In antiquity the Etruscans were a people who lived in the area of Italy now known as Tuscany. The Romans called them Etrusci or Tusci. The Etruscans exerted enormous influence over Roman religion, art, architecture, and learning.
The ancient histories
The earliest account of the origins of the Etruscans was from Herodotus, the Father of History (Herodotus, I.94):
The Lydians have very nearly the same customs as the Greeks, with the exception that these last do not bring up their girls in the same way. So far as we have any knowledge, they were the first nation to introduce the use of gold and silver coin, and the first who sold goods by retail. They claim also the invention of all the games which are common to them with the Greeks. These they declare that they invented about the time when they colonised Tyrrhenia, an event of which they give the following account. In the days of Atys, the son of Manes, there was great scarcity through the whole land of Lydia. For some time the Lydians bore the affliction patiently, but finding that it did not pass away, they set to work to devise remedies for the evil. Various expedients were discovered by various persons; dice, and huckle-bones, and ball, and all such games were invented, except tables, the invention of which they do not claim as theirs. The plan adopted against the famine was to engage in games one day so entirely as not to feel any craving for food, and the next day to eat and abstain from games. In this way they passed eighteen years. Still the affliction continued and even became more grievous. So the king determined to divide the nation in half, and to make the two portions draw lots, the one to stay, the other to leave the land. He would continue to reign over those whose lot it should be to remain behind; the emigrants should have his son Tyrrhenus for their leader. The lot was cast, and they who had to emigrate went down to Smyrna, and built themselves ships, in which, after they had put on board all needful stores, they sailed away in search of new homes and better sustenance. After sailing past many countries they came to Umbria, where they built cities for themselves, and fixed their residence. Their former name of Lydians they laid aside, and called themselves after the name of the king’s son, who led the colony, Tyrrhenians.
Tyrrhenians is what the Greeks called the Etruscans. Thucydides, interestingly, proposed a connection with Lemnos for the Etruscans (Thucydides: 4.109):
There is also a small Chalcidian element; but the greater number are Tyrrheno-Pelasgians once settled in Lemnos and Athens, and Bisaltians, Crestonians, and Edonians; the towns being all small ones. [5] Most of these came over to Brasidas; but Sane and Dium held out and saw their land ravaged by him and his army.
The geographer Strabo, possibly following Herodotus, also proposed a Lydian origin for the Etruscans (Strabo 5.2.2):
The Tyrrheni, then, are called among the Romans “Etrusci” and “Tusci”. The Greeks, however, so the story goes, named them thus after Tyrrhenus, the son of Atys, who sent forth colonists hither from Lydia: At a time of famine and dearth of crops, Atys, one of the descendants of Heracles and Omphale, having only two children, by a casting of lots detained one of them, Lydus, and, assembling the greater part of the people with the other, Tyrrhenus, sent them forth. And when Tyrrhenus came, he not only called the country Tyrrhenia after himself, but also put Tarco in charge as “coloniser,” and founded twelve cities; Tarco, I say, after whom the city of Tarquinia70 is named, who, on account of his sagacity from boyhood, is said by the myth-tellers to have been born with grey hair. Now at first the Tyrrheni, since they were subject to the orders of only one ruler, were very strong, but in later times, it is reasonable to suppose, their united government was dissolved, and the Tyrrheni, yielding to the violence of their neighbours, were broken up into separate cities; for otherwise they would not have given up a happy land and taken to the sea as pirates, different bands turning to different parts of the high seas; indeed, in all cases where they acted in concert, they were able, not only to defend themselves against those who attacked them, but also to attack in turn and to make long expeditions. But it was after the founding of Rome that Demaratus arrived, bringing with him a host of people from Corinth; and, since he was received by the Tarquinians,71 he married a native woman, by whom he begot Lucumo. And since Lucumo had proved a friend to Ancus Marcius, the king of the Romans, he was made king,72 and his name was changed to Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Be that as it may, he too adorned Tyrrhenia, as his father had done before him — the father by means of the goodly supply of artisans who had accompanied him from home and the son by means of the resources supplied by Rome. It is further said that the triumphal, and consular, adornment, and, in a word, that of all the rulers, was transferred to Rome from Tarquinii,73 as also fasces, axes, trumpets, sacrificial rites, divination, and all music publicly used by the Romans. This Tarquinius was the father of the second Tarquinius, the “Superbus,” who was the last of the kings and was banished.74 Porsinas, the king of Clusium,75 a Tyrrhenian city, undertook to restore him to the throne by force of arms, but was unable to do so, although he broke up the personal enmity against himself and departed as friend, along with honour and large gifts.
The Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote extensively about the Etruscans and it has been suggested that he claimed Etruscan descent himself. In his Annals (Annals 4.55) Tacitus writes of the Etruscans:
And so the question lay between Sardis and Smyrna. The envoys from Sardis read a decree of the Etrurians, with whom they claimed kindred. “Tyrrhenus and Lydus,” it was said, “the sons of King Atys, divided the nation between them because of its multitude; Lydus remained in the country of his fathers; Tyrrhenus had the work assigned him of establishing new settlements, and names, taken from the two leaders, were given to the one people in Asia and to the other in Italy. The resources of the Lydians were yet further augmented by the immigration of nations into that part of Greece which afterwards took its name from Pelops.”
Dionysus of Halicarnassus was a dissenter from the prevailing view of Etruscan origins and he was aware of it (1.27-30):
27 But those who relate a legendary tale about their having come from a foreign land say that Tyrrhenus, who was the leader of the colony, gave his name to the nation, and that he was a Lydian by birth, from the district formerly called Maeonia, and migrated in ancient times. They add that he was the fifth in descent from Zeus; for they say that the son of Zeus and Gê was Manes, the first king of that country, and his son by Callirrhoê, the daughter p87 of Oceanus, was Cotys, who by Haliê, the daughter of earth-born Tyllus, had two sons, Asies and Atys, 2 from the latter of whom by Callithea, the daughter of Choraeus, came Lydus and Tyrrhenus. Lydus, they continue, remaining there, inherited his father’s kingdom, and from him the country was called Lydia; but Tyrrhenus, who was the leader of the colony, conquered a large portion of Italy and gave his name to those who had taken part in the expedition. 3 Herodotus, however, says79 that Tyrrhenus and his brother were the sons of Atys, the son of Manes, and that the migration of the Maeonians to Italy was not voluntary. For they say that in the reign of Atys there was a dearth in the country of the Maeonians and that the inhabitants, inspired by love of their native land, for a time contrived a great many methods to resist this calamity, one day permitting themselves but a moderate allowance of food and the next day fasting. But, as the mischief continued, they divided the people into two groups and cast lots to determine which should go out of the country and which should stay in it; of the sons of Atys one was assigned to the one group the other to the other. 4 And when the lot fell to that part of the people which was with Lydus to remain in the country, the other group departed after receiving their share of the common possessions; and p89 landing in the western parts of Italy where the Umbrians dwelt, they remained there and built the cities that still existed even in his time.
