Etruscus

Latin

Etymology

From or related to Etruria (compare Tuscus). Probably related to Umbrian Turskum,[1] and Ancient Greek Τυρρηνός (Turrhēnós), Τυρσηνός (Tursēnós), from τύρρις (túrrhis, “tower”), τύρσις (túrsis),[1] itself of pre-Indo-European origin, in which case Τυρσηνός (Tursēnós) might be a native Etruscan word simply meaning "tower people" (as opposed to the Rasennae, see below). See Τυρσηνία.

Helmut Rix, based on the distinction made by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, assumed that Latin tusci, Umbrian Turskum (nomen), Ancient Greek Τυρσηνοί (Tursēnoí), derived from the original Etruscan name, while Rasna (from Etruscan 𐌓𐌀𐌔𐌍𐌀 (rasna), and whence Rasennae), like populus, originally designated the part of the population of Etruria which had political responsibility.[2]

Vladimir Georgiev[3] suggested that the word had the same root as Τρῶες (Trôes, “Trojans”) and Troy, but Philip Baldi notes that "though superficially attractive, these claims do not stand up to linguistic scrutiny, with the unexplained E [...] and the spurious metathesis of r and the following vowel in Gk. Τυρσηνοί just two of the problems."[4]

In the past, other scholars have proposed that the term might be Celtic.[5]

Adrian Room compares other language isolate ethnonyms, such as Basque, hinted by the -sc- element found in Etruscus, Vascones, and older Latin forms ligusc* of Ancient Greek Λίγυς (Lígus); see Liguria.[6]

Pronunciation

Adjective

Etrūscus (feminine Etrūsca, neuter Etrūscum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. of or pertaining to Etruria, Etruscan

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative Etrūscus Etrūsca Etrūscum Etrūscī Etrūscae Etrūsca
Genitive Etrūscī Etrūscae Etrūscī Etrūscōrum Etrūscārum Etrūscōrum
Dative Etrūscō Etrūscō Etrūscīs
Accusative Etrūscum Etrūscam Etrūscum Etrūscōs Etrūscās Etrūsca
Ablative Etrūscō Etrūscā Etrūscō Etrūscīs
Vocative Etrūsce Etrūsca Etrūscum Etrūscī Etrūscae Etrūsca

Noun

Etrūscus m (genitive Etrūscī, feminine Etrūsca); second declension

  1. (usually in the plural) one of the people of Etruria, an Etruscan

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
Nominative Etrūscus Etrūsca Etrūscī Etrūscae
Genitive Etrūscī Etrūscae Etrūscōrum Etrūscārum
Dative Etrūscō Etrūscīs Etrūscīs
Accusative Etrūscum Etrūscam Etrūscōs Etrūscās
Ablative Etrūscō Etrūscā Etrūscīs Etrūscīs
Vocative Etrūsce Etrūsca Etrūscī Etrūscae

References
  1. Giuliano Bonfante, Larissa Bonfante, The Etruscan Language: An Introduction, Revised Editon (2002, →ISBN), page 51: In other languages, the Etruscans' name comes from a stem turs- (Latin Tuscus, from *Turs-cos, archaic Umbrian turskum (numen), later Umbrian tuscom (nome), Latin Etruria from *E-trus-ia (?), Greek Tyrs-enoi (from Greek tyrsis, Latin turris, 'tower')).
  2. M. T. Watmough, Margaret (1997) Studies in the Etruscan Loanwords in Latin (Volume 33 of Biblioteca di "Studi etruschi"), volume 33, Florence: L.S. Olschki, published 1997, page 90:
    Rix accounts for the distinction made by Dionysius of Halicarnassus by assuming that Gr. Tvpexnvo'i, Umb. Turskum (nomen) and Lat. Tusci are transformations of the original Etruscan name, while Rasna, like populus, originally designated that part of the population of Etruria which had political responsibility, i.e. that part which also furnished the military. In Rix's opinion, in the third to second century, when the right of citizenship was conceded even to the neveaxai, rasna serves to designate "tutta la popolazione libera dell'Etruriae". The original meaning of both res publica and mex- rasnal will have been, according to Rrx 1984b:467, "patrimonio delle milizie"; the semantic progression from "patrimonio delle milizie" to "stato" presupposes "un cambio politico".
  3. In Introduction to the history of the Indo-European languages (1981). His suggestion is repeated by Nicholas Ostler in Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin.
  4. Baldi, The Foundations of Latin (1998)
  5. John Fraser, The Etruscans: Were They Celts? (1879).
  6. Room, Adrian, Place Names of the World, 2nd ed., McFarland & Co., 2006.
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