Piotr wrote:
The most famous Lemnian document is the Stele of
Lemnos, discovered more than a
century ago:
http://members.nbci.com/Pdictus/origins.html
There are a few other minor languages or dialects
(e.g. Camunic) in Northern
Italy, recorded in the Etruscan alphabet and possibly
related to Etruscan, but
they are so poorly documented that no secure
conclusions can be reached.
Piotr
Thanks for your answer. The link was very informative, and generated
many, many more questions. (Surprised?) However, I know that this
subject has been discussed before on the cybalist, with many
reasonable and interesting theories of the origin of etruscan.
Anyway I hope you forgive me again for asking a couple of questions:
1. Is it known what was written on the Kemnos stele?
2. Could it be understood as a further development of etruscan - or
the opposite?
I have also read the "thyrrenien part" of the story of Herodot with
great interest.
Allow me to tell another (short version) migration story:
"A long time ago in a kingdom far north, famine occured. The number of
inhabitants had grown fast, and there were problems to produce food
for everyone. So, the dicision was made that the eldest sons of the
farms scould keep the land and stay in the kingdom, and the farmland
should not be devided, and the sons and daughters should find work
elsewhere. The starving people had heard of a new, rich and fertile
country, and within fifty years nearly the half of the population
left, and travelled over the great ocean where they found farmland and
prospered. The migrated people soon grew to a number much greater than
the the population in the kingdom from where they came."
The kingdom is Norway the promised land was USA and the periode of
migration was approx. 1850-1900.
It is interesting to learn that in the "norwegian county" in USA, we
can still find norwegian language, as spoken in norway more than a
hundred years ago.
A paralell is Iceland, inhabited around 950-1000 by norwegians, and
pretty isolated since. While the norwegian language (in Norway) over
one thousand years has developed thru swedish and danish influence,
and seatrade with england, germany etc., Icelandic or Norse, has
stayed intact. So also the "core norwegian" in an english speaking
society. The more the higher density, of course.
Can any paralell be drawn to etruscan or thyrrenian? Has "italian
etruscan" been isolated, while "(minoan) etruscan/thyrrenian has
developed?
Hope this isn't too stupid. I'm an amatuer, as you understand.
With regards
Morten
P.S. Why did the etruscans call thenselves Rasna?