28 I am aware that many other authors also have given this account of the Tyrrhenian race, some in the same terms, and others changing the character of the colony and the date. For some have said that Tyrrhenus was the son of Heracles by Omphalê, the Lydian, and that he, coming into Italy, dispossessed the Pelasgians of their cities, though not of all, but of those only that lay beyond the Tiber toward the north. Others declare that Tyrrhenus was the son of telephus and that after the taking of Troy he came into Italy. 2 But Xanthus of Lydia,80 who was as well acquainted with ancient history as any man and who may be regarded as an authority second to none on the history of his own country, neither names Tyrrhenus in any part of his history as a ruler of the Lydians nor knows anything of the landing of a colony of Maeonians in Italy; nor does he make the least mention of Tyrrhenia as a Lydian colony, though he takes notice of several things of less importance. They say that Lydus and Torebus were the sons of Atys; that they, having divided the kingdom they had inherited from their father, both remained in Asia, and from them the nations over which they reigned received their names. His words are these: “From Lydus are sprung the Lydians, and from Torebus p91 the Torebians. There is little difference in their language and even now each nation scoffs at many words used by the other,81 even as do the Ionians and Dorians.” 3 Hellanicus of Lesbos says that the Tyrrhenians, who were previously called Pelasgians, received their present name after they had settled in Italy. These are his words in the Phoronis:82 “Phrastor was the son of Pelasgus, their king, and Menippê, the daughter of Peneus; his son was Amyntor, Amyntor’s son was Teutamides, and the latter’s son was Nanas. In his reign the Pelasgians were driven out of their country by the Greeks, and after leaving their ships on the river Spines83 in the Ionian Gulf, they took Croton, an inland city; and proceeding from there, they colonized the country now called Tyrrhenia.” 4 But the account Myrsilus gives is the reverse of that given by Hellanicus. The Tyrrhenians, he says,84 after they had left their own country, were in the course of their wanderings called Pelargoi or “Storks,” from their resemblance to the birds of that name, since they swarmed in flocks both into Greece and into the barbarian p93 lands; and they built the wall round the citadel of Athens which is called the Pelargic wall.85
29 But in my opinion all though take the Tyrrhenians and the Pelasgians to be one and the same nation are mistaken. It is no wonder they were sometimes called by one another’s names, since the same thing has happened to certain other nations also, both Greeks and barbarians,— for example, to the Trojans and Phrygians, who lived near each other (indeed, many have thought that those two nations were but one, differing in name only, not in fact). And the nations in Italy have been confused under a common name quite as often as any nations anywhere. 2 For there was a time when the Latins, the Umbrians, the Ausonians and many others were all called Tyrrhenians by the Greeks, the remoteness of the countries inhabited by these nations making their exact distinctions obscure to those who lived at a distance. And many of the historians have taken Rome itself for a Tyrrhenian city. I am persuaded, therefore, that these nations changed their name along with their place of abode, but can not believe that they both had a common origin, for this reason, among many others, that their languages are different and preserve not the least resemblance to one another. 3 “For neither the p95 Crotoniats,” says Herodotus,86 “nor the Placians agree in language with any of their present neighbours, although they agree with each other; and it is clear that they preserve the fashion of speech which they brought with them into those regions.” However, one may well marvel that, although the Crotoniats had a speech similar to that of the Placians, who lived near the Hellespont,87 since both were originally Pelasgians, it was not at all similar to that of the Tyrrhenians, their nearest neighbours. For if kinship is to be regarded as the reason why two nations speak the same language, the contrary must, of course, be the reason for their speaking a different one, 4 since surely it is not possible to believe that both these conditions arise from the same cause. For, although it might reasonably happen, on the one hand, that men of the same nation who have settled at a distance from one another would, as the result of associating with their neighbours, no longer preserve the same fashion of speech, yet it is not at all reasonable that men sprung from the same race and living in the same country should not in the least agree with one another in their language.
30 For this reason, therefore, I am persuaded that the Pelasgians are a different people from the p97 Tyrrhenians. And I do not believe, either, that the Tyrrhenians were a colony of the Lydians; for they do not use the same language as the latter, nor can it be alleged that, though they no longer speak a similar tongue, they still retain some other indications of their mother country. For they neither worship the same gods as the Lydians nor make use of similar laws or institutions, but in these very respects they differ more from the Lydians than from the Pelasgians. 2 Indeed, those probably come nearest to the truth who declare that the nation migrated from nowhere signal, but was native to the country, since it is found to be a very ancient nation and to agree with no other either in its language or in its manner of living. And there is no reason why the Greeks should not have called them by this name, both from their living in towers and from the name of one of their rulers. 3 The Romans, however, give them other names: from the country they once inhabited, named Etruria, they call them Etruscans, and from their knowledge of the ceremonies relating to divine worship, in which they excel others, they now call them, rather inaccurately, Tusci,88 but formerly, with the same accuracy as the Greeks, they called them Thyoscoï.89 Their own name for themselves, however, is the same as that of one of their p99leaders, Rasenna. 4 In another book90 I shall show what cities the Tyrrhenians founded, what forms of government they established, how great power they acquired, what memorable achievements they performed, and what fortunes attended them. 5 As for the Pelasgian nation, however, those who were not destroyed or dispersed among the various colonies (for a small number remained out of a great many) were left behind as fellow citizens of the Aborigines in these parts, where in the course of time their posterity, together with others, built the city of Rome. Such are the legends told about the Pelasgian race.
The hero of the poet Virgil’s masterwork, The Aeneid, is Aeneas, prince of the Dardanians, a people of Anatolia allied with the Trojans. When Aeneas and his band of refugees fleeing the fall of Troy arrive in Italy, they seek help from the Etruscans, another suggestion of affinities between the Etruscans and Anatolians peoples. The sources for Virgil’s story are unknown and are, possibly, a combination of tradition and Virgil’s own creation.
The view of Dionysus of Halicarnassus has tended to prevail.
The Etruscan language
What we know of the Etruscan language comes from inscriptions and “bilinguals— like the gold inscription at right. A number of Roman writers testified that the Etruscans had a substantial literature but no extensive texts in the language have been found to date. The Etruscan language was written, like Latin and Greek, in an alphabet derived from the Phoenician. Deciphering the texts has not been so much a problem of determining what the letters were as of what the words meant.
I have read claims of relationships between Etruscan and Hungarian, Ukrainian, Dravidian languages and several others, apparently for reasons as much political as linguistic.
The prevailing wisdom on the Etruscan language has been that Etruscan is not an Indo-European language and, indeed, until quite recently Etruscan was believed to be a “linguistic isolateâ€â€”a language with no known affinities. More recent scholarship has suggested otherwise. In 1998 the German scholar Helmut Rix published a paper that demonstrated relationships between Etruscan and a number of other languages including Rhaetic, another extinct language of northern Italy, Eteocypriot, a language of Iron Age Cyprus, and Lemnian, a language spoken on the island of Lemnos, interesting in light of the quote from Thucydides cited above.
The working hypothesis now is that the Etruscan language is one of a now-extinct family of languages called the Tyrrhenian language family, a sister family to the Indo-European language family and, presumably, both derived from a common super-family (Nostratic Norstratic? [ed. thanks, Glen]).
Here is a sample glossary of Etruscan:
ais, plural aisar, god.
am, to be.
an, he, she.
apa, father.
ati, mother.
avil, year.
clan, son.
eca, this.
fler, offering, sacrifice.
hinthial, ghost.
in, it.
lauchum, king.
lautun, family.
mi, mini, I, me.
mul-, to offer, dedicate.
neftsh, grandson.
puia, wife.
rasenna or rasna, Etruscan.
ruva, brother.
spur– or shpur-, city.
sren or shran, figure (in a picture).
shuthi, tomb.
tin-, day.
tular, boundaries.
tur-, to give.
zich-, to write.
zilach, a type of magistrate.
and I think some of the obvious cognates are very tantalizing e.g. Old Norse aesir, gods, Old Church Slavonic dini, day, Old Church Slavonic mati, mother (my mother?), Latin nepot, grandson (or nephew), and others. Who borrowed from whom and when?
Other attempts
There have been a number of attempts to use customs, art (particularly pottery), architecture, or religious beliefs to relate the Etruscans to other Italic or Aegean peoples but none are particularly satisfying.
The DNA evidence
Recent studies using DNA analysis have been very interesting. DNA analysis of the characteric Tuscan cattle (pictured at left) have demonstrated Near Eastern affinities:
The team found that almost 60% of the mitochondrial DNA in cows in the central Tuscan region of the country – where the Etruscan civilisation is thought to have arisen – was the same as that in cows from Anatolia and the Middle East. There was little or no genetic convergence between cows from the north and south of Italy and those from Turkey and the Middle East, the researchers say.
