Re: Etruscana (was: some Proto-Quendic grammar)

Quoting Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>:

> On Sunday, November 16, 2003, at 11:43 AM, Andreas Johansson wrote:
>
> [snip]
> > Etruscan's relatives? Are there any languages known be related to
> > Etruscan?
>
> The language on the stele found on Lemnos bears strong structural
> resemblances
> to Etruscans and is considered by many to be related.
> (Must add a page on this to my website.)
>
> Apart from that - no, there are no obvious links.
>
> In 1925 Paul Kretschmer put forward a theory linking Etruscan to IE or, as
> he called then, 'Indogermanisch'.  According to him, the IE were descended
> from 'Urindogermanisch' (i.e. what we now call PIE), which had a sister
> language, 'Urrätotyrrhenisch' (Proto-Raet-Tyrrhenic) from which were
> derived
> Raetian,
I tought it was spelt "Rhaetian"? But apart from that, how much is known about
this language?

> Etruscan, and Pelasgic (the pre-Greek language of Greece) inter
> alia.
> Both Urindogermanisch & Urrätotyrrhenisch were, he said, descended from a
> common
> ancestor 'Protindogermanisch' - _not_ our PIE, but one generation back,
> i.e. the Nostratic that some now theorize about.
Distinguishing between "Urindogermanisch" and "Protindogermanisch" does strike
me as unhelpful terminology ...

> I don't think anyone now adheres to Kretschmer's actual theory - but I'm
> fairly certain there are still similar ideas about that link Etruscan with
> with the IE of Anatolia (Hittite, Luwian etc) and/or with Nostratic.
>
> Of course, inevitably, some have linked it with Basque' IIRC others hsve
> suggested
> links to the Dravidian langs; and I dare say someone, somewhere, somewhen
> has suggest
> a link with most of earth's different language families.   This seems to
> be the
> common fate of language isolates.
Someone ought to make the definite list of languages no-one has suggester are
related to Basque ...

I suggest Basque was created as a deliberately non-humans conlang by a bunch
of Iberian prehistoric conlangers!

                                                        Andreas

Replies