Although some scholars claim that Etruscan is distantly related to Indo-European, and others that it is part of some super-family like Nostratic, there is no conclusive evidence of either. Etruscan is thought to be related to Rhaetic and Camunic two ancient minor languages of northern Italy. Also, two inscribed stelae found on the island of Lemnos are written in a tongue much akin to Etruscan, though their relation is yet unknown.
Due to its isolation, no significant certain translations from Etruscan into modern languages have been produced yet, however we can be fairly certain of how the language was pronounced as the Etruscan speakers wrote using a variant of the Greek alphabet.
The reconstructed phonemes of Etruscan:
/a/ letter: A
/e/ letter: E
/i/ letter: I
/u/ letter: V
/w/ letter: F
/h/ letter: H
/p, p_j/ /p_j/ is /p_h/ according to some scholars, the same applies to /t_j/ and /k_j/ letters: P, Phi
/t, t_j/ letters: T, Theta
/k, k_j/ letters: K, Khi
/ts/ letter: Z
/s/ letter: S
/S/ letter: San
/f/ letter: 8, FH
/l/ letter: L
/r/ letter: R
/m/ M
/n/ N
Rix also postulates several syllabic consonants, namely /l, r, m, n/ and palatal /l, r, n/ as well as a labiovelar spirant. The palatal series may be somehow connected to the palatalization so typical of Romance languages.
See also: Etruscan civilization, Liber Linteus
External links:
