Etruscan Grammar, from Etruscan_Phrases Table 1 (original) (raw)

5/23/2009 Etruscan Grammar, from Etruscan_Phrases Table 1, showing Etruscan conjugation and declension patterns

Etruscan Phrases – Grammar

by Mel Copeland
(from a work published in 1981)

This grammar of Etruscan words is selected from Indo-European Table 1 which is a map showing the relationships of the words found in the Etruscan vocabulary. This table was consolidated as Etruscan Glossary, in Excel format, Etruscan_GlossaryA.xls, and the conjugation and declension patterns shown herein.

<Etruscan%5FGrammar.xls>, formed the basis of this work. To review the current state of the glossary and grammar use the Excel spreadsheets. Changes there are indicated in red.

Because the Etruscan language is frozen in time (~500 B.C.), it is a good reference on the evolution of related Indo-European languages. Just as we now utilize maps of genetic movement through populations, so too can we map the flow of words through populations using a map similar to Table 1.

A major effort is now being exercised in mapping languages. Thus, Table 1 follows, and is a part of, that effort. There are many discoveries in Table 1 which are fascinating and bear further investigation. This becomes more apparent in examining the Etruscan _Grammar.xls.

What is shown in Table 1 is a map of three Indo-European linguistic strands: an Eastern (Blue), a Middle (Green), and a Western group (Red). The Slavic language group, which is in the main represented in Table 1 by Polish, appears in the "green" zone. Sanskrit, Avestan and Persian I placed in the "blue" zone. What is interesting about Table 1 is that some of the solid "green" and "red" zone languages have words that fall into the "blue," Sanskrit zone. German and Gaelic — including Old English — fall solidly into the (Green) zone, and French, Italian, Etruscan and Latin represent the strongest band in Table 1: the red zone.

To ascertain Indo-European cognates that relate to the Etruscan glossary and grammar, click on the appropriate page and scroll alphabetically via the Etruscan word. The Glossary is sorted alphabeticaly by the Etruscan words : (Etruscan_GlossaryA.xls), which is the most complete version.

The location of the words is shown in the <Etruscan%5FGrammar.xls> and Etruscan_GlossaryA.xls. There are about 1,900 words represented from the texts on the "Etruscan Phrases" home page. The total words in the scripts are estimated to be about 7,000, but this will increase as we obtain images of new texts. Translation of the words requires that the definition applied to a word has to work in all of its phrases, where it appears, as detailed in the Etruscan_GlossaryA.xls. The words thus presented

— though preliminary — are offered with considerable confidence. There will be changes, since languages do have synonyms, where words may have several meanings, and other factors may affect the usage of an Etruscan word. The Etruscan_GlossaryA.xls. contains the most recent words and their locations.

COMMENTARY

The main components of Etruscan grammar include the suffixes categorized from the <Etruscan%5FGrammar.xls> . Among the nouns the suffixes "IA" versus "IE" and "AI" are interesting. They were thought to be separated according to masculine, feminine and neuter cases, but all three suffixes include those cases. Plurals appear to be represented in the suffix "i" and "es, as." The name, probably a gens, Atijerie-ies, is an example of this.

The word 8RATER, declining as 8RATRV, 8RATRVM, 8RATRVS (frater, fratro, fratrum, fratrus), is a good example of the declension of Etruscan nouns. The word appears in the "Icarius Mirror," MS 565/2, in the Schoyen Collection and other texts. The "Icarius Mirror," is perhaps the most significant example of "Etruscan literature" I have seen to date. In the mirror we have an illustration of the first disciple of Dionysus, Icarius, who set off to spread the gospel of wine-making with his faithful dog Maera. The text explains the illustration, like a modern cartoon.

