Editing Etruscan language (section)

==Morphology/Grammar==
Etruscan was an [[agglutinative language]], varying the endings of nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs with discrete endings for each function. It also had adverbs and conjunctions, whose endings did not vary.<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation">{{cite book |doi=10.1002/9781118354933.ch14 |chapter=Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation |title=A Companion to the Etruscans |year=2016 |last1=Wallace |first1=Rex E. |pages=203–223 |isbn=978-1-118-35274-8 }}</ref>

===Nouns===
Etruscan substantives had five cases—[[Nominative case|nominative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], [[dative case|dative]], and [[locative case|locative]]—and two numbers: singular and a plural. Not all five cases are attested for every word. Nouns merge the nominative and accusative; pronouns do not generally merge these. Gender appears in personal names (masculine and feminine) and in pronouns (animate and inanimate); otherwise, it is not marked.{{sfn|Bonfante|1990|p=20}}

Unlike the [[Indo-European languages]], Etruscan noun endings were more [[agglutinative]], with some nouns bearing two or three agglutinated suffixes. For example, where Latin would have distinct nominative plural and dative plural endings, Etruscan would suffix the case ending to a plural marker: Latin nominative singular {{Lang|la|fili-us}}, 'son', plural {{Lang|la|fili-i}}, dative plural {{Lang|la|fili-is}}, but Etruscan {{Transliteration|ett|clan}}, {{Transliteration|ett|clen-ar}} and {{Transliteration|ett|clen-ar-aśi}}.{{sfn|Bonfante|1990|p=19}} <!--Need a different set of example as this one shows similar way of adding suffix in both Latin and Etruscan language 's' added to 'i' and 'aśi' added to 'ar'--> Moreover, Etruscan nouns could bear multiple suffixes from the case paradigm alone: that is, Etruscan exhibited ''[[Suffixaufnahme]]''. Pallottino calls this phenomenon "morphological redetermination", which he defines as "the typical tendency ... to redetermine the syntactical function of the form by the superposition of suffixes."<ref>{{cite book|last=Pallottino |first=Massimo |date=1955 |title=The Etruscans |url=https://archive.org/details/etruscans00pall |url-access=registration |publication-place=Harmondsworth, Middlesex |publisher= Penguin Books |page=[https://archive.org/details/etruscans00pall/page/263 263] |lccn=56000053 |oclc=1034661909}}</ref> His example is {{Transliteration|ett|Uni-al-θi}}, 'in the sanctuary of Juno', where'' -al'' is a genitive ending and ''-θi'' a locative.

Steinbauer says of Etruscan, "there can be more than one marker ... to design a case, and ... the same marker can occur for more than one case."<ref>''[http://www.etruskisch.de/pgs/gr.htm Etruscan Grammar: Summary]'' at Steinbauer's website.</ref>

; [[Nominative case|Nominative]]/[[accusative case]] : No distinction is made between nominative and accusative of nouns. The nominative/accusative could act as the subject of transitive and intransitive verbs, but also as the object of transitive verbs, and it was also used to indicate duration of time (e.g., {{Transliteration|ett|ci avil}} 'for three years').<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

