15 Dec 2007

Etruscan Dictionary Draft 005 now available

Here it is for everyone, free for download. There are now currently 988 entries and I'm still sifting through data. Just follow the eSnips icon below to download it:


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5 comments:

  1. I've been thinking. What I really miss about your dictionary is references to your sources, from what bits of texts you found it clear to assume the meaning you chose.

    I'm expressing myself lightly when I say your endeavours bring you to quite controversial conclusions. People are not likely to accept a newly proposed meaning from a dictionary that only has name/gloss and very few references. If I were you I'd give sentences translated and all, using the word in that entry, to give your claim extra credibility.

    I'm aware of course, that if you haven't been doing that in your database already, this is going to be a very time consuming task. :D

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  2. Phoenix: "If I were you I'd give sentences translated and all, using the word in that entry, to give your claim extra credibility.

    I certainly agree. And we should also expect Bonfante, Cristofani, Jannot, De Grummond, etc. to do the same by getting serious about structural linguistics if they are to continue to write about the Etruscan language. After more than a century, the Liber Linteus has never been successfully translated by *any* of these "Etruscologists" and that is highly curious for people whom we are to believe have authoritative knowledge on the language. So the clear answer is that no one does... yet. It's an interesting "wild, wild west" field to get into, I'd say.

    As for me, until I feel reasonably satisfied with my work and its logical proofs, things will remain in draft mode which nonetheless I share with the public in its limited form. I keep several private files of notes too, including my tentative translations for hundreds of inscriptions. Don't worry: I'm on it.

    But I don't think I've kept readers in the dark either. I already have directed everyone to numerous references in each of my blog entries if they want to pursue a topic further. I've talked about my ideas on Etruscan grammar (see here and here), on disproving status quo translations by way of grammatical and contextual contradictions (see here, here and here) and I have also discussed whole sentences showing how the grammar works as I understand it (see here). If I haven't been thorough enough, you need only ask a question.

    Phoenix: "People are not likely to accept a newly proposed meaning from a dictionary that only has name/gloss and very few references."

    What can you do, really? Like I say, it's a draft and it's marked that way. If my blog doesn't work to my credibility, then I may as well do the only honourable thing left for me to do, harakiri! :)

    I've come across a lot of jaded people in this world who wouldn't be impressed of anything no matter what the feat (aka "nihilist zombies"). Zombies should be reburied not heard :) I pay attention to the constructive, positive people who will react to my work one of two ways: A) "Wow! That's a LOT of work! Thank you!" or B) "I'm inspired by what you're doing but I believe I can do even BETTER!".

    This is hardly the final product because there is so much data to comb through still. But putting things back in perspective, aside from my crazy draft pdfs, have you discovered something more comprehensive online? :) Honestly I haven't, which is one reason why I continue on with my neurotic ever-incomplete project because I'm sure it will benefit or inspire someone out there.

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  3. Oh and I still have to whip up the "Ammendments" pdf for this last draft. Maybe that's what you were subtlely referring to. Sorry, I'm dense. That will be coming shortly, everyone.

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  4. Glen!
    That's a LOT of work! Thank you! ))

    Could it be that you have changed your mind on the relationship between Etruscan and Eteocypriot?

    At Cybalist Yahoo Group a lot of time ago you proposed closely related Etruscan /cara celutulase/ as a translation for Eteocypriot /kera keretulose/ 'of precious birth'.
    I have not found any of these forms in your Dictionary.

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  5. Yes, it is a lot of work. Even I think I'm insane, haha. But it's a fun problem-solving project for me so I'm glad others are enjoying it and asking questions.

    Avrelian: "Could it be that you have changed your mind on the relationship between Etruscan and Eteocypriot?"

    Not at all. In fact, I'm more convinced than ever of the existence of a "Proto-Aegean" family whose former extent can be described as stretching from Greece to Western Turkey and from Troy in the north to Cyprus in the south. I believe that there are loans in Etruscan from specific languages in that vicinity, particularly Afro-Asiatic ones, that add yet further proof to the eastern origin of the Etruscans. Some numbers are obviously ancient loanwords.

    Lydia is situated well within this area, precisely the location to which Herodotus attributes Etruscan origins. What seems certain is that Proto-Aegean languages were on the decline after 1100 BCE. Etruscan was protected by immediate extinction because of its early migration to and prosperity in Italy.

    Avrelian: "At Cybalist Yahoo Group a lot of time ago you proposed closely related Etruscan /cara celutulase/ as a translation for Eteocypriot kera keretulose 'of precious birth'.
    I have not found any of these forms in your Dictionary."


    Yes. This is a two-fold question actually. Do I still think that KE-RA KE-RE-TU-LO-SE corresponds to Greek εὐπατρίδην (eupatridēn) "of good birth" on the same Amathus bilingual artifact? Yes, it's a reasonable conclusion given the context.

    That being said, am I wrong about a connection to Etruscan *celutule? Yes. I allowed myself to be corrupted by the translations of Adolfo Zavaroni who claimed that this word meant "grown, developed" (see Zavaroni, I Documenti Etruschi (1996)) which it later turns out is based on some farflung etymology, as is typical of his methodologically deficient work. There is no word *celutule despite many other notables representing it as a word. Rather, it appears more than likely to me to be a missegmentation of celu tule (see here on the Tabula Capuana, line 13) which means "the earth (celu) before (-e) the boundary marker (tul)". So while the overall translation of Eteo-Cypriot kerakeretulose may be correct, the etymological relationship of this phrase to an equivalent Etruscan phrase is still up in the air. Even so, the Eteo-Cypriot genitive -ose seems like a match for Etruscan -(a)s, as is the locative case in -i, simple preterite in -ai (Etruscan -e) and the 3ps pronoun form ana with Etruscan an "he, she".

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