Following the mode in Latin of classifying nouns according to the genitive ending, we can see how the name Atijerie contains a breadth of endings but falls in the "IE" declension group. In contrast, a prefix of the word, which appears to be that relating to Attis, is Ati, which declines to both the "IA" and "IE" declension groups. As we examine the grammar more fully and are able to add more words to the list the relationships will become clearer. For instance, what appears to be the genitive case, "ia," can be seen in such words as: VNIA (Uni), ANIA, 8ASTIA, KVRAIA, 8EIA (Veii?), 8VIA (Boii?), MIA, SPINIA (Spina), SINIA (Siena), 8eRONIA (Verona?), TINIA (Tini), THIA (Dia), PHONTIA, PHABIA (Phoebe), ARCIA, ATIA (Attis), VSIA, and the common name, PETRVNIA. The name of Helen of Troy is also of interest, since her name appears on a mirror ("Etruscan Phrases" Divine Mirror, Script DM) as ELENAI. In another mirror, Script MM, her name is spelled ELENEI. This latter spelling coincides with the name of Persephone (Etr. PHERSIPNEI) seen in Script PH, a mural from the Tomb of Orcos, and a name in the Tavola Eugubine, MVSEI (Muse, godess of music?).

The function of "E" in suffixes is not entirely clear, since it also appears to indicate the 2nd person sing. verb, and many nouns carry the suffix as well, such as: AKLE (Aglaia), ATMITE (Admetus), AKNE, AKNI (L. agnae-ae), AFLE, AVLE (L. aule, word used as "lord, prince"), EPE VR, FELTVNE, FETVRE (L. fetura-ae), FILAE (L. filia-ae), HERCLE (Heracles), HERMNE (L. Hermes, Herma-ae), IVNE (L. Ionia-ae?), ITALE, (L. Italia-ae), LARE (L. lar, laris, lares), LVNE (L. luna-ae), MENLE (Menelaus), MVRFE (L. Morpheus-eos), NVRE (L. nurus-us), PATRE (L. patria-ae), PERAE (L. Perae), PHABE (L. Phoebe-is), PHVNTE (L. fontanus-a-um), RASNE (Etr. Rasne, Etruscan), RESINE (L. resina-ae), RVMAE (L. Roma-ae), SATANE (noun, related to L. satio-are), SATENE (noun, name of queen), SEMLE (Semele, mother of Dionysus), TA8LE (L.tabella-ae), TVTE (L. tutus-a-um), VNE, VNEM, VNVM (L. unnus-a-um), 8ASE, 8ASEI (L. vas, vasis), 8ATE (L. vates-is), 8IE (L. vita, It. vita; Fr. vie).

These are just a few of the words in "Etruscan Phrases" that have an "E" suffix that can be clearly identified as nouns or names. We are dealing with a language that was frozen in time – the texts cover a period largely between 650 B.C. and 200 B.C. – as pointed out in our introductory comments in Etruscan Phrases. What is interesting from this perspective is the fact that the language, as frozen, appears to reflect little or no linguistic drift. Linguists have theorized that it takes about 200 years for a language to drift into separate dialects, even separate languages. Such changes in English can best be appreciated by one reading Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," written in 15th century English. Modern editions of "Canterbury Tales" carry a translation, making it possible for us to read the book.

Writing Styles

We have color-coded some characters that are not in the "Latin" alphabet used in Western alphabets: They are the "

S, " (, probably a "z"); " R " (possibly the "double 'r' seen in Spanish, etc.," written as O ) and " K " ( , established as "ch," based upon the names of the seer Chalcas, the feared ferryman, Charon, and the region of Chaina, Italy found in the texts.

In general the values of the vowels are consistent with the Latin alphabet, but there can be a shift in usage between the "a" and "e" or "o" and "u," which is common in Latin and especially Englsih as well. The use of "th"

seems to have been dropped in favor of the "t" – it appears in older scripts. An interesting usage of the character is found on a mirror with regard to the name of the Sea-nymph Thetis, who was the mother of Achilles. Her name is written: THETHIS. The "t" usually was written just as we write it, appearing either as a T , t , and sometimes a +, and sometimes the writers slant the character as. There are two "Rs" : the O and P. The O has been confused by others with the "th," though the two characters can be differentiated by the presence of the dot in the center of the character (sometimes, as with the Greek theta, the dot is substituted by a horizontal line). The character represented by the "P" sometimes is written with a short stem and at other times the "P" is not closed, almost resembling the Etruscan "P" = or. The character "L" is written as we write it, and it is often characterized with the bottom foot slanted upward, ?.

