Etruscan Basic Lexicon – A Synopsis - March 2016 update

Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan Basic Lexicon – A Synopsis Updated version – March 2016 (translations by Koen Wylin added) TABLE OF CONTENTS Purpose of this paper ..........................................................................2 Etruscan basic lexicon ........................................................................3 Sources .............................................................................................................. 3 Synopsis of Etruscan basic lexicon .................................................................... 4 Basic lexicon with certain (uncontroversial) meaning ......................................... 5 Basic lexicon with somewhat doubtful meaning ................................................. 9 Basic lexicon with very doubtful / controversial meaning .................................. 11 Annexes .............................................................................................13 1 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Purpose of this paper Any serious investigation into the genetic affiliation of the Etruscan language must be based on a good understanding of its phonology, morphology and lexicon. Etruscan is still only partially understood, and information about its lexicon is scattered across innumerable sources. It is therefore very difficult to quickly obtain an overview of our current understanding of its lexicon. The present paper aims at filling this gap, by offering a quick summary of our understanding of Etruscan basic lexicon1. This paper is intended as a stepping stone for researchers who want to try and understand the origin of Etruscan by comparing its basic lexicon against other languages and language families. It will in fact be used in a forthcoming long paper by the present author, where Etruscan will be compared with Anatolian languages. Comments about this short paper are very welcome and can be sent to [email protected]. 1 as defined in https://www.academia.edu/3801983/Maximizing_the_reliability_of_macrocomparisons._General_criteria_and_a_detailed_proposal_for_the_semantic_aspects 2 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan basic lexicon Sources Most information about Etruscan lexicon is scattered across innumerable articles and monographs. There are very few scholarly summaries of our current understanding of Etruscan lexicon. I could find the following six summary works that are reasonably recent and well researched: Author Editor Title Publisher Year ISBN Bonfante, G.; Bonfante, L. The Etruscan Language. An Introduction. Second edtion Manchester University Press 2002 0-71905540-7 Facchetti, Giulio M. L'enigma svelato della lingua etrusca 2 Newton & Compton editori 2000 888289458-4 Facchetti, Giulio M. Appunti di morfologia etrusca Leo S. Olschki 2002 88-2225138-5 Etruscan (pages 141 to 164), in The Ancient Languages of Europe Cambridge University Press 2008 978-052168495-8 Mauro Cristofani Introduzione allo studio dell’etrusco Leo S. Olschki 2014 (reprint) 978-882221585-7 Koen Wylin Il verbo etrusco. Ricerca morfosintattica delle forme usate in funzione verbale (Studia Philologica, 20) "L'erma" di Bretschneider 2000 888265084-7 Helmut Rix Woodard, Roger D. These are the sources from which I gathered the present overview of Etruscan basic lexicon. All translations from which this synopsis derives can be found in the following Excel file: https://www.academia.edu/22530267/Etruscan_basic_lexicon_database_-_March_2016_update 2 Despite its “popular science” title, this book is actually based on sound scholarly knowledge 3 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Synopsis of Etruscan basic lexicon The following tables summarize the current understanding of Etruscan basic lexicon as follows: an Etruscan term or root is listed in its most basic form, followed by its meaning and by a terse representation of meanings proposed by the authors listed in the previous section. A column is dedicated to each author. Cell colors are used as follows:    green if the author regards a meaning as certain yellow if the author regards a meaning as somewhat uncertain orange if the author regards a meaning as very uncertain. Cell contents are as follows: “=” means the