DNA studies of modern Tuscans themselves have tended to confirm this finding:
The origin of the Etruscan people has been a source of major controversy for the past 2,500 years and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain their language and sophisticated culture, including an Aegean / Anatolian origin. To address this issue, we analyzed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 322 subjects from three well-defined areas of Tuscany and compared their sequence variation with that of 55 Western Eurasian populations. Interpopulation comparisons reveal that the modern population of Murlo – a small town of Etruscan origin – is characterized by an unusually high frequency (17.5%) of Near Eastern mtDNA haplogroups. Each of these haplogroups is represented by different haplotypes, thus dismissing the possibility that the genetic allocation of the Murlo people is due to drift. Other Tuscan populations do not show the same striking feature; however, overall ~5% of mtDNA haplotypes in Tuscany are shared exclusively between Tuscans and Near Easterners and occupy terminal positions in the phylogeny. These findings support a direct and rather recent genetic input from the Near East – a scenario in agreement with the Lydian origin of Etruscans. Such a genetic contribution has been extensively diluted by admixture, but it appears that there are still locations in Tuscany, such as Murlo, where traces of its arrival are readily detectable.
Hat tip to Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog for both of the DNA links.
Observations
The ancients had an advantage over us in determining the affinities of other ancient peoples and their languages: they could listen to them speak. Given Herodotus’s and Strabo’s accounts, the traditions of Anatolian origin, and the DNA evidence for both the Tuscans and their cattle, it seems prudent to reconsider the classification of the Lydian language—which appears to differ from the other Anatolian languages in significant ways—with the Indo-European languages. It may be that the traditional tree model of language differentiation should also be abandoned in favor of a more inclusive network model.
Fascinating. There are some Sanskrit cognates — especially -spur or -shpur for “city,” many Indian city names end in “-pur.”
Yep. -pur/-pura/-purI in Sanskrit indicates a city or town. May be cognate with Vietnamese phó. For example, Singapore is city of lions. I believe the old name for Delhi was Hanitapura i.e. city of elephants.
I can no longer remember which book I read it in, but I’ve read that there is heavy speculation that the Etruscans are the descendants of the Hittites, who disappeared around 1100 BCE.
Advantage?
Rather naive reading, that. The ancients also had a habit of creating false affinities as part of just so stories, and mere sound similarities prove little to nothing.
good reason to leave naive speculation to professionals.
If naive speculation were left to professionals, there would be no blogosphere, Lounsbury. 😉
The Lounsbury is right. Connecting random words in Etruscan to Sanskrit or Vietnamese is the easiest thing to do but also the thing that produces no results. What a waste of time.
Anybody with an obsessive-compulsive disorder can walk into a library, open up two dictionaries and write down all the look-alikes that they see. No two people will agree on what a “look-alike” looks like either.
I see these sorts of fanatics in public libraries. They don’t bathe. They mutter to themselves. They use the bathroom sink as a toilet bowl. They scare me. 🙂
There’s naive speculation and there’s utterly idiotic naive speculation.
Naive speculation about issues not requiring technical speciality, such as politics, while mere whanking, at least has a chance of having some utility.
Naive comparisons of words and naive reading of genetics journals is at best idiotic whankery.
One should know the difference between speculation on highly technical issues, and that which is not, in and of itself technical (as a comparison, speculating as a non-lawyer on the upcoming legal events in your Libby circus is idiotic. Speculating on the political fall-out, not idiotic).
Contra “The Lounsbury’s” snooty “shut up and leave this to your betters” attitude, I don’t find this speculation to be “idiotic whankery.”
Comparing vocabularies to seek evidence of historical connections between languages is not the height of philological arcana. It’s usually covered in the first chapter or two of an undergraduate linguistics textbook, at least the ones I’ve seen. There are a few ground rules, but they are easily explained and readily grasped.
The list of Etruscan words in this post contains many “core” words — pronouns, family relationships, which, along with body parts and numbers and some others are reckoned the most stable and conservative words in any language, the least likely to be changed over time. This quality makes the list a good starting point for idle comparisons.
And the non-Etruscan words that have been suggested as cognates here are likewise not just random culls from a Sanskrit or Old Icelandic dictionary. They are specific examples of well-documented IE roots with forms in many languages (e.g. Latin nepos, Skt. napat, O.Pers. napat-, O.Lith. nepuotis, O.E. nefa, Ger. Neffe, O.Ir. nia).
I’m still not convinced Etruscan is Indo-European: One can imagine the Etruscans borrowing “neftsh” from their Latin neighbors for inscriptions, perhaps to replace a taboo word of their own. But to try to take an intellligent and harmless speculation out of someone’s hands with a patronizing sneer and an insult is the kind of behavior that makes people want to punch professional academics in the snoot. Men who have been lucky enough to be educated ought to encourage thinking and learning, not hoard it or treat it as their personal vanity plate.
The “Etruscan is Indo-European” school is dead, dead, dead. It only lives on now through the loving incubation of crazies. Hopefully most history buffs who read anything on the subject read quickly that Etruscan lacks too many key features that would identify it (or for that matter, any of the “Proto-Aegean” or “Proto-Tyrrhenian” languages like Lemnian, EteoCypriot, etc.) as a bona fide Indo-European language.
However, there *is* hope for the view that these Proto-Aegean languages and Indo-European are on a par with each other and related much further in the past. All one has to do is look at the curious commonalities of the two families’ declensional and demonstrative systems for that. I know that Nostraticist Allan Bomhard had explored such a possibility but he hadn’t gone into large detail as far as I know.
As I detail in my own blogs, there are still some glaring mistranslations of Etruscan words still being published as of 2007 that need to be eradicated before sensible external comparisons can be carried out. Some of these translations offered by experts are easily proven to be false because they actually violate the very grammatical model that these foremost experts have published. It’s kinda scary.
PS(1): This article reads “Norstratic”. Ick! :/ It’s properly “Nostratic”, built on the Latin word “noster” meaning “our”.
PS(2): The Etruscan word “neftsh” is cognate to Lemnian “nafuth” (found on the Lemnos Stele; nb. Lemnian omikron probably stands for “u”). So if we are to speculate on this word’s origins, we need to be aware of these cognates to account for all the facts. It is true that Indo-European has a similar word which is used for both “grandson” and “nephew” as expected under an “Omaha”-type kinship system, a special kind of patrilineal system. The Indo-European word is reconstructed to be *nepo:ts (*o: = long o) in the nominative case. There’s always the possibility that this word was borrowed from an Anatolian IE language when the ancestral Etruscans were still in Lydia.
Thanks for the correction on Nostratic, Glen. Typographical error. Uh, I’m not trying to make an argument that Etruscan was an Indo-European language. Quite the opposite—I’m accepting the idea of a Tyrrhenian language family and suggesting that, as you also note in your comment and as Herodotus wrote, the Etruscans were from the Near East.
Etruscans come from Lydians or Lud, a son of shem
they may have had a semitic language mixed with words
from indo european languages
John L.
I found Dave Schuler’s exposition very interesting and useful as well as Glen Gordon’s commentary. The nominative “mi” (I) and accusative “mini” (me, compare Russian “menya”) is irresistible in suggesting a genetic relationship between Etruscan and Indo-European–as well as Altaic–at some time depth or other. Languages don’t borrow pronouns like that. The DNA information is also very interesting. It is too bad that people not understanding very much about historical linguistics spend so much verbiage commenting on what they do not understand…and here I have Lounsbury in mind particularly.
And how about this
puia (Etruscan), wife
puia (Maori), spring
?
etruscans are pelasgian . Etruscans linguage is similar albanian linguage. puia = gruja in albanese
troja= troje in albanese
am= jam in albanese
zeus= ze =zani in albanese
aphrodita= aferdita = afron dita in albanese
tageus= ta gjesh in albanese
etrusc=tushi = thures in albanese
enea is heroe from dardania( kosove) albanese
Capua ( city) = i pare albanese= kapo
Etruscan language isn’t isolate family.