There are four "Ss" : S, Z, a character that can be confused for an "M" =

but written without a serif as: " M ," and the . The latter character is written in our script as an S . The interchange of these characters needs to be further examined. For instance, the Lemnos Script, Script "S," uses the "Z" and a form of the " M, " written as a . The " S " ( ) does not appear in the text. There are three "Ks": C, K, and , the latter being written as a K in our script and representing our "ch." The character appears as the first letter of Charon, the ferryman of Hades, pictured in Etruscan murals with his mallet as he stands over those sent to hell. He was known for hitting new souls over the head as they enter hell, either to make sure they were dead or because they lacked sufficient passage money. It is also shown in an engraving on a mirror, with the seer Chalchas and his name.

The "D" is rare and appears in the Magliano script. In most cases what appears to be a "D" is an "R," either the character "

O " or sometimes, when you look closely, the character may have a serif on its foot, indicating that it is the "P" character ("r") with a short stem. One of the "Rs" may be a double R.

One can observe changes in the character "E," which is written as we write it. To avoid confusion with the "F" scribes placed a sarif on the foot of the "E" and increased the length and angle of the bar in the F, sometimes writing it with a short stem. The "F" is used both as a consonant and a vowel, "u."

The "V" is a consonant "V" as in vario, but usually is an "o" and sometimes, as seen in this grammar, a "u." How its sound differs from the "u" represented by the "F" is something yet to be discerned. We, in fact, are not at the point of assigning specific sounds to the characters and approximate them to English sounds pending the availability or discernment of more Etruscan vocabulary.

Because of the overwhelming correspondence of the Etruscan vocabulary to Latin, the more complex grammar of Latin is anticipated in Etruscan. Once again, recognizing that Etruscan was frozen about 200 B.C., the reader should appreciate the significance of looking at a grammar in that untouched state. We can compare the opportunity of observing a frozen Etruscan language to Latin, which is a dead language, but carried on by the Catholic church. Time has affected Latin through its continued use over the ages by many peoples and accents, but Etruscan ceased to be used over two thousand years ago and is thus a relic in time. It is our objective to try to understand it and how it affected the Romans who gave us the script you are reading on this page. We may wonder, for instance, how the "s" and "c" became confused. The British dialect writes "criticise" with a k, c and an s sound. Americans, on the other hand, write the same word as "criticize." And in this simple comparison we can see a "c" shifting sometimes as an "s" sound and the "s" sometimes being written as an "s" and other times as a "z." (As a side note the English pronunciation of the "C" in Celt (Gr. Kelt) was changed from the "k" to an "s," which probably accounts for the often confusing pronunciation of the name.).

The character that the Etruscans used to convey the "sh" sound we have not identified and left the matter for the moment as an issue of three "Ss," one of which no doubt is the "sh" (the

M ?). Other characters in the Etruscan alphabet – as in the Lemnos Script.html – were not forwarded to us by the Romans and we may wonder as well why that is so. Some ambiguities in reading English might have been avoided, perhaps. In any event, this is not just an exercise in trying to understand Etruscan but rather more importantly we must take advantage of an opportunity to better understand our own writing system(s), how they evolved over time from the Etruscan original.

We thus begin with grammar. Curiously, in transferring words from Indo-European Table 1, Welsh was appearing in a close association to Etruscan grammar. I had not expected this, though I know that linguists have concluded that at one time Latin and Celtic (Welsh being a modern representative) were one tongue. The Etruscan suffix, A8 and AF is perplexing in that regard. We need more Etruscan words (scripts!) in order to address this, among many examples.

