Re: [tied] Evidences for a Mediterranean pre-IE Substratum?

David Sanchez:

>-Northern Italy: Ligurian (not just Celtoligurian or Lepontic) and
>Rhaetic (Tyrrhenian Family). We now about Tyrrenian family that
>Etruscan have also two voiceless sibilants <s, s'> (and perhaps
>also Rhaetian?)

From what I see, Etruscan /s'/ is sometimes just the palatalized
alternate of /s/. (Note the genitive suffix.) I doubt strongly that
the Etruscan sibilants would have been pronounced like their Basque
counterparts.

>[...] a Pre-IE Mediterranean Sprachbund with these characteristics:
>(i) Existence of al least two voiceless sibilants <s, s'>
>(ii) Tendence to not consider voicedless/voiced contrast as phonemic (as in
>Basque, in Etruscan, and Iberian)
>(iii) Tendence to aglutination (also in Basque, in Etruscan, and
>Iberian)

Frankly though, I have to admit that attributing the lack of
voicing seen in Etruscan or Basque to some underlying lost language
is tantalizing. Not necessarily true, but tantalizing.

- love gLeN


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