Albanian linguage have more word similar with etruscan linguage.Herodotus was right.Lydia is pelasgians place and albanians are offset of pelasgians.
etruscan albanian english
apa baba father
ati emta mother
teta nacna tata nana grandmother
sec cuc girl
nefs nip nephew
etera -eteri tjetra tjetri foreigner
tul tull ston
mech mic(dialect ) son
spur shpur , gur more people or stone
maru marre black eye
tin dite day
ril ri young
capr prill aprile
masan mars marte
capu fajku falcon
hiuls hute screech- owl
leu
albanian linguage have more word similar with linguage etruscan
etruscan albanian english
apa baba fother
apana atenor paternal
ati emta (dialect) mother
teta, nacna tata nana grand mother
clan cun son
sec cuc girl
nefs nip nephew
etera eteri tjetra tjetri foreign people
tul tull kind ston
mech mic boy , son
spur shpur more people
maru marre vergogna (it)
tin dit day
uslane muzg et noon
ril ri young
capr prill aprile
masan mars marte
capu fajku falcon
hiuls hute screech owl
leu luan lion
aska vaska wineskine
pruchum broke pitcher
spet pi drink
suth ul to stay
ta ata they
tam dhome room
thes qes bring
thu dy two
speras shpres hope
cape, capi kape , kapi keep
cupe kupe cup
patna pjata a bowl
pruch poc an ewer
qutun katruv vessel
am jam to be
cer merr to make
tur thur knit
farth ardh bring
hec hek put something
lein len(dialekt) lay down
les qes (dialekt) to offer
lup hup (dialekt) lose
penk pese five
matan matan in front, other plase
mi imi mine
murs murros sarcophagus
nac aq then
toscan toske (albania di sud)
nes des ( dialekt) dead
etruscan albanian english
apa baba fother
apana atenor paternal
ati emta (dialect) mother
teta, nacna tata nana grand mother
clan cun son
sec cuc girl
nefs nip nephew
etera eteri tjetra tjetri foreign people
tul tull kind ston
mech mic boy , son
spur shpur more people
maru marre vergogna (it)
tin dit day
uslane muzg et noon
ril ri young
capr prill aprile
masan mars marte
capu fajku falcon
hiuls hute screech owl
leu luan lion
aska vaska wineskine
pruchum broke pitcher
spet pi drink
suth ul to stay
ta ata they
tam dhome room
thes qes bring
thu dy two
speras shpres hope
cape, capi kape , kapi keep
cupe kupe cup
patna pjata a bowl
pruch poc an ewer
qutun katruv vessel
am jam to be
cer merr to make
tur thur knit
farth ardh bring
hec hek put something
lein len(dialekt) lay down
les qes (dialekt) to offer
lup hup (dialekt) lose
penk pese five
matan matan in front, other plase
mi imi mine
murs murros sarcophagus
nac aq then
toscan toske (albania di sud)
nes des ( dialekt) dead
Some etruscan words and gods ,that explain with albanian language.
etruscan albanian english
Themis = te mys = choke,strangulation
Tethys = deti = sea
Nisus = nis = start, get
Athina = e thena = faith
Demeter = dhemoter = sister-earth
Zeus = Ze = voice
eurinome = ere me name = fair
pelasg = shpelle = spelean
nyx = nate = night
cyclop = sy lope = cow=eye
titan = gjigand, geget (people albania di nord) = giant
Troja = troja (dialekt) = earth
Rhea = reja, re = cloud
Hera = era = wind
Ares = ar = gold
tuphon = tufan = hurrican
prosikoren=pres koren = cut portion
etruscan – albanian – english
tyrrhenus – tirr – spin
callithea – kalli-dhea – inearth, entomb
phrastor – vrastor – killer or cuttroat
menippe – mend jap – give mind
teutamides – teuta – (illirian queen)
spines – shpina – back, spine
mursilus – marr sjell – take-bring
rasna – rrasa – slab , ston
callirrhoe – kallir hoje – corn- cell
croton – kryet – ne krye – head or first
zich – i zi – blach
Kenneth Morris has an interesting book out that was written in the early part of this century called The Crest Wave of Evolution. I think that after reading this book many of you will obtain a clearer understanding of not only who the Etruscans were but also an interesting perspective of historical events.
this with the pelasgians is very exciting can anybody of you give me an advice what to read to get a better understanding who the pelasgians are, how they are interrelated with the etruscians, where i can find more on the affinity of the language.
Comparing vocabularies to seek evidence of historical connections between languages is not the height of philological arcana. It’s usually covered in the first chapter or two of an undergraduate linguistics textbook, at least the ones I’ve seen. There are a few ground rules, but they are easily explained and readily grasped.
I love the supreme arrogance of the naysayers.
It’s one thing to blithely compare random roots or fragments of diverse languages and another entirely to hone in on likenesses that cannot be arbitrarily dismissed with claims of “idiotic naivete”.
One good example provided here is Etruscan “aisar” for gods and Norse “aesir” for the same. This goes well above and beyond the realm of accidental coincidence and suggests cross-pollination of some sort.
I find it completely appropriate for amateurs to sleuth out relationships between historical languages because the experts often silo themselves into closed schools of thought that overlook the forest for the tree. It is precisely the same sort of naysaying espoused in criitcisms here that led to now-dashed academic beliefs that “primitive” people could never cross the oceans. Thor Heyerdahl put that quaint silliness to rest one would think but the disbelief somehow persists anyway. Often it takes a generation or two to overcome a legacy of ignorant thought.
I would strongly urge anyone interested in etymological forensics to fully acquaint themselves with the subject of probability, because accidental coincidences often turn out to be highly improbable… and an understanding of statistics can lead to discovery that supersedes conventional “wisdom” for those brave enough to consider the fantastic. History is far richer than our teachers and textbooks let on. ; )
Inscription of lemnos is translate of albanian language.
Inscription on the front of the stele.
ZI A ZI MARAZ MAF ZI ARKH FEIS A FIS TH H ZER O NAI TH SI FAI AKER TAF AR ZI TH FAMA PA ZI AP ZER O NAI MORI NA IP HOPAIE ZI MATH H TH SI FAI A FIS A O NAI RON HARAN O SI FAI EPI E ZI O AR AI TIKH HOKE LOT AI FIS HOKI AS I APE ZERO NAI HE FIS TH H TH FER O NA
In english
grief and grief , anguish black veil , grief you gave to the kindred oh kinsman-thh has=th seized oh -us .For what fault?
continue..
A grave a throne of gold grief-th fame he saw, grief was spread- he was seized from us and taken away, great grief -h-th assails un in th breast.
for what fault/ and kinsman you give grief , kinsman and affiction.and the kinsman – ah oh makes the lineage oh live on for us.
For what fault did he also give grief oh gold , he suffered the knife that kinsman suffered tears. He did not even utter a sound- oh nor offense-h
and kinsman-th h you-h have lacerated-oh-us
The homerik language is similar of albanian language.
If you reading Iliada and Odisea for they which understand the greek alphabet, the greek language is differently from homerik language.
Homer was pelasgian no greek.
Words take out Iliada and Odisea.
