Etruscan As An Anatolian Language (Sound Laws) - G Forni

Sod. Glott. Mil.
, 14 giugno 2010
1
Copyright G. Forni 2010
Etruscan as an Anatolian (non-Hittite)
Language
Gianfranco Forni
giaforni@tin.it
Sod. Glott. Mil., 14 giugno 2010
2
Agenda
Methodology and sources
Sound correspondences
Grammar correspondences
Lexical correspondences
Genetic correspondences
Conclusions
Next steps
3
Methodology
A language L belongs to family F if most of its
basic lexicon and morphemes can be derived from
proto-F through regular sound laws and strict
semantic correspondences
4
Sources
Giuliano Bonfante, Larissa Bonfante - The Etruscan Language: An
Introduction, Revised Editon Manchester University Press, 2002
G. Facchetti - Appunti di morfologia etrusca - Olschki 2002 - ISBN
8822251385
G. Facchetti - L'enigma svelato della lingua etrusca - Newton Compton,
2000
Helmut Rix - Il problema del retico - Atti del Convegno della Societ
Italiana di Glottologia "Variet e continuit nella storia linguistica del
Veneto" - ottobre 1996
Mallory, Adams - The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and
the Proto-Indo-European World - Oxford, 2006 - ISBN: 978-
0199296682
A. Kloekhorst Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon
Brill 2008 ISBN 978-9004160927
M. de Vaan - Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic
Languages Brill 2008 ISBN 978-9004167971
5
Input data
Of all lexical items for which Etruscologists have
proposed a gloss, 145 belong to basic lexicon
97% of such basic terms have an IE etymology
20 grammar morphemes have also been assigned
a value by Etruscologists
95% of them have an IE etymology
6
Key sound laws from pIE to Etruscan
C > C
CC- > CVC-
di, ti, gi > zi; g > z
b'- > f-; g'- > h-; d'- > 0-
t > 0; k, k > c, (> h?); p > p, (> h?)
d > t
tr > [] : <c>/i, <t>
mn > mr
7
Sample grammar correspondences
-al genitive < *-(o)lo- as in Lydian (siuv-ala of the god)
-s genitive < *-s
-i locative < *-i
-i feminine < *-ih
a
-n accusative (in pronouns) < *-m
-pi towards < *h
1
opi
-c, - and < *-ke
-m and: cf. Hitt. ma and, but, Lyc. me
Melchert: One of the most famous
features of the Anatolian Indo-European
languages is the widespread use of an
inflected adjective [] in place of the
genitive case
8
Sample lexical correspondences
ar-, er- do, move, rise < *h
3
er-, *h
1
er-
ati mother < *anti (cf. HLuw /anati/ mother)
avil year < *h
2
ei-wo- time (Lat. aevum)
cap- take < *kap- (Lat. capi)
car-, cer- do < *ker-
cil people, nation < *kei-uo- (Lat. culits)
enas of us < *n- + gen. s
far-, har- inside, enter < *per-
far(a)n(a)- generate < *perh
3
-i- (Lat. partus)
9
he- here < *g'e- (Lat. hi-c)
ica, eca, ca this < *(h
1
)i-, h
1
e- + *ke- (Hitt. k
this)
ita, eta, ta that < *(h
1
)i-, h
1
e- + *to-
lupu die, go < *h
1
leud'- go away, die, with *-ud'-
> -up- as in Lat. lber < *h
1
leud'ero-
lu field < *lu-to-
mi I, mini, mene me < *h
1
m(e)n- me (accus. &
oblique), extended to nominative as in HLuw, Lyd
& Lyc (but not Hitt.!)