Differentiation through the use of tangs

If the dating of Etruscan scripts is correct, the Etruscans had a long history of writing, from ~650 B.C. or earlier to about the time of Cicero, ~50 B.C. Keeping in mind how languages tend to "decay" every 200 years into dialects, we can expect that over the 600-year history of Etruscan writing there would be changes in their writing conventions. We have already discussed how their penmanship would vary, particularly in writing the "R" and "M." The variations were always within "rules" or conventions, however. There must have been a "tang" or "serif" rule, for instance, which identifies an "M" versus an " S ." The shape of the tang would change from one hand to another. However, when one sees a "tang" one knows that the character represented is an "M." The identification of the rare "PH" (Greek Ø) is also by a tang. The tang can be long, extending well beyond the body of the "O" from which it is created or it can be short. If there is a tang attached to the "O" it represents "PH" as in PHERI, PHERIE. The theta, TH, is also constrained by a dot in the center of a circle (target). The dot can be written as a dash, but must be in the center of the circle. If there is no dot within the circle the character represented is an "R." In like manner the "T" can vary from a character that looks like a slanted "y" to a "t" or "T" as we write it to a "+." The gamma "Y" is rare in Etruscan; however, the character "V" can vary, even have a tang on the bottom, suggesting it is a "Y." It may be that the use of the Greek gamma would have conflicted with the convention of writing "ie" or "ia" to convey the "J" as in IANNA.

The characters "K" and "G" would also have rules by which they were differentiated. The "K" (Greek kappa, K) is differentiated from the "b" (Greek gamma) by a tang and an open body. Remove the tang and close the body and you will have a character, "b," written as English"b." In like manner there must have been a rule for writing the "P" so to avoid confusing it with the "R." In Etruscan the body of the "P" is not closed, written

as an upside down "L." Sometimes the tang on the "L" is almost closed, but as long as it does not completely close ("P") it is a "P" (Greek pi ?). Sometimes the "V" appears upside down, and perhaps the Etruscans had a convention of curving the tang on the "L" so to differentiate the character from the "V."

The "R" has similar requirements. It may be written as a "P" or "D" but must have a tang – in this case a "staff" under it. If it has no staff and or a dot in the middle it is an "

R ." The "D" is rare and may not exist in the Etruscan alphabet, being represented by the "t" and "TH" (The Greek delta ? is pronounced "th" as in "they.").

The "Q" in Etruscan is written as "CF," represented in the word, CFA, "qua." The "F" in this case is a vowel, "u," and thus there must have been a rule for writing the "F," when to use it versus the Greek "fi" Ø. It may be that the rule for using the "fi" was in writing (borrowed) Greek words. In any event we see the "F" used as a consonant, "fi," when preceding another consonant or a vowel, as in FAMA. It becomes a vowel when it is used between a consonant and a vowel. The "V" as in vario, is rendered as "8." We have found one exception in the case of VARRAN, which needs to be resolved. The "X" is a "Roman" numeral, 10. A character rendered appears to be the Greek "hi," X, an may have the same sound: a heavily aspirated "h." The Greek "ksi" pronounced as in "extra," probably does not exist in Etruscan and the sound appears to be expressed through separate letters, such as EKS (L. exeo-ire, to go out, exit). Another and more frequent character that is an "h" is the . It is most often seen in the name of Heracles: HERCLE and in the verb habeo-ere (HA, HE, HV). Another character can be confused with the "h." It is the "N" whose crossbar may sometimes run horizontally between the two uprights (as an H). The rule for differentiating the "N" and the "H" would be through the "closed body" rule. The two uprights must be closed top and bottom to be an "h."

Sometimes the "I" can be confused with the "

S " character, but the tangs (crossbars) have to differentiate the character "i" from the "s." The "S" is probably the Greek Z, "zita," pronounced as in "zero." The other and more frequent "S" is represented by an "S," written variously as a "Z" to an "S" (Greek sigma, ? pronounced as an "s" as in "sister). The angled tang is the stroke that sets this character. Another "s," written in Etruscan as an M , probably conveys the "sh," which is the sigma turned on its side.

The Etruscan vowels, a, e, i, appear to be used like the same vowels in Latin. The vowel "O" (Greek omega ?) is represented by the "V." Sometimes the "V" can represent the vowel "u." The rule for the use of the "o," and "u" has yet to be discerned. But spelling issues involving the use of these two vowels seem to be more consistent in Etruscan than Latin or English. For instance, many words spelled with "oa" can be spelled with "u" or "o," as may be discerned in a Latin dictionary. We may, in fact, use some examples involving spelling problems in English:

chalk, talk, caulk; mote, moat, goat, coat, goad, toad, sowed, mowed, rode, wrote ; foot, put; loot, mute, soot, shoot, route. Latin spelling variants include Claudius, Clodius, etc. Varied spellings in Etruscan, in contrast, do not seem to be as prevalent as in English. We have found variants in the Etruscan and Roman name for the goddess Athena. But her name is hard to spell and we can offer a small test to illustrate our point. You choose the correct spelling for her name: Manerva, Menerva, Minerva.

