R: Re: Distance in change

[Frank Rossi]

j p maher wrote:

>Have the discussants read Herb Izzo's Etruscan language, dismissing the
>substrate theory on the origin of gorgia toscana?

Unfortunately, I haven't read the book yet, but, thanks to Ed Robertson, I
do have the reference as follows:

Herbert J. Izzo,
Tuscan & Etruscan: The problem of linguistic substratum influence in
central Italy"
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1972)

However, the facts I mentioned in my posting do *in my opinion* demonstrate
that Etruscan was the substrate of the Latin spoken in Tuscany, i.e.:
Before the Roman conquest the people in Tuscany spoke Etruscan.
No other people settled in Tuscany between the Etruscans and the Romans.
The Romans did not exterminate the Etruscans, and they didn't replace them
with Roman colonists.
The Etruscans adopted the Latin language.

The second point in discussion, i.e. whether the so-called "gorgia toscana"
is a consequence of the Etruscan substrate of Tuscan Latin is probably not
provable either way. However, to disprove it one must explain why this
phenomenon exists in Tuscany and *not* in the adjacent non Tuscan areas.

What does Izzo say?

As a further contribution, a quotation from Giacomo Devoto's "Il linguaggio
d'Italia", 1974, follows:
The phenomenon of Tuscan "... aspiration goes back to the early Middle Ages
only on one condition, i.e., that it is indeed a development that has its
origins in ancient Etruria. The most serious obstacle to this theory is
that no author either ancient or modern including Dante ever mentioned this
particular feature of the florentine and other adjacent dialects... (in
Tuscany).
A second obstacle is the fact that the entire development of Latin in
Tuscany is characterised by its isolation, by the absence of mixture: it
seems strange that this should be the only mixture, so isolated and
enigmatic. HOWEVER, not to justify this theory at all costs, but to have a
clear picture of the factors to be taken into consideration, a disymmetry
may be noted between the various regions of Etruria. In these regions, the
signs of a different final balance between the Latin tradition brought in
from outside and the pre-existent Etruscan tradition can be evaluated,
comparing them with the distribution of consonantal aspiration. The
proportion of Etrusan and Latin inscriptions in the northern areas of
Tuscany (Luni, Pisa, Lucca, Pistoia, Fiesole, Firenze, Arezzo) is, on the
basis of the "Corpus inscriptionum latinarum", 82 Etruscan inscriptions
against 505 Latin inscriptions, i.e., the Latin inscriptions are about 6
times more numerous than the Etruscan inscriptions. On the other hand, in
the central territories (Volterra, Siena, Cortona, Perugia, Chiusi), the
Etruscan inscriptions are 6 times more numerous than the Latin inscriptions
(4833 to 785). The Latin dominance in the North of Tuscany is compatable
with the hypothesis of an easier achievement of the final balance and
language mixing, while the resistance of Etruscan until a late date leads
us to presume that the two traditions, not only linguistic, but also
socio-cultural, were mutually independent for a long time. The geographical
distribution of the Tuscan aspiration corresponds to a large extent to the
northern part of Tuscany. In this sense then, it is fair to say that,
failing direct proof, the geography of the inscriptions eliminates one
obstacle and indicates a possible geographical relationship that offers
food for thought".

Regards

Frank Rossi
Bergamo, Italy
iglesias at axia.it