10
mul(u)- offer: cf. Lyd m/wnda- offerings (for the
dead)', HLuw. /malwa-/ ritual offer', Lyc mle-
sacrificial offer', Mil. mla-, mle- 'sacrifice, offer'
mur- dwell < *morh
2
- (Lat. moror)
nefts nephew < *h
2
nep-t- (not a Latin loan: is
also found in Lemnian nao-)
net- inner organs < *h
1
en-h
1
eh
1
tr-
puia wife < *pot-nih
a
rasna Etruscan nation < *h
3
rg-no- (Lat. regnum)
11
tam- home < *dem- / *dom-; cf. Lyc., HLuw.
tama- home, building'
ar there < *tor
te- put < *d'eh
1
- (Lyc., Mil. ta-)
t(e)v- see: cf. Lyc. *tewe- eye, Mil. tewe- meet,
see'
tin day < *deino-
tiu(r) moon, month < *dei-wo- (Luw tiwa- Sun-
god)
trin say! < *t(e)r-
ui here < *to- + -i locative
12
tur- give (as a present) < *deh
3
-r- (gr. dron, arm.
tur)
val- see < *wel-
vatie- ask < *g'ed'-
vers- fire < *wer- (Hitt. war- burn)
zen-, zin- do, produce < *genh
1
-
ziv- live, alive < *gih
3
-we/o-
zi- show, write < *dik- show
13
Numerals
u(n) 1 < *to- this ?
zal, zel-, es(a)l- 2 < *dwi- + -al (cf. Lat. dulis) ?
ci 3 [ < *tri-, trey-
hu, hut 4 < *k(e)tw(o)r (> *utur with
deglutination of ur -uple)
ma, mac 5 < *meh
a
n-ke and the hand? Or else
< *penke as Lat. elementum < gr. elephant- via
Etruscan? Cf. also Italian gomito elbow <
cubitum?
14
Corrispondenze lessicali (numeri)
a 6 < *seks
sem 7 < *septm + -p/- (as in 8 & 9)
cezp, *usf- 8 < *h
3
(e)kteh
3
(> *kto- > *kut- + -
p/- as in 7 & 9)
nur- 9 < *h
1
newh
1
mn + -p/- (as in 7 & 8) >
*numr, with *mn > *mr as in Agamemnon >
Amemrun and Mmnon > Memrun)
sar(-), ar, -zar 10 < *dekmt > *dehamn >
*zehamr > *zear (-mn > -mr > -r as in nur-)
15
Correspondences in non-basic lexicon
tarun-, tarna-, etc. Tarquinia: cf. Hitt. tarh u- 'to
prevail, conquer, be powerful'; Luw Tarhunt- 'Storm-
god', Lyc trqqt- /trknt-/ 'Storm-god'
etera stranger, cliens, slave < *nd'ero- lower; cf.
HLuw. andara-, Lyc., Mil. ntre- lower; possibly
influenced by *h
1
e-tero- (Umbrian etr- other)
maru(n) maron (a magistrate): cf. Mil. mara- law,
Lyc. maraza- judge
Porsenna: cf. Hitt. parna- 'leopard-man
panti dish: cf. Hitt. ipantuwa- 'libation vessel
zil- govern, hold an office: cf. Hitt. alli- 'head, chief,
notable
16
Genetic correspondences
Recent genetic studies (Piazza et al., 2007-2010)
confirm that Tuscan women, men and cows (as well
as Raetian cows) display statistically meaningful
resemblances with their Anatolian counterparts:
17
Other Etruscoid people
Lemnos is very close to
Anatolia
Raetians and Etruscans
were probably
separated by Celtic
invasions
18
Conclusions
Herodotus was right: Etruscans are Lydians (i.e.
from Anatolia)
Sound laws are regular
Most basic lexicon and grammar morphemes have
an IE etymology
Some interesting isoglosses (mi/mini, -al, -m, -n,
ecc.) point to an Anatolian origin (prob. non-Hittite:
cf. innovations such as mi and -al)
Recent genetic data corroborate the linguistic
findings
19
Useful co-operations for further research
With anatolists (for vertical competencies,
especially on non-Hittite Anatolian languages)
With etruscologists (for their philological
competencies, useful to validate future attempts
at etymologically-driven interpretations of
currently obscure Etruscan terms)
20
Acid test
Can pIE (/Anatolian) be used as the key to
interpret currently obscure Etruscan terms?
If so, this would be a strong confirmation, since the
theory of Etruscan as an Anatolian language will
turn out to be not just descriptive, but predictive as
well
21
Likely inverted sound laws (Etr < pIE)
For initial consonants only:
These correspondences can
be used to identify possible
pIE roots underlying currently
obscure Etruscan terms

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