No longer stalled on Apelos

Update 1.13.07, November 18, 2006 – I was stalled in reconciling the Tavola Eugubine Script "R" with regard to the use of the words APE and APELOS (APELVS). While "OS" is a suffix denoting a noun the word did not seem to coincide with the context which referred to Diana, L. Phoebe-is, (PHABIA) the moon goddess. We concluded that the phrase was APE, APE LOS (LVS) Te. LVS is the word for light, L. lux, lucis. ABE appears to be "go away!" L. . abeo-ire, abi-itum, but it may alternatively be, "drink, drink," L. bibo-bibere, your light. LVS appears in the Piacenza liver. The moon, lune, is light, possibly of rebirth, a symbol of goddesses like Isis.An examination of the words used in the Etruscan GlossaryA.xls on this site while opening the various scripts (through the links at <Etruscan%5FPhrases%5Fa.html> referenced in the glossary) helps you evaluate how various words are used in the texts where they appear.

I thought perhaps that the suffix OS signified a first person plural case (Latin "mus," Italian "mo," and French "ons."). The suffix OS may be indicative of a noun, however, equating to Latin "us." Of interest to this argument is the word SAR

R OMvS (SAR R VMvS), Z543 which may be a verb, first person plural, present tense (It may be two words: SAR R VMvS), and the word APA is part of a three-word phrase in script "TA": APA STA PASAR. In this mural two priests face each other on either side of a fake door in a tomb. APA may be "priest (It., abate; Fr. Abbé) in which case the phrase would read "the priest he stands to pass." As shown in the Etruscan GlossaryA.xls AP, APA, APE, APEN may also be a verb: to water, to drink (L. beo-bere; It. bere; PIE*ap, hap, water). LOS (LVS) appears also as a stand-alone word: light (L. lux, lucis; Tocharian, luks; Lycian, luga; Hittite, lukkai). This word also needs to be compared to LUS (LFS). Thus, the word APELOS (APELVS) may be a name, Apelos. Relating to the word APELVS is another, ETP 122, APALVS, listed in the Etruscan Text Project (ETP) of the University of Massachusetts (http://etp.classics.umass.edu/). APA is also used at ETP 114. While we applaud the work of Rex Wallace in attempting to digitize the Etruscan texts through ETP the lack of text images creates a problem in Wallace's transliterations. Further, Wallace's belief that Etruscan is not an Indo-European language (See http://www.umass.edu/loop/people/articles/39914.php ) forms a bias, thwarting a reconciliation of ETP words to the Etruscan Phrases Glossary or Grammar. We thus refer to the ETP transliterations with some hesitation, since there is no way to independently verify Wallace's ETP work. Hopefully this concern will be resolved. The ETP transliterations can be compared to the Etruscan Phrases work by opening both sites concerning the Tabula Cortonensis:

ETP site: http://etp.classics.umass.edu/index.php?topic=8

Etruscan Phrases site (Script TC): http://www.maravot.com/Tabula_Cortonensis.html

The significance of the 1,900 word sample

The ~1,900 word Glossary is not a small sample of the Etruscan language. This glossary will grow even larger as we add more texts to the "Etruscan Phrases" site. Experts say that the Oxford English Dictionary has 616,500 entries, out of which the average English speaker uses 10,000-20,000 words. By comparison there are about 185,000 words in German, 130,000 Russian, and 100,000 French. According to Unforgettable Languages (http://www.unforgettablelanguages.com/maincdfrench.html) a person that completes their 4th level French language course will have a vocabulary of 1,300 words by which they will "be able to read and understand the average newspaper article, write letters in French, and be able to communicate effectively in a large number of situations." The Etruscan texts recorded in "Etruscan Phrases" may be compared to similar reading assessments, indicating that most of the day-to-day vocabulary is within the range of 1,700 words (which explains why the 7,000 words of the "Etruscan Phrases" texts reduce to ~1,700 words). The "Etruscan Phrases" Glossary is thus a "working" vocabulary, used to convey everyday speech. I will add to the Glossary and Grammar as more texts become available.