Homerik albanian greek english
1-neme-sis nem katara curse
2-andha-no anda,enda efkharisto desire
3-arura are-a horafi field
4- vaske-ithi bashke porevume together
5-thira dera porta door
6- theti deti thalasa sea
7- dhor, dha dheu, dheja ji earth
8-ekedeka-dor-o dore-a qheri hand
9-dris,drimos dru-druri ksilo wood
10-idhe te edhe qe also
11-alfiton elb -i krithari barley
12-enimi ene ruho dish
13-ere-vos erret,erresire skotos dark
14-ethir,ethae ethe piretos fever
15-flio,fliarae flas,fola milao speak
continue
Homerik – albanian – greek – english
16-frimao – fryma – fisima – breath
17- heo – hedh – rhino – throw
18- elko – hek – travae – spay
19- iko – iki – fergo -go away
20- kelis-to – kale – alogo – horse
21- kileo – kall – qeo – insert
22-kiro – korr – thiro – harvest
23- krunos – krua ,kroni – vrisi -source
24- krithen – krye,krie – qefali – head
25- leho – lehem, lind – jenieme – have (be born)
26-leporis – lepur – lagaes -bunny
27-lasios – lesh – mala – wool
28-lig-ios – i lig – adhinatos – bad
29- lizo – loz – pezo – play
30-litome – lutem – parakalae – pray
continue
homeric – albanian – greek – english
31.mar-pto – marr – perno – take
32.margos – marre – trelaes – crazy
33.dhokei-mi – me duket – nomizo – methinks
34.mendohem- mendohem – medhome – mind
35.minis – meri,meni – thimos – malice
36.mis – mi – pondaqi – mous
37.mistor – mjeshter – tehnitis – nark
38.mitos – mjet – nimahondrae – tool
39.dheo,deo – daj,ndaj – horizon – divide
40.noi – ne – emis – we, us
continue
homeric – albanian – greek – english
41. nisome – nisem – ksqinae – depart
42.niuk – nuk – dhen – not
43. nisos – nuse – nifi – spouse
44. paros – para – mbrosta – forward
45.par ti – per ty – ja sena – for you
46.aps – perhap – piso – diffuse
47.ponos – pune – dhulia – job,work
48.qio,kio – qas,kias – simono – approach
49.qion – qen – sqilos – dog
50.rea – rea ,reja – sinefo – cloud
51.raso – rrah – htiape – lick
52. rronio – rron – akmazo – live exist
53.rrio,rrior – ruaj,rojtar – filaso – guard
54.skel-os – shkel – potae – encroach
55.skipos – shkop – ravdhi – stick
56.0-se – sy – mati – eye
57.tata,jeta – tata,jeta – pateros – father
58.ter-so – ter – stegnaeno- dry out
59.throos – thrras – fonazo – call
60.udhos – udhe – dhromos – road
61.van – vane – pigan – putoff, gone
62.ved-os – vend – edhafos – place
63.vear – vere – kaloqeri – summer
64.versi – versa,vesa – dhrosos – dew
65. ves – vesh – forae – wear
66.zei – ziej – vrazi – boil
Homer was pelasgian-illyrian and his language understand
only via albanian language.
go on
homeric – albanian – greek – english
41. nisome – nisem – ksqinae – depart
42.niuk – nuk – dhen – not
43. nisos – nuse – nifi – spouse
44. paros – para – mbrosta – forward
45.par ti – per ty – ja sena – for you
46.aps – perhap – piso – diffuse
47.ponos – pune – dhulia – job,work
48.qio,kio – qas,kias – simono – approach
49.qion – qen – sqilos – dog
50.rea – rea ,reja – sinefo – cloud
51.raso – rrah – htiape – lick
52. rronio – rron – akmazo – live exist
53.rrio,rrior – ruaj,rojtar – filaso – guard
54.skel-os – shkel – potae – encroach
55.skipos – shkop – ravdhi – stick
56.0-se – sy – mati – eye
57.tata,jeta – tata,jeta – pateros – father
58.ter-so – ter – stegnaeno- dry out
59.throos – thrras – fonazo – call
60.udhos – udhe – dhromos – road
61.van – vane – pigan – putoff, gone
62.ved-os – vend – edhafos – place
63.vear – vere – kaloqeri – summer
64.versi – versa,vesa – dhrosos – dew
65. ves – vesh – forae – wear
66.zei – ziej – vrazi – boil
Homer was pelasgian-illyrian and his language understand
only via albanian language.
repeat first words ( 15)
homeric – albanian – Greek – english
1-neme-sis – nem – katara – darn
2- andha-no – anda – efkharisto – desire
3-arura – are – horafi – field
4-vask-ith – bashke – porevume – together
5-thira – dera – porta – door
6-theti – deti – thalasa – sea
7-jea,dhor – dheja – ji – earth,land
8- dor-0 – dore – qheri – heand
9- dris,driti – dru,drute – ksilo – tree , wood
10-idhe ,te – dhe,edhe – qe – also
11-alfiton – elb – krithari – barley
12-enimi – ene – ruho – dish
13-ere-vos – erresire -skotos – dark
14-ethae – ethja -piretos – fever
15-flio – flas – milao – speak
Many Albanian words do sound Indo- European, because Albanian has borrowed over 90 % of its vocabulary, more than any other European language!
Where did you lern this?
The albanian language is the key of the indo-europian languages.
Lost be who don,t know this.
@mike
Pinnacle of stupidity!! Believing 90% of a language could be borrowings? Really?? IMPOSSIBLE my friend. Especially in a country like Albania, where ¾ of Albanian territory is mountainous, thus ancient Albanian traditions and language are well preserved. The mountains are called Albanian Alps ( ALBS=ALBANIA). There is one particular mountain called Albian from ancient times to the present.
The problem why Albanian history has been obscured and manipulated is due to politics on the Balkans. During the previous century is was forbidden to write in Albanian or about Albanian language and people, thus propagandists continue scattering confusion on Albanian history, identity and language.
Anyway I’ll give you one example:
“Helios†in Greek language is “the sun†—–>(H)-eli (os)
“Star†in Greek language is “asteriâ€
Let’s now take a look at the Albanian language:
“Ylli†or “elli†or “illi†in Albanian means “starâ€
“Dielli†in Albanian means “the sun†—> (di)- elli
“Di-ta†means “day†in Albanian language.
As we all know the sun is a star. The only difference between the sun and the other stars is, that the other stars we see at night, while the sun we see by day.
That’s why Albanians call the sun –> “the day starâ€= “Di-Elliâ€
Who borrowed from who my friend?? Which one sounds more aboriginal to you?
You need to know Albanian language to understand what is true or false concerning Albanians. According to Greeks even my Albanian shit is Greek. Anyone who doesn’t have a clue about Albanian language could fall into the trap. Trust me, Albanian is the “KEY†to the pre-greek language, traditions (from which greeks only copied) etc.
NEVER underestimate Albanian language!! It is the “KEY”, that explains why Albanian was an endangered language during previous century.
The English language’s vocabulary is around 80% borrowed.
~30% Langue D’oil – borrowed
~30% directly from Latin – borrowed
~10% Greek or miscellaneous – borrowed
~10% the Proto-Germanic substrate language – borrowed
~20% ‘original Indo-European Vocabulary’ (a large portion of which, by the way, seems to be borrowed)
Albanian IS intrinsically Indo-European, but has also borrowed a lot of words from other Indo-European languages. It is insufficient to simply trawl through our mental vocabularies and find words which happen to ‘appear’ to be cognates; given the immense size of languages’ vocabularies, that is too easy. There is no point in just listing similar words from any old era, as two-and-a-half thousand years’ work of sound change could easily obscure that – you have to compare with languages from closer to the time, and try to build set sound laws out of that.
That is what separates Dave Schuler’s few examples from Flora’s many – he may have less, but, being from older, more conservative languages, they are far more relevant.
Also, many of Flora’s examples are plain wrong – for example, ‘efkharisto’ is Greek for ‘I thank’, not ‘desire’ anyway! ‘Efkharisto’ effectively means ‘thank you’ – it’s the most basic Greek there is! Also, many of the words listed above are only similar in Albanian as they have their sources in the other languages listed!
Take a look at Flora’s posts, especially the first and last of the ‘homeriK’ set. Many of the examples are repeated. 😀
PS Dave Schuler’s article is far from ‘idiotic whankery’
For everybody “dummies ” wich freak out by albanian language can
to read previous philologues of IX century , which showed that Albanian is oldest language in Europe.It’s derivation of illyrian language ( Thracian- Frigian) Based on these data , albanian language is complitely different from IE language , out does not derive from any known languages.”
Zacherie Mayani ” Albanian is Wonderful language where some times we find out Arcadic words . mean while they are present in Iliada and Numa Pompilus too”.
