Editing Etruscan language (section)

===Phases===
The writing system had two historical phases: the archaic from the seventh to fifth centuries BC, which used the early Greek alphabet, and the later from the fourth to first centuries BC, which modified some of the letters. In the later period, syncopation increased.

The alphabet went on in modified form after the language disappeared. In addition to being the source of the Roman and early [[Oscan]] and [[Umbrian]] alphabets, it has been suggested that it passed northward into [[Veneto]] and from there through [[Raetia]] into the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] lands, where it became the [[Elder Futhark]] alphabet, the oldest form of the [[runes]].{{sfn|Bonfante|Bonfante|2002|pp=117 ff.}}