List of English words of Etruscan origin
This is a list of English words that may be of Etruscan origin, and were borrowed through Latin, often via French. The Etruscan origin of most of these words is disputed, and some may be of Indo-European or other origin. The question is made more complex by the fact that the Etruscans borrowed many Greek words in modified form. Typically if a Latin word has an unknown, uncertain or disputed origin, it is considered a possible candidate for deriving in whole or in part from an Etruscan word; however, native Etruscan must then be distinguished from Greek. If no Etruscan word is clearly identifiable sometimes an attempt is made to reconstruct one. Etruscan derivations therefore are highly variable in probability; that is, some are highly speculative and others more likely.
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[edit] List
- antenna
- from antenna<antemna, "yard-arm, sail." Possibly Etruscan *antithemna>*ant(th)emna from Greek ανάτηθήμένος anatithēmenos, something set up.[1]
- arena
- from arēna "arena"<harēna, "arena, sand"<archaic hasēna<Sabine fasēna, unknown Etruscan word as the basis for fas- with Etruscan ending -ēna.[2]
- autumn
- from autumnus "autumn." Just as Etruscan veltha, an earth god, appears as Latin Vola or Olta and is in Voltumna and Vertumnus, so the parallel construction autumnus ought to come from Etruscan autu-, related to avil, "year": *av(i)-to-m(e)nos, with loss of the l. There are some names with both l and t: avlethaium, authnal, avtle, and so on, which appear related to autu or auta in Venetic, the idea being that autumn signifies the passing of the year.[3]
- belt
- from balteus, "sword belt." The sole connection between this word and Etruscan is a statement by Marcus Terentius Varro that it was of Etruscan origin. All else is speculation.[4]
- catamite
- from catmite
- ceremony
- oldest form cærimonia, obscure, perhaps Etruscan [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Breyer (1993) pp. 174–175.
- ^ Breyer (1993) p. 259.
- ^ Breyer (1993) pp 412–413.
- ^ Parker & Son, John William (1852). Varronianus: A Critical and Historical Introduction to the Ethnography of Ancient Italy and to the Philological Study of the Latin Language (2 ed.). London, Cambridge: J. W.. p. 154. Breyer (1993) pp 428–429 reports on an attempt to bring in Hittite and Gothic connecting it with a totally speculative root *-lst-.
- ^ "L. cærimonia "holiness, sacredness; awe; reverent rite, sacred ceremony," an obscure word, possibly of Etruscan origin, or a reference to the ancient rites performed by the Etruscan pontiffs at Caere" http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ceremony
[edit] Bibliography
- Breyer, Gertraud (1993) (in German). Etruskisches Sprachgut im Lateinischen unter Ausschluss des spezifisch onomastischen Bereiches. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 9068313355, 9789068313352.
