ETRUSCAN ALPHABET: ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The Etruscan alphabet was a writing system used by the settlers established in the Italian peninsula between 700 BC. C. and the 1st century d. C. It is composed of 26 classic characters with a sense of writing from right to left.

Experts assure that this alphabet comes from Greek, and we currently have reference to it thanks to more than ten thousand inscriptions found in the geographical areas where the Etruscan people resided.

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Most of the Etruscan characters found so far are linked to funerary themes with inscriptions on walls, tombs, sarcophagi or vessels. This important archaeological record has allowed specialists to establish at least two hundred words, in addition to proper names.

The creation of the Etruscan alphabet has enormous importance, since it eventually gave rise to the Latin alphabet, one of the most widely used writing systems today throughout the world.

Origin

Experts in ancient languages ​​affirm that the Etruscan alphabet is derived from an archaic version of Greek, due to the similarity of the characters between both forms of writing. It was created between the north and center of the Italian peninsula by the Etruscan people, the first population in that area to develop a writing system.

Historians claim that the Etruscan alphabet could be linked to the runic alphabet used in Germanic languages ​​and the British Isles.

Other experts point out that the Etruscan language comes from the Palaeolithic period, which would establish the presence in the Italian peninsula of a prehistoric people prior to the settlement of Indo-European populations in the area.

Since some inscriptions were engraved on precious materials or feminine objects, experts hypothesize that writing may have been reserved for the upper social classes and that, in this society, women were not excluded from education.

The Etruscan people

For the year 700 a. The cities of the Etruscan people had already been founded. Its culture flourished during the 6th century BC. C. (around the year 500) encouraging the settlers to expand and establish their borders, especially before the arrival of an aggressive Greek presence in the Italian peninsula and the southern coast of France.

The commercial rivalry between Etruscans and Greeks led to clashes and great human losses on the part of the Etruscans. This was the beginning of its decline, the final blow being the appearance of tributary peoples, such as the Romans.

The Romans in turn adopted numerous elements of the Etruscan culture, including their alphabet and that is why the Latin letters of the European civilization then have their origin in the Etruscan alphabet

characteristics

The Etruscan alphabet has 26 characters, although the number varies depending on the time of the Etruscan sample found, since philologists establish the existence of two types of Etruscan alphabet: the archaic and the classic.

Although the Etruscan alphabet was usually written from right to left, examples have also been obtained in the bustróphedon style, characterized by writing with alternate directions on each line, from left to right and from right to left.

The words were originally written without spaces, but in less archaic inscriptions the use of a period or double period is recorded to separate the words.

The Etruscan people adapted the Greek alphabet to their verbal customs, eliminating and modifying elements that matched their sounds. For example, in its classical version the Etruscan alphabet used the Greek equivalents of "a", "e", "i" and "u" and left aside the use of "o", they also excluded the consonants "d "," B "or" g ".

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Similarities and differences with the Greek alphabet

As we mentioned earlier, the Etruscan alphabet took the elements of the Greek alphabet that best suited their communication needs and from there they created their own writing system. Some Greek letters remained unchanged, others underwent slight modifications, while another series of characters were completely eliminated.

Comparing the two alphabets contains difficulties, since both systems went through a process of evolution from their most archaic point to their peak of greatest modernity, as is the case of the Etruscan which had a finite life span.

The evolution of Greek for its part has led to modifications to make it more practical to the current needs of use and it is a living language with the possibility of continuing to evolve in the future

The Etruscan alphabet came to have 26 characters in one of its evolutionary points, compared to the Greek that has 24 characters.

The Etruscan alphabet had 4 vowels and 22 consonants, while the Greek alphabet has 17 consonants. The Greeks were the first to introduce vowels into an alphabet, 7 in total, classified as short or long, depending on the word.

Each character of the Etruscan and Greek alphabet represents a sound that when combined form words. Both the Etruscan and Greek alphabets had a horizontal writing orientation.

In an archaic period, the Greek shared with the Etruscan the uniqueness of being written in both directions, from left to right and from right to left, but approximately in the year 500 BC. C, the Greek alphabet began to be used only from left to right.

None of the alphabets, both Etruscan and Greek, use an accent.

Greek was used in ancient times to write scientific texts, so its characters are still used as symbols in areas such as physics, mathematics, astronomy, among other scientific areas. For its part, Etruscan fell into disuse and was replaced by another alphabet.

In the table you can see the differences and similarities of the characters established in both the Etruscan and Greek alphabet, the absence of certain letters and the appearance of totally new ones.

Dbachmann at en.wikipedia

Similarities and differences with the Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet owes almost all of its letters to the Etruscan. With a simple glance at the comparative table, the similarity of the characters can be appreciated despite the centuries that have passed and the changes made since the emergence of the Greek alphabet, through the Etruscan, until we reached the Latin alphabet that we know today.

The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, I, K, Z, M, N, P, Q, R and T are easily recognizable. Although the O is not found in the classic version, it can be seen in the archaic version. Among its most obvious differences are the series of characters that were eliminated or replaced by not responding to the needs of the Roman people.

At one point in its evolution, the Latin alphabet was also written in the bustrophedon style (from right to left and from left to right) but eventually adopted the left-to-right orientation that we observe today.

Each character of the Etruscan and Latin alphabet represents a sound that when combined together form words. Both the Etruscan and Latin alphabets have a horizontal writing orientation.

Both alphabets have 26 words. The Etruscan came to have this amount in its archaic version and the Latin alphabet in its current international version. Originally, the Latino only had 23 to later receive the J, UY W.

As the Latin alphabet is the most used in the world by the largest number of languages, it has undergone modifications and additions depending on the language that uses it. An example of this is how we mention the Spanish “ñ” or the French “ç”, characters far removed from those observed in the Etruscan alphabet.

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A misunderstood language

The Etruscan language ceased to be spoken in the 1st century AD. C., but continued to be used in the religious context until the beginning of the 5th century.

Linguistic experts express their frustration that although they have found a significant number of words in the inscriptions, until now they have not been able to reconstruct the language for in-depth study of the language. They state that the findings have not provided all the necessary information and literature, poetry or philosophy are not preserved from it as in the case of other languages.

The study of the Etruscan alphabet and its language is a work in progress. Only in 1964 was the word referring to the numbering "three" (ci) discovered on gold plates located in the ancient Etruscan port of Pyrgi in central Italy. Until then, only the numerical words "one" (thu) and "two" (zal) were known.

Historians claim that the Roman Emperor Claudius (10 BC - AD 54) wrote the history of the Etruscan people in 20 volumes, in addition to an Etruscan-Latin dictionary, which possibly would have provided much more information on the alphabet and its influence. However, none of these texts could be preserved to this day.

Archaeological studies continue and with them the appearance of new discoveries about the evolution of the Etruscan alphabet and its influence on later alphabets.

References

1. Editors of the Promotora Española de Lingüística. (2013). Etruscan alphabet. Taken from proel.org
2. The editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Taken from Britannica.com
3. BL Ullman. (1927). The Etruscan Origin of The Roman Alphabet and the Name of the Letters. Published by the University of Chicago Press. Taken from jstor.org
4. Jeff Matthews. (2014). The Etruscan Language. Taken from naplesldm.com
5. Thayer Watkins. (2007). Origins of the Etruscan. Taken from sjsu.edu
6. Serrano Rojas. (2016). Evolution of the alphabet: from Egypt to Rome. Taken from kerchak.com