Etruscans

[proto-language]

Dear David and IEists:

----- Original Message -----
From: "David L. White" <dlwhite at texas.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 9:43 AM

<snip>

>> As for Tw-rw-s "Tursha", without the informed opinion of a competent
>> Hamitist, we are playing ping-pong in the dark with the phonology.

>         I admit I do not know why "TWRWS" and "TRWS" are anglicized as
> "Tursha".  Perhaps because that is the only version that would have been
> phonotactically acceptable in Egyptian?

[PR]
Egyptian had one set of spelling conventions that was fairly consistently used
up until Late Egyptian.

But, at an early date, another set of spelling conventions was used for what
were considered foreign words and name.

The word in question, rendered by Tursha, is spelled among others:

t-w(chick or coil)-rw-S3-3

Within this spelling conventions, [w] represented /u/ or /o/; [3], formerly a
kind of /r/, had become weakened to some other sound (/h/, I think), but, in
any case, indicated a long /a:/. This interpretation is buttressed by the
additional [3] with the biliteral [S3], which, presumably, was vocalized
/sha:/.

Hence, possibly t-u-ru-sha:-a: = turushá:

However, for what it may be worth, [rw] (a lion), is frequently used to
represent /l/ (+V) also.

And, there is another spelling of the name that might be of interest:

tj-w-double strokes-r-single stroke-rw-single stroke-S3-3

This might have been vocalized as /tyuya:rrusha:/ or even /tshuya:llusha:/
([r]-[single] stroke can also respresent /l/).

I am hoping this is of some interest.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE at email.msn.com (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th
St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE:
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http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ec
at ec hecc, vindgá meiði a netr allar nío, geiri vndaþr . . . a þeim
meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn." (Hávamál 138)