: Common nouns use the unmarked root. Names of males may end in ''-e'': {{Transliteration|ett|Hercle}} (Hercules), {{Transliteration|ett|Achle}} (Achilles), {{Transliteration|ett|Tite}} (Titus); of females, in ''-i'', ''-a'', or ''-u'': {{Transliteration|ett|Uni}} (Juno), {{Transliteration|ett|Menrva}} (Minerva), or {{Transliteration|ett|Zipu}}. Names of gods may end in ''-s'': {{Transliteration|ett|Fufluns}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|Tins}}; or they may be the unmarked stem ending in a vowel or consonant: {{Transliteration|ett|Aplu}} (Apollo), {{Transliteration|ett|Paχa}} (Bacchus), or {{Transliteration|ett|Turan}}.
; [[Genitive case]] : The genitive case had two main functions in Etruscan: the usual meaning of possession (along with other forms of dependency such as family relations), and it could also mark the recipient (indirect object) in votive inscriptions.<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/> 
: Pallottino defines two declensions based on whether the genitive ends in ''-s/-ś'' or ''-l''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pallottino |first=Massimo |date=1955 |title=The Etruscans |url=https://archive.org/details/etruscans00pall |url-access=registration |publication-place=Harmondsworth, Middlesex |publisher= Penguin Books |page=[https://archive.org/details/etruscans00pall/page/264 264] |lccn=56000053 |oclc=1034661909}}</ref> In the ''-s'' group are most noun stems ending in a vowel or a consonant: {{Transliteration|ett|fler}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|fler-ś}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|ramtha}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|ramtha-ś}}. In the second are names of females ending in ''i'' and names of males that end in ''s'', ''th'' or ''n'': {{Transliteration|ett|ati}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|ati-al}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|Laris}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|Laris-al}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|Arnθ}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|Arnθ-al}}. After ''l'' or ''r'' ''-us'' instead of ''-s'' appears: {{Transliteration|ett|Vel}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|Vel-us}}. Otherwise, a vowel might be placed before the ending: {{Transliteration|ett|Arnθ-al}} instead of {{Transliteration|ett|Arnθ-l}}. 
:According to Rex Wallace, "A few nouns could be inflected with both types of endings without any difference in meaning. Consider, for example, the genitives {{Lang|ett-latn|cilθσ|italic=no}} 'fortress (?)' and {{Lang|ett-latn|cilθl|italic=no}}. Why this should be the case is not clear."<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>
: There is a [[patronymic]] ending: ''-sa'' or ''-isa'', 'son of', but the ordinary genitive might serve that purpose. In the genitive case, morphological redetermination becomes elaborate. Given two male names, ''Vel'' and ''Avle'', {{Transliteration|ett|Vel Avleś}} means 'Vel son of Avle'. This expression in the genitive become ''Vel-uś Avles-la''. Pallottino's example of a three-suffix form is {{Transliteration|ett|Arnθ-al-iśa-la}}.
; [[Dative case]] : Besides the usual function as indirect object ('to/for'), this case could be used as the agent ('by') in passive clauses, and occasionally as a locative.<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/> The dative ending is ''-si'': {{Transliteration|ett|Tita}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|Tita-si}}.{{sfn|Bonfante|1990|p=20}} (Wallace uses the term 'pertinentive' for this case.)<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>
; [[Locative case]] : The locative ending is -θi: {{Transliteration|ett|Tarχna}}''/''{{Transliteration|ett|Tarχna-l-θi}}.{{sfn|Bonfante|1990|p=[https://archive.org/details/etruscan0000bonf/page/41 41]}}
; [[Plural number]] : Nouns semantically [+human] had the plural marking ''-ar'' : {{Transliteration|ett|clan}}, 'son', as {{Transliteration|ett|clenar}}, 'sons'. This shows both [[I-mutation|umlaut]] and an ending ''-ar''. Plurals for cases other than nominative are made by agglutinating the case ending on {{Transliteration|ett|clenar}}. Nouns semantically [-human] used the plural ''-chve'' or one of its variants: ''-cva'' or ''-va'': {{Transliteration|ett|avil}} 'year', {{Transliteration|ett|avil-χva}} 'years'; {{Transliteration|ett|zusle}} '{{Transliteration|ett|zusle}} (pig?)‐offering', {{Transliteration|ett|zusle-va}} '''zusle''‐offerings'.<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

===Pronouns===
Personal pronouns refer to persons; demonstrative pronouns point out English ''this'', ''that'', ''there''.<ref>The summary in this section is taken from the tables of the Bonfantes (2002) pp. 91–94, which go into considerably more detail, citing examples.</ref>

====Personal====
The first-person personal pronoun has a nominative {{Transliteration|ett|mi}} ('I') and an accusative {{Transliteration|ett|mini}} ('me'). The third person has a personal form {{Transliteration|ett|an}} ('he' or 'she') and an inanimate {{Transliteration|ett|in}} ('it'). The second person is uncertain but some scholars, such as the Bonfantes, have claimed a dative singular {{Transliteration|ett|une}} ('to thee') and an accusative singular {{Transliteration|ett|un}} ('thee').{{sfn|Bonfante|Bonfante|2002|pp=91–94}}

====Demonstrative====
The demonstratives, {{Transliteration|ett|ca}} and {{Transliteration|ett|ta}}, are used without distinction for 'that' or 'this'. The nominative–accusative singular forms are: {{Transliteration|ett|ica}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|eca}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|ca}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|ita}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|ta}}; the plural: {{Transliteration|ett|cei}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|tei}}. There is a genitive singular: {{Transliteration|ett|cla}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|tla}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|cal}} and plural {{Transliteration|ett|clal}}. The accusative singular: {{Transliteration|ett|can}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|cen}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|cn}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|ecn}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|etan}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|tn}}; plural {{Transliteration|ett|cnl}} 'these/those'. Locative singular: {{Transliteration|ett|calti, ceiθi, clθ(i), eclθi}}; plural {{Transliteration|ett|caiti, ceiθi}}.

===Adjectives===
Though uninflected for number, adjectives were inflected for case, agreeing with their noun: {{Transliteration|ett|mlaχ}} 'good' versus genitive {{Transliteration|ett|mlakas}} 'of (the) good...'<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

Adjectives fall into a number of types formed from nouns with a suffix:
* quality, -''u, -iu'' or -''c'': {{Transliteration|ett|ais/ais-iu}}, 'god/divine'; {{Transliteration|ett|zamaθi/zamθi-c}}, 'gold/golden'
* possession or reference, -''na, -ne, -ni:'' {{Transliteration|ett|paχa/paχa-na}}, 'Bacchus, Bacchic'; {{Transliteration|ett|laut/laut-ni}}, 'family/familiar' (in the sense of servant)
* collective, -''cva, -chva, -cve, -χve, -ia'': {{Transliteration|ett|sren/sren-cva}}: 'figure/figured'; {{Transliteration|ett|etera/etera-ia}}, 'slave/servile'

===Adverbs===
Adverbs are unmarked: {{Transliteration|ett|etnam}}, 'again'; {{Transliteration|ett|θui}}, 'now, here'; {{Transliteration|ett|θuni}}, 'at first' (compare {{Transliteration|ett|θu}} 'one'). Most [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] adverbs are formed from the oblique cases, which become unproductive and descend to fixed forms. Cases such as the [[ablative]] are therefore called adverbial. If there is any such widespread system in Etruscan, it is not obvious from the relatively few surviving adverbs.