author agrees with the meaning contained in the “Meaning” column “+” means the author agrees with the meaning contained in the “Meaning” column, but proposes additional meanings as well; such additional meanings are listed in a footnote “~” means the author proposes a meaning which is similar, but not identical to the one found in the “Meaning” column “≠” means the author proposes a different meaning “-“ means the author provides no information about the word or root 4 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Basic lexicon with certain (uncontroversial) meaning Etruscan 3 Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin ac- to make, do = +3 ~4 ~5 +6 acn- to have = +7 +8 ~9 ~ 10 al- to give + 11 + 12 + 13 ~ 14 = -alχ -ty (suffix for multiples of ten in numerals) = = = = = am- to be = = = = = an who (human relative pronoun) = + 15 = ~ 16 + 17 apa father = = = = = ar- to make, do + 18 + 19 = = = ati mother = = = = = -c, -χ and = = = = = cap- to take + 20 = ~ 21 = = also ‘to offer’ Rix translates acilun- as ‘to manage, get done’, but he translates acas- as ‘to sacrifice’, i.e. apparently not as a derivative of ac- (contra Facchetti and Bonfante) 4 5 acil ‘opus’ 6 also ‘to build,work’ 7 also ‘to procreate, acquire’ (children) 8 also ‘to make into a possession; to get’ 9 acnan- ‘to beget’ 10 acnan- ‘to beget’ 11 also ‘to give as a present, to offer’ 12 also ‘to offfer’ 13 also ‘to give as a present’ 14 ‘to give as a present / to make’ 15 also ‘he, she’ 16 relative pronoun (subject) 17 also ‘he’ 18 also ‘to carry; to move; to reach’ 19 also ‘to move’ 20 also ‘to grab’; ‘to contain’ > cap-er, cap-ra ‘container, vessel’ 21 caper ‘vessel’ 5 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin cel earth + 22 + 23 + 24 = 25 = cer- to build + 26 + 27 + 28 = + 29 ces- to lie, be placed = = - = = ci three = = = = = clan son = = = = = ei(n) not (prohibitive) = = = = = et thus = = = ~ 30 - huš- child + 31 = + 32 = + 33 ica this + 34 = + 35 = = ita demonstrative + 36 = 37 + 38 = 39 + 40 lupu dead + 41 = = = = 22 also ‘land’ 23 also ‘land’ 24 also ‘ground’ 25 as a goddess 26 also ‘to make, erect’ 27 also ‘to make’ 28 also ‘to erect, set up’ 29 also ‘to make, erect’ 30 etnam ‘the same way (?)’ 31 also ‘boy’, ‘young’ 32 also ‘young’ 33 also ‘young’ 34 also definite article 35 also enclitic article 36 ‘this’, ‘that’ and definite article 37 ‘this’ 38 ‘this’ and enclitic article 39 demonstrative: ‘this’ / ‘that (by you)’? 40 demonstrative and enclitic article 41 also ‘gone’ 6 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin -m and (enclitic coordinating conjunction) = = ~ 42 = + 43 maχ five = = = = = men- make = + 44 + 45 = = mi I = = = = = mlaχ good + 46 ~ 47 = ~ mul- to give (as a present) + 49 + 50 papa grandfather = = puia wife = = sar 10 = seχ daughter šuθ- + = = 51 = - 53 - 54 = = = = = = - = = = = - to lay, place = = = - = sval- to live = = = = tin day > Zeus (Jupiter) = = = ~ = ~ tiu moon, month = = = - 42 ‘but’ (weakly adversative coordinating conjunction) 43 slightly adversative coordinating conjunction 44 also ‘to offer, give’ 45 also ‘to prepare, create’ 46 also ‘beautiful’, ‘noble’ 47 ‘beautiful’ 48 ‘beautiful, noble’ 49 also ‘to offer, dedicate’ 50 also ‘to offer, dedicate’ 51 also ‘to dedicate’ 52 only cites the derivative papals ‘grandchild’ 53 papalser ‘grandchildren’ 54 papalser ‘grandchildren’ 55 ‘Zeus, Jupiter’ 56 ‘Jupiter’ 7 52 48 - 55 - 56 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin tur- to dedicate + 57 + 58 + 59 + 60 61 θesan morning + 62 + 63 +64 = ~ 65 θu(n) one = = = = = θui here = + 66 = = = = = 69 ~ ušil sun zal two = = = = = zaθrum twenty = = = = = zin- to make + 70 = + 71 = = + 67 57 also ‘to give, offer, give as a present’ 58 also ‘to give’ 59 also ‘to sacrifice’; ‘to make over (to someone)’ 60 also ‘to give as a present’ 61 ‘to give (as a present); gift’ 62 also ‘dawn, Aurora’ 63 also ‘dawn, Aurora’ 64 also ‘day’ 65 ‘Aurora (as a goddess)’ 66 also ‘now’ 67 also ‘day’ 68 ‘day’ 69 possibly < *uš- ‘burn’ 70 also ‘to produce’ 71 also ‘to produce’ = 8 ~ 68 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Basic lexicon with somewhat doubtful meaning Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin - - aminθ love, Amor (god of love) = = - cauθa sun, sun-god = = - - - ceχa above + 72 + 73 + 74 = + 75 cezp eight = = = + 76 - farθ(a)n- to generate = = to pray for = = hec- to put, place / set up, erect ? put, place put, place set up, erect - hen here = = - - = hinθ- below = = - - ≠ 77 huθ four / six ? 