1509- Eneo Silvio Piccolomini – Cosmografia Pii Papae in Asiase -Europe
1769-Johan Ihre – Glossarium sui ogothicum
1774- Johan Thunman – Untersuchungen uber die Geschichte der
ostlichen europaeischen Volker
1777- Niccolo Chetta – Tesoro di notizie su dei Macedoni
1806- Johann Cristoph – Adelung Mithridates oder allgemeine sprache nkude
1807- Angelo Maschi – Discorso sull origine, costume e stato attuale della nazione Albanese
1812- Conrad Malte Brun – Precis de la geographie universelle
1816- Franc Bopp- Uber das Conjugation system der sanskrit sprache
1854- Franc Bopp Ueber das albanesische
1820-Francois Pouqueville – Voyage dans le Grece
1831- Giuseppe Crispi – Memoria sulla lingua albanese
1835- Josef Xylander – dee sprache der albanesen oder Skipetaren
1847- V. Dorsa – Studi etimologici della lingua albanese
1854- Johann Georg von Hahn – Albanesiche studien
1855- Karl Reinhold – Noctes Pelasgicae vel symbolae ad cognoscendas dialectas graeciae pelasgicas
1860- Jacob Philip Fallmerayer- Das albanesis che element in griecheland
1855- N. Nikokles – De albnensium sive shkiptar origine et prosapia
1877- L. Benloew – Grece avant les grecs. Etude linguistique e ethnographique, pelasges, leleges, samites e ioniens
1886- Francesco Tajani- Le istorie albanesi
1894- Eduart Scneider – Una race oubliee, les pelasges et leur descendantes
1891- Gustav Mejer-Etymologisches worterbuch der albanesichen sprache
1901- Arturo galanti l’Albania
1904- Pech Vilmos – okorihexican
1907- John Hinton Myres- a History of Pelasgian theory
1913-Nicolae densusiano – Dacia preistorica
1922- Agostino Ribecco – Vetusta della lingua albanese e sua importanza nella spegazione dal mondo antico
1934- John Arthur Munro- Pelasgians and ioans
1937- george Fred Williams – Albanians
1940 Michele Gervasio- Albania antica
1947- Valentin Ditjakin – soviet schience 0f the origin of the slavs
1961- Zacherie mayani – the etruscan begin to speak
1983- Giuseppe Catapano – Thot parlava in albanese
1984- G. C. Faraon- la nostra stirpe( antichita della lingua albanese)
1977- Michail Sakellariu- Peuple prehelleniques d’origine indo-europeennee
2003- James Pandeli – the language of god
1989Nermin Vlora Falaschi -Etruschio lingua viva
2001- Georges castellau- Histoire de l’Albanie et des albanians
2003- Mathieu Aref- Albania or the incredible odyssey of prehellenik people
Hi Flora,
Nice work:-)
It’s worth adding the following to the list:
1908 – Edwin E. Jacques – The Albanians: An ethnic history from prehistoric times to the present
1774 – Johann Thunmann – On the History and Language of the Albanians and Vlachs
1903 – Frassari Adamidi – Les Pelasges et leur descendants les Albanais
1955 – Edward Stanford – An Ethnological map of European Turkey and Greece, with the introductory remarks of the distribution of races in the Illyrian Peninsula and statistical tables of population.
( In this document it is well explained that the Albanian language is the true aboriginal language of the Hellenes (Pelasgians), thus the aboriginal Balkan people and that the Albanians are the REAL ANCIENT GREEKS (the Pelasgian Greeks). ( Modern Greek population is about 60% aboriginal Pelasgian-Albanian, the others are minority groups, thus it is wrong claiming the modern Greeks to be the only real ancient Pelasgian Greeks, the Albanians together with the 60% aboriginal Greeks are equal, representing the Pelasgians).
We need to give people the time and space to recover, because they’re in shock at the moment, which btw is understandable.
Maximilian Lambertz once said:
“THE TRUE HISTORY OF MAN KIND WILL BE WRITTEN ONLY WHEN ALBANIANS PARTICIPATE IN IT’S WRITING”
Nice. Now i need some Kebab and after that Albanian ice cream… oh i can find it even here in germany. Nice. They are already Native ones here too…
A load of bollocks. They will steal everything and claim its theirs.
Better do not speaks, when jou haven’t nobody argument , except jour hate opposite albanians.
We are proud that we’re aalbanians, descendant of divine pelasgians and illyrians .
Albanias are the ancestors of Cro-Magnon, everybody knows.
Flora I’m impressed. Nice work.
As we all know,we live in a world that is governed by wicked people.
Albanian history is not the only one that is erased.
We are taught through schools and media only what we may know.
You don’t need to be an scientist to find out the truth.
Start reading the right books,and listening to the right voice.
The only man who was brave inafe to research albanian roots is Milan Shuflaj. Before he managed to publish his writings about albanian ethnology he was murdered. Resaeched it.
Thank you. Highest honors for croatian researcher Milan Sufflay,which was killed by serbian police in Zagreb in 1931.
His works ” Biologie der albanischen Volksstamme”.
Here is an article about Etruscan language. . Very interesting. http://www.runitsa.ru/publications/publication_236.php
Pentru dave,mai mult ca sigur vietnamezii au cuvinte inrudite cu sanscrita,nu invers!Seamana izbitor gaijinul vietnamez cu gagiul sanscrit,nu? Dar chiar are acelasi sens ; strain,nu albejit asa cum se traduce in filme… Cert este ca si in graiul romilor are aceeasi semnificatie gajiul si romanul; strain. Cat despre limba vorbita de etrusci,este una non-indo-europeana. Chiar daca vi se pare imposibil de admis,etruscii vorbeau o limba dravidiana. De aceea majoritatea specialistii lingvisti nu au reusit pana in ziua de azi sa descifreze limba etruscilor… Si stiii de ce? Pentru care nu cumva sa scoata la iveala ca sunt tigani provenii din India…
Etruscan – Dravidian Glossary
Obs.: See List of Abbreviations at the end of this document for the identification of the languages mentioned, etc..
A1) – acale (a Summer month, “June”). [Drav.: ak-*ale, ak-ala].
Latin gloss: aclius, aclus [“excitement”, “stimulus”].
This month, midsummer, is indeed connected with joy and gaiety, but we do not believe this was the etymology of acale, as presumed by the glosser. The month’s Latin name, “June”, derives from a word connected with “junior” (youth), as in Skt. yuva, Lat. juvenis (“thriving”), OSlav. juno, OGerm. jugund, etc..
The present Tamil name of the month is Adi or Addi (“Sun”, “Summer” “fire”, “sunshine”). However, cf. the following Hindu names for June: RVSkt. Ashalha, Skt. Ashadha, Pali Asalha, Sing. Asala, Beng. Asharho. The Skt. A-shada means “invincible” (a name of the sun *ali, which is in turn equal to #829 ella or #276 aral- or #396 ala. Cf. Pkt. alla (day), from which we are allowed to reconstruct *ale (Sun, June (midsummer). Cf. also: # 247 ala- (sunshine, splendour). The d’ is cerebral, and sounds very close to l. So, the Etruscan -ale apparently corresponds to the Dravidian ad’i [cerebral d] which designates precisely the sunny month of June in the northern hemisphere. Hence, the word acale seems to allude to the month (June) when the young rice plants (ak-) were transplanted to a sunnier location (-ala), as is usually done even today in the Indies.
Likewise, the month’s name, acale closely relates to the RVSkt. Ashalha and the Pal. Asalha, both of which also ultimately derived from the Dravida. In other words, the Sanskrit etymology (“invincible”) is probably contrived, as is so often the case with that tongue, in its relationship to Dravida. Apparently, there is also no connection of the word with the idea of “acme”, as proposed by some Etruscological authorities, nor with the idea of “excitement”, glossed by the Latin authors.
A2) – avil (year, age, season, annual). [Drav.: a-vil, *av-il]. Cf. Goth. aiws (“eternity”), Lat. aevus (time, eternity) Gk. aion (lifetime, eternity, age, time), OIr. aes (life, age), IE *aiwon (lifetime), Nostr. *haju (to live).
The Etruscan entry came from:
5153 ya-, a- *av- (year). This base probably derived from #2433 c’a, ja (to stretch, span), itself connected with #2430 c’ay (to become old, to age, to complete a span of time). These in turn are related to #333 a, ak-, ay- (to become, happen, be) and #339 agi- (to mature).
5437 vil- (to mature, ripen, grow ripe, grow big, person to grow up).