The negative adverb is {{Transliteration|ett|ei}} (for examples, see below in Imperative moods) .

===Conjunctions===
The two enclitic coordinate conjunctions ''‐ka/‐ca/‐c'' 'and' and ''-um/‐m'' 'and, but' coordinated phrases and clauses, but phrases could also be coordinated without any conjunction (asyndetic).<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

===Verbs===
Verbs had an [[indicative mood]], an [[imperative mood]] and others. Tenses were [[Present tense|present]] and [[Past tense|past]]. The past tense had an [[active voice]] and a [[grammatical voice|passive voice]].

====Present active====
Etruscan used a verbal root with a zero suffix or ''-a'' without distinction to number or person: {{Transliteration|ett|ar}}'','' {{Transliteration|ett|ar-a}}, 'he, she, we, you, they make'.

====Past or preterite active====
Adding the suffix {{Transliteration|ett|-(a)ce'}} to the verb root produces a third-person singular active, which has been called variously a "past", a "preterite", a "perfect." In contrast to Indo-European, this form is not marked for [[Grammatical person|person]]. Examples: {{Transliteration|ett|tur}} 'gives, dedicates' versus {{Transliteration|ett|tur-ce}} 'gave, dedicated'; {{Transliteration|ett|sval}} 'lives' versus {{Transliteration|ett|sval-ce}} 'lived'.

====Past passive====
The third-person past passive is formed with -che: {{Transliteration|ett|mena/mena-ce/mena-che}}, 'offers/offered/was offered'.

====Imperative mood====

The imperative was formed with the simple, uninflected root of the verb: {{Transliteration|ett|tur}} 'dedicate!', {{Transliteration|ett|σ́uθ}} 'put!', {{Transliteration|ett|trin}} 'speak!' and {{Transliteration|ett|nunθen}} 'invoke!').

The imperative {{Transliteration|ett|capi}} 'take, steal' is found in anti‐theft inscriptions:

::{{Transliteration|ett|mi χuliχna cupe.s. .a.l.θ.r.nas .e.i minipi '''c̣api'''...}} (Cm 2.13; fifth century BC)
::'I (am) the bowl of Cupe Althr̥na. Don't '''steal''' me!'<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

====Other modals====

Verbs with the suffix ''‐a'' indicated the [[jussive mood]], with the force of commanding, or exhorting (within a subjunctive framework).

::{{Transliteration|ett|ein θui '''ara''' enan}}
::'No one '''should put/make''' (?) anything here ({{Transliteration|ett|θui}}).'

Verbs ending in ''‐ri'' referred to obligatory activities:

::{{Transliteration|ett|celi . huθiσ . zaθrumiσ . flerχva . neθunσl . '''σucri . θezeric'''}}
::'On September twenty six, victims must be '''offered''' (?) and '''sacrificed''' (?) to Nethuns.'<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

====Participles====
Verbs formed participles in a variety of ways, among the most frequently attested being ''-u'' in {{Transliteration|ett|lup-u}} 'dead' from {{Transliteration|ett|lup-}} 'die'.

Participles could also be formed with ''‐θ''. These referred to activities that were contemporaneous with that of the main verb: {{Transliteration|ett|trin‐θ}} '(while) speaking', {{Transliteration|ett|nunθen‐θ}} '(while) invoking', and {{Transliteration|ett|heχσ‐θ}} '(while) pouring (?)'.<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

===Postpositions===

Typical of [[Subject–object–verb word order|SOV]] agglutinative languages, Etruscan had postpositions rather than prepositions, each governing a specific case.<ref name="Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation"/>

===Syntax===
Etruscan is considered to have been a [[Subject–object–verb word order|SOV]] language with postpositions, but the word order was not strict and the orders OVS and OSV are, in fact, more frequent in commemorative inscriptions from the archaic period, presumably as a stylistic feature of the genre.<ref>Wallace, Rex. 2008. Zikh Rasna: A manual of the Etruscan language and inscriptions. Ann Arbor, New York: Beech Stave Press. P. 95. Cited in: [https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/1587 Rogers, Adelle, "Theories on the Origin of the Etruscan Language" (2018). Open Access Theses.] 27-28.</ref> Adjectives were usually placed after the noun.<ref>Wallace, Rex. 2008. Zikh Rasna: A manual of the Etruscan language and inscriptions. Ann Arbor, New York: Beech Stave Press. P.52-53. Cited in: [https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/1587 Rogers, Adelle, "Theories on the Origin of the Etruscan Language" (2018). Open Access Theses.] P.27-28.</ref>