IE /st/ > Etruscan /z/

[Eduard Selleslagh]

-----Original Message-----
From: Adolfo Zavaroni <adolfoz at tin.it>
Date: woensdag 31 maart 1999 3:54

>> Adolfo Zavaroni wrote:

>> >I think that Etruscan /z/ in most cases corresponds to IE /st/ both at
>> >the beginning and in the middle of a word.

[ moderator snip ]

>I add that the southern Etr. <s/> (SAN) = northern <s> is a fricative dental
>(likely weaker than /z/). In Raetic too <z> and <s/> mark a fricative.

[ moderator snip of remainder of very long post.  Please don't do this. ]

[Ed Selleslagh]

My suggestion, without any pretense:

I think z in Etruscan, certainly when written with Latin characters, was
actually a rendering of Greek zeta, pronounced dz (or maybe ts in certain
contexts) at the time (nowadays it is just English z).  So, st > Etruscan z
could be just  a metathesis.
Would this be valid?

Ed.