Hence, the idea seems to be “to grow older by XXX years”, “to become XXX years older”. However, an alternative derivation is with *av- above, plus:
513 il, ila (to sprout, flourish, thrive, bloom). In this case the etymon would be: “flourished [or bloomed] XXX years”. The two etymologies are essentially identical, and cannot presently be discriminated on either phonetical or etymological grounds. The -v- or -vv- is the usual Dravida connective. It probably also plays the same role in Etruscan, as my evidence seems to indicate.
A2b) – avil-xva- (anniversary, yearly). [Drav.: avil-*c’iva].
?Perhaps the true etymology of the word is: “anniversary party.” For avil-, cf. entry A2) above, plus the following ones:
2598 *c’iva (to give a party or presents to inferior on the occasion of anniversaries [as formerly/today used in India]. Cf. also the ancient custom of distributing presents to all, at Christ’s birthday, etc., a custom inherited from former Pagan [Indian?] traditions. The final -l is probably an Etruscan suffix (genit.? plur.?).
A3) – ac (make, offer, give presents). [Drav.: ak]
333 ak- (to make, create, cause to be, be fit or agreeable). Expresses the idea of doing a worthy act dictated by custom, such as sacrificing or offering to the gods, or of creating or offering something to somebody.
A3b) – acil (to do, make work, fashion). [Drav.: *ac’-il]
333 akc’- > *ac’- (to do, make, create, work, fashion)
513 il- (to sprout, cause to arise, originate, create). Hence, “to cause to sprout”, “create”, “originate”.
A3c) – acil-th-ame (make, complete, conficere). [Drav.: ac’il-tt-*ame]. The Lat. conficere means “to fashion, do, create, execute, carry out, complete”.
The th is perhaps a copulative corresponding to the -tt- in Dravida. The Etruscan suffix -ame is derived from:
162 am- >*ame (expresses the idea of completion, saturation, fullness).
Cf. also: #164 am- and #2342 c’am- > *ham > *am, etc.
A4) – acalia (refinement, sharpness). [Drav.: *ak-ala]
Cf. Latin acumen (point, sting), aculeus (thorn), acuo (I sharpen); Gk. akme (tip), ak-ros (pointed); IE *ak- (to pierce, to be sharp); Lat. acus (needle); AS ecg- (edge), etc… Of obscure origin, the radix ak- may have entered Sanskrit from the Dravida, as suggested by BE. But the path to IE could hardly have been IE itself, and the suffix was far more probably intermediated by the Etruscans themselves.
341 ac’- (finesses, acuteness). Cf. # 2277 c’ak- (to sharpen); 2278 c’ak- (to prick) > *hak- > ak-. Cf. also # 2748 c’ek- > ek-, etc.
293 al-, ala- (sharpness). Cf. Skt. s’akala (piece, fragment, splinter; of doubtful derivation, perhaps Dravida). In Dravida, the roots are often reduplicated or restated by different bases as here (ak-ala), in order to express quality, modification, persistency, or the superlative. Or perhaps with #291 al (strength, ability, possession of power), in order to specify the type of sharpness, for instance, a scorpion’s sting, thorn, etc..
A5) – acale-, acaletur (boy, youth, sapling). [Drav.: ak-al, ak-ale-tur]
Cf. A1) acale above.
The word derived from *tur- = #3563 tor (brother, friend, companion). Its agglutination would demand an euphonic e. And since o does not exist in Etruscan, Drav. tor- > Etr. tur- is a necessary evolution. The n’ is cerebral, and easily yields cerebral r’ which in turn evolves to > normal r in passing to Etruscan.
A6) – acerra (incense box). [Drav.: a-*c’erra]
There are three viable options, which are hard to discriminate as all three are good enough, and were probably interchangeably used. The first one is:
2787 c’ella (metallic box for keeping betel leaves and arecca nut). By rhotacism? The a- could perhaps be the determinative [“this incense box” ?]. Or maybe from < ac’ (obligation), incense being frequently used in sacrifices (See A3) above). The second alternative is:
9 *ac’, ak-, ag- a- (small earthen pot, hollow earthen lamp, bucket, pot, vessel, container)
811 era-, eri, *erra (to burn, blaze, anything that burns or is consumed by fire [inclusive substances burned as incense]).
In both Latin (incensus *ac- (house, home) + #513 illa (servant, maid) Connected with #494 illa- (house, wife, family) (Cf. #7 akatton (house servant) < ak- (house) + *atton < atiyon (servant)).
A8) – acline (sharp, pointed). [Drav.: *ak-al-ine]
Cf. A4) acalia = (sharpness) (see above). The radix acl Etr. e, one which should be expected, as this tongue used no diphthongs, but exceptionally.
A9) – *ak-, *ag, ac- (to conduct, lead, drive, bear (children)). [Drav.: *ak-, *ag-, ac’-]
347 ac’- > *ak- *ag-, (to drive, drive away, bear children) (Implies the idea of “to move”, “stir”, “cause to move”, “activate”).
37 ac’-, ayak- >*ak- (to move, shake, stir, drive, impel, carry)
A10) – acnasvers (funeral?, cremation). [Drav.: akk-nasi-verc’]. Cf. entry on Etruscan verse (fire), further below.
63 *akk- (bury, hide, cause to disappear, dispose, suppress). Cf. #2426 c’ak-, hak, *ak- (dead, death, corpse) and #2276 c’akk- (refuse, chaff, residue)
3575 nac’i, nasi, nas- (to be dead, decayed, wasted away, withered).
5517 *verc’- (ve-, vet-, vecc’-, ven’, veh-, vest- etc. are attested forms, mostly with cerebrals which closely resemble Italian r). See also #5496 ven’k-, werc’- ved’c’-, vehc’ (to be bright, shiny, pure, lighted, kindled, enkindled, to burn, flame, blaze). Both forms are closely related.
Hence: akk-nasi-verch (to dispose of the dead by means of fire, to cremate).
A11) – acnina (possession, hostility, threat). [Drav.: akk-nina]. Cf. acns (terror, veneration?).
Cf. #25 ak- = # 12 agi (fear, dread, terror, awe, terrible apparition, mental confusion, anguish) + # 3668 nina (bond, tie, fasten, link). Cf. BE entries #457 in’an (to join, unite, connect) and #531 in’am (associated with, connected to, partner, pal)
Hence, akk-nina or hak-nina (possessed, united to a ghost or apparition (and hence inspiring fear)). The word probably alludes to the sacred terror inspired by sacred events such as theophanies and objects or persons possessed by gods or spirits or imbued with mana (the mysterium tremendum et fascinans of the ancients).
A12) – acri, acsi, ahsi, ac- ax-, *ak- (acrid sharp, pungent). [Drav.: ac’ir, *ac’i]. (Cf. entry number A4) above)
341 ac’- (sharp, acute). The base has forms such as: asi, ac’ai, ai, ayir which suggest *ac’ir, *ac’i.
A13) – acun- (greetings, health). [Drav.: *ak-un, ac’-un]. (Cf. axu, axunie, acesia (healer, physician)
404 aj-, as-, arc’- > *ac’-, *ak- (to heal, calm, cool, appease, comfort, allay, pacify, alleviate, to be well in health, cured of wounds)
600 un (to prepare a food, potion, infusion, drink). Hence, *ac’-un or *ak-un (preparer of simples, healer, physician). Hence, “preparer of simples”, that is, a physician or shaman or healer. Cf. German arz- (medicine, physician).
A14) – afle, afr, apher, afu, hapu, hafu, *ap, *aph, *hap, *haph (luck, fortune, propitious, chancy). [Drav.: *aph-*er]. The idea is apparently “fortunate event”, “lucky find”, “auspicious omen”.
232 arb, abb- (extreme happiness at a lucky find)
333 a- ap-, app- > *aph (to come into existence, be fit, pleasurable, be agreeable, increase, prosper, cause contentment). Note that pp > ph is a frequent happening in Etruscan, though rare in Dravida. The transition seems to be regular. The -pp- is a connective in Dravida (along with others). It may be so in some Etruscan derivatives of this entry: a-jp-ire, a-p-irthe, a-p-ane. But this is just a hypothesis to be validated by further research. If so, the suffixes may correspond to: # 120 an’e- > *are (come near, unite, join, mix, impregnate);# 507 irai > ire > *ir (idem); #474 iratti > *irathe > irthe (idem).
In other words, the suffixes form the abstract substantive, expressing the idea of “impregnated with or full of the quality expressed by the base, that is, “luck” in the present case.
A15) – afu (striker, collector, hitter).[Drav.: aphu, appu]
157 appu > *apphu, (to strike, stroke, slap, hit)
? “collect” ph or f is the rule when passing from Dravida into Etruscan, as innumerous instances demonstrate.
A16) – ain, ein (property). [Drav.: *yan-, *ain-]
5157 *yal’, an >*yan- *ain (have, possess, rule, keep, master, own, dominate).
Metathesis? More likely, the phonetic evolution followed a far easier route within India itself. According to BE the primordial base (more fully *yanti) is connected with # 356 anti, a class of Shivaite holy men highly revered in India. This base is in turn related to:
196 ayn, aiyan (master, king, lord, brahman, superior, supreme) and # 469 iyan- (to rule, leadership, god, drive cattle) and # 920 ayyan (alms, beggar’s bowl). To own property is “to master”, “lord”, “rule”. To observe how much words can change even within the same family, cf. Lat. rex, Skt. raja; OIr. ri; Fr. roi; Ita. re; Spa. rey; Port. rei; Ger. reich; etc.. These changes are far larger than that between ain and yan- or even than that be among the Dravidian tongues themselves: al, alv-, ant-, yal, ali, aln, alu- at-, etc.. Nasalizations, rhotacism and lambdacism are also frequent, witness Engl. “year” and Lat. annus, etc..
A17) – ais, eis (god, divinity). [Drav.: *ays-].
Plural: aisar, aesar eisar, eiser, ais-er, ais-ar. Variants: aisuna (Rex Sacrorum), eisnev (priestly title), aineri (“to be worshipped”), aisna (“divine”). Cf. N. Picene aiten; Umbrian esono- Marrucian aisos, etc. all meaning ‘god” or related activities such as “worship” or “sacrifice.
Benveniste proposed a connection with Celt. and Goth.*isarn (iron) as the “Celestial metal”. Cf. A16) above and A20) below. If he is right, the word is also related to Skt. ayas (iron, metal), which is even closer to the Etruscan form, and also has the same meaning. But then we also have a connection with Lat. aes, Teut. ais, Them. aisa, Germ. eisen, etc., which Monier and other authorities connect with the Skt. name of the dark metal.
Though the two bases may be related, this only shows a connection with the idea of “Celestial”, rather than indeed a derivation. A far more direct connection is afforded by the Skt. ais or ai (Shiva). Shiva is the Supreme God for most Indians [Shivaites], and his cult has been traced to the Indus Valley Civilization. This name in turn evokes the one of the aesir or ases, the creator gods of the ancient Germans.
In our opinion, the idea of “Lofty One” or “Celestial” is the true etymology, or at least an essential part of it. This is the same meaning as that of #110 an, the ancient name of Shiva in Dravida. Hence, it is for that etymology that we must seek. This etymology is likewise attested by # 5396, which means both “god” and “heaven”, “sky”, “lofty”. Another possibly connected base is given by # 5157 an, al, yal (God, Supreme Ruler, lord, possessor, master, gods in general, to rule, govern, master, manage).
This base in turn is directly related with: #196 ai, aiy-, ayya, aya, ayyak-, *aycc’ > ayis > *ais, which, besides the etyma given in A16) above, embodies the main etymology of “father”, “lofty one”. Hence, it is hard to doubt that this Dravidian base was truly the origin of the identical Skt. one given above, ai or ais, which is unexplained in that language. In other words, an or *ais (“Father”, “Celestial Father”, “Lofty One”, “Lofty Father”), are both epithets of Shiva, which passed one form into Sanskrit, the other into Etruscan. The word also embodies the etyma of brahman (“priest”), “noble”, “saint”, “king”, etc..
BE also suggests a possible connection of the above base with #364 aî, ay, acc’i, *aycc’i (“mother”, “Great Mother”, Lakshmi). This connection is most reasonable. Laksmhi, called “Mother” in Dravida (Acc’i), is the Great Mother the Goddess. The Celts too worshipped a Great Mother (Danu), and so did the Etruscans (Minerva). The Great Mother was often, by several peoples, called “Queen” (Basilea), Medusa (for Medona = “Queen”), etc..
In fact, these two bases seem to be the masculine and feminine forms of a single root, *ayc’a (god, king, father) or *ayc’i (goddess, queen, mother). No matter what, the root *ayc’- (or *aic’- or *ais-) seems a natural archetype of the extant bases. And this radix sounds almost exactly the same as does the Etruscan ais-.
But we tend, despite these compelling derivations, to believe that the original radix was indeed just ai or ayi, the forms which are best attested in Dravida. The -cc’- may just be the usual Dravidian connective, which later got permanently attached to the root, as is often the case in that tongue.
It thus passed into Etruscan, and has so far been poorly separated by the researchers, who probably did not yet realize its nature as a possible inner connective of uniting roots. Hence, also, derive the forms ain, ein, aineri, aiten, without the sibilant, which are attested by the examples given above. But this is just a hypothesis, which must be validated by further research. The forms with the connective are also attested in Dravida, as we showed in the instances we just adduced.
A18) – aius, aiuzie (response, respond?). [Drav.: *ai-us, a-us]
Cf. entry H20) hav-, *hauZ, further below.
In Dravida, the word would be formed as “talk-listen”, precisely the etymology of “respond” (“talk after listening”). Accordingly, we have the following options, all highly adequate, in Dravida:
344 as, ah, *ay, *ai (to reply, answer, respond, to speak up)
1032 ox, og, *us (to listen silently, to hear)
821 a-, e-, ed (“the story is finished”)
937 us-, usir, osay, oc’ (speech, speak, tell)
631 us-, usu (talk, chat, speak, conversation).
The word probably evolved as the junction of two of the above roots: ai + us, meaning something as “to reply to talk, during conversation”. The closely similar entry, H20) hav-, *hauZ (to hear, perceive) commented further below is just a slightly different spelling and etymology of this same base, and is one of the two basic forms which passed into Latin, aus- and aud-, as in auscultare and audire.
A19) – aixe (agitated, waving). [Drav.: *aic’i]
347 ac’-, arc’- *oric’i (to agitate, wave)
Unable to adequately pronounce the cerebral r’, the Etruscans would naturally tend to lose it. So, the probable evolution: Drav. ar’ic’i > *aic’i > Etruscan aixe.
A20) – aiza (to worship). [Drav.: ayc’-a] Cf. A17 aisar (god, divine, worship?)
This word, meaning ‘to render cult to the gods” is connected, both in Etruscan and in Dravida, with the idea of “sacred”, “god” and, hence, with their cult (“worship”). The suffix -a probably means a verbification of the Etruscan root ais- (“god”). Quite probably this suffix ultimately derives from:
333 a (to be, be fit, be agreeable). If so: < ayc’- a ("to be agreeable to the gods", that is "to worship")
A21) – aka (voice, speaker). [Drav.: aka]
10 aka (to utter a sound, sing, roar, bellow)
A22) – al-, ala, ale (to give, donate, offer [obligation]). [Drav.: halla, hal-, *ala, *al- *ale]
2781 c’ala, halla, hal-, *ala,*al- *ale (to pay a debt, pay a tribute (or tithe), to give, pay (debt or vow), bestow, donate, fulfill). This is a very important Dravidian base, with many phonetic and etymological variants, just as is the also case in Etruscan.
A23) – al, ala, ale, althi (genit., dat., loc., dem., poss., etc. suffix). [Drav.: al, a-, aval, alu, ali, alt-, etc.; idem, idem]
1 al, a-, aval, alu, ali, alt-, etc. (dem., loc. base).
A24) – ala, alath-, alk- ([to be] vital, lively, moving boldly) [Drav.: ala-, alath-, alac’-]. Derived from normal l.
157 appu (to beat or slap strongly with the hand).
http://wiki.verbix.com/Documents/EtruscanDravidian
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