Case endings study

Understanding the use of case endings, as verbs and adverbs or nouns and adjectives, involves a sifting process, which is what has taken place on this site. We have progressed to the point where we can begin with a summary of conjugation forms, taken from the <Etruscan%5FGrammar.xls> . We removed the summary of declension forms, of nouns and adjectives, and replaced it herein with the Declension Tables. The Declension Tables are patterned after the Declension Tables found in most Western language dictionaries. We plan to convert the conjugation table into a table following the example of Western verb conjugation books. The words identified in the Declension and Conjugation tables can be found in the specific texts where they are used through the Etruscan GlossaryA.xls. We have set up this site so that all of the words in the "Etruscan Phrases" Grammar and Glossary spreadsheets can be independently and scientificaly verified. We, of course, do not recognize the validity of the works of scholars who do not recognize scientific standards of scholarship. Certain scholars have hoodwinked their students, universities and financial supporters into believing that the Etruscan language is not Indo-European and an isolate, with no language known to be like it; yet they have offered their own phony transcriptions and translations. Some of them tend to dominate Etruscan studies and while some of their works in archology, linguistics or history may be verifiable, their phony work on the Etruscan language raises doubts as to the credibility of their other research. We have been in communication with a few of them and they have been well aware of "Etruscan Phrases." They have lamentedly declined our requests for images relating to their work, so that their work may be verified. The proof of this work is based upon our reader's ability to view the original text as written by the Etruscans, whether on mirrors, pottery, murals or tablets.

Mel Copeland Berkeley, CA November 19, 2006 (Rev. 2.07.07)

Sample Conjugation Table, Pronouns & Declension Patterns — See Spreadsheet for the complete form

–

Notes:

(1) In scripts TC and K the name RAL is preceeded by LAR and, except in the case of RALISA (TC80) are individually followed by different words. In Script DM above the head of the goddess who is the mother of Helen of Troy is the name, RALNA. Next to her is her consort, Tini (Zeus) whose name is spelled as TINIA, a genitive ending. The Italian language uses "one" as an augmentative suffix or to add impressiveness to a word. RAL, RALNA thus appear to be the same name used in the Divine Mirror.html (DM), the Tavola Cortonensis (TC) and Perugia Cippus (K). See also ROM, ROMNA, RAS, RASNA, RASNE (Scripts BS and Zagreb Mummy (Z).

(2) The suffix "OS" appears to relate to the Italian "oso" which is an adjective-forming suffix that usually means: having, full of, characterized by: roccioso = rocky, plovoso = rainy, famoso = famous.

(3) The suffix "ia" appears to be the genitive "ae" ending in Latin. However Etruscan also has the "ae" suffix, which appears to be Genitive. In Italian "ia" is the ending of names of many arts and sciences: geologia = geology. It is also the ending of many abstract nouns: maestria = master, fantasia = imagination.

(4) The character "8" appears to be close to the sound of "B." The "V" and "B" might be represented by the same character in Etruscan. Curiously, a bilingual inscription in Greek and Lydian, from Lydia, has the name Dionysus (L. Bacchus-i), and where Dionysus would coincide in the Lydian phrase there is the word 8AKI. See Lydian.html which appears to say, "Funeral dirge (L. naenia [nenia-ae]; It. nenia; Etr. NANIE) of Bacchus the pillar of Artemis," or alternatively "Nannas of the Bacchantes the pillar of Artemis."

(5) The "IA" suffix appears to be a genetive, masculine and feminine case: The goddess Dia (THIA) which cannot be spelled, THIE or TIE, day, and Tinia. Representing the "IE" suffix are

Phersipnei (Persephone) who is pictured before Atia, king of Hades, and a declension of Attis. Attis, Ati, Ate, Atia also appears as Atie. Note also the "AI" suffix, including the name of Helen of Troy (Elenai), seen in Divine Mirror.html (DM).

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