LINGUIST List 4.490

Sat 19 Jun 1993

Sum: Etruscan

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. , Summary on Etruscan

Thanks to all who responded to my query on Etruscan: Ed Burstynsky, Brian
Joseph, James Hearne, Michael Kac, Max Wheeler, Alexis Manaster-Ramer, and
Tapani Salminen. Thank you for your patience.
Person most knowledgeable about Etruscan in the U.S.: Rex Wallace at
UMass, Classics Dept.
Vladimir Orel, a Russian linguist, has been arguing for the North Caucasian
provenance of Etruscan. A reference to his work is:
V. Orel and and S. Starostin. 1990. "Etruscan as an East Caucasian Language".
In : Vitaly Shevoroshkin (ed.) Proto-Languages and Proto-Cultures, pp. 60-66.
Bochum, Germany: Brockmayer. I haven't seen this yet. Two respondents were
impressed by Orel's work.
A recent survey of Etruscan is: Bonfante, Larissa. 1990. Etruscan. In:
J.T. Hooker (ed.) Reading the Past. London: British Museum Publications,
321-378. The section is also available as a separate paperback (also
British Museum Publications). Bonfante includes a bibliography and glossary.
The only language to which she admits a realtionship is that found on the
Lemnos stele (6th century B.C.).

Willem J. de Reuse
Dept. of Anthropology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 U.S.A.