith M. 2006. The old Italic ō-perfect and the Tortora inscription. [Abstract from the 18th annual UCLA Indo-European conference. Los Angeles 03.11–04.11.2006]. Los Angeles.  4 Beckwith M. 2008. The Latin imperfect and v-perfect: A paradigm split. [Abstract from the 20th annual UCLA Indo-European conference. Los Angeles 31.10–01.11.2008]. Los Angeles.  5 Brugmann K. 1893. 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