6 (/4?) 6 (/4?) 6 78 4? / 6? 4? / 6? in non-human relative pronoun = ≠ 79 = - - ipa relative pronoun + 80 = + 81 - ≠ 82 mal- to look = 83 = 84 mur- to reside (ati) nacna grand- (mother) - - - 85 - 86 - + 88 - - - = = + 87 72 also ‘on behalf of, because of’ 73 also ‘older’; ‘ceremony (right, law)’ 74 also ‘because of’ 75 also ‘for, on behalf of’ 76 7? 8? 9? 77 ‘soul / shadow’; hinθiu ‘underground’ 78 but ša, too, is glossed as ‘six’ 79 ‘it’ 80 also interrogative pronoun and ‘that’ (subordinating declarative conjunction) 81 also interrogative pronoun and ‘that’ (subordinating conjunction) 82 ‘other / another’ 83 also ‘to verify, control, observe’ 84 also ‘to watch, guard, oversee’ 85 also ‘to stay’ 86 murce ‘a verb of unknown meaning’ 87 ati nacna ‘grandmother’, papa nacna ‘grandfather’, nacna ‘big, elder’ 88 ati nacna ‘grandmother’, nacn(u)va ‘dear’ or ‘venerable’ 9 put, place Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin netš- entrails = harusp- 89 liver 90 ~ 91 harusp- 92 nurφ nine = = = = = = - ~ 94 ≠ 93 put- to place = ruva brother = = - - = ša four / six ? 4 4 (/6?) 4 (/6?) 4? / 6? 4? / 6? put at someone’s disposal ≠ 95 allow yield, give / leave - scun- to allow / yield / give / leave / put at someone’s disposal semφ seven = = = + 96 = teta grandmother = = - - - trin- to say / speak say ≠ 97 speak - + 98 un thee = = = - ≠ 99 ziv- to live live dead live - live 89 nethśrac ‘haruspicina’, netśvis ‘haruspex’ 90 ziχ neθσrac ‘text concerning the inspection of the liver’ 91 netsvis ‘haruspex’ 92 neθσrac ‘haruspicina’, netσvis ‘haruspex’ 93 put-, puth- ‘vase, pot, vessel, well?’ 94 puθ- ‘to put / expose (?)’, but put ‘vase’ 95 ‘erect?’ 96 7? 8? 9? 97 ‘to plead, supplicate’ 98 ‘to say, speak, invoke, announce’ 99 ‘him, her, it’ 10 Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Basic lexicon with very doubtful / controversial meaning Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix acquire make, place - Cristofani Wylin - - cen- to make / place / acquire ? χi- each, all ? = pronoun - - ≠ 100 χur full, complete ? = - - - - e(i)tv- big ? = - - - 101 his, her, its / our / anything ? a town? our genitive of an, in anything - 102 enaes- to want ? = - - - - est- that ? = - - - - far- to enter / prepare ? enter - prepare - - har- to enter, penetrate; inside ? = ? - - - hev- here / all / some ? here - all / some - - (h)ia here ? = - - - - lein- to die ? - = - - = luθ stone / temple / field / altar ? field stone / temple altar - - mlesie- hill ? hill ? - - - muc- inside, content ? = - - - - neri water ? - = - - - pava boy / discipline ? discipline boy - - - pi in, to, up to, until / towards ? towards in, to, up to, until ? ? pul > pulum bright > star ? = ~ 103 - raχ to prepare / tray / fire ? tray prepare fire ren- hand ? = - - rep- to bend, incline, bow ? ? = - 100 χim ‘ritual offering?’ 101 ‘word with unclear meaning’ 102 name of a town? 103 pulumchva ‘stars?’, but pul ‘in, to, up to, until’ (preposition) 104 pulumχva ‘stars’, but pul ‘then (?)’ 105 no translation provided, implying an unknown meaning 11 - - ~ 104 - 105 - - - - Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Etruscan Meaning Facchetti Bonfante Rix Cristofani Wylin meadow land - - - = - - - - ~ 106 - = = = hear, accept - take - - - - restm land, meadow ? ru(t)z dead, death ? ša the, that ? si(n)- to hear / accept / take ? slica- to remove, separate ? = ? - spel cavity, cave ? = - - - - taliθa girl ? - = - - - tece set up, placed, put / sanctuary ? a god? sanctuary set up, placed, put - - ≠ 107 tezan to accept, receive ? = - - - ≠ 108 θar there ? - = - - - θi water ? = pronoun - θra(s)- to become / to suckle ? become suckle become θul- brother / twin ? = - - - - urθ- to make ? - = - - - vatie- to ask (for) / to wish for ? ask - wish vers- fire ? = = 109 - 106 sam ‘and this?’ 107 a god’s name – not a verb 108 ‘rock’ 109 or ‘ladle’? 12 - - become request - Copyright © Gianfranco Forni 2016 Annexes All translations from which this synopsis derives can be found in the following Excel file: https://www.academia.edu/22530267/Etruscan_basic_lexicon_database_-_March_2016_update 13