IE /st/ > Etruscan /z/

[Adolfo Zavaroni]

[ moderator re-formatted ]

> 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.

> Miguel Carrasquer Vidal (mcv at wxs.nl) asked:

> Why?

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.

This explains a lot of words that allow a reliable interpretation of the
sentences:

Etr. zam- < *stembh-		
Etr. zan- < *stan- 'stand, statue' etc.
Etr. zat- < *stat-  (Lat. statuo, satelles)
Etr. zarf- < *sterbh-
Etr. s/aukh- < *stakhuk- 'wound' (lat. saucio)
Etr. sa/t- < *stakhat- 'to prick, afflict'
Etr. zec, s/ec < *steg- 'mark, sign' (Lat. signo)
Etr. s/ikh- 'to sign; to investigate'
Etr. zar-, s/ar, s/er- 'rigid, stiff, solid' (Lat. sterilis)
Etr. s/ert- 'star, bright' < *stered-	
Etr. zia < *stigha- (lat. si/ca)	
Etr. zik(h)u- < *steig(h)- 'incide, write'
Etr. zeri < *zeheri < *steig(h)-  'incision, writing'
Etr. zil- and s/el- < *stel- 'order, govern'
Etr. zip- < *stip- (lat. sti/po)
Etr. zivas < *stew- (lat. sti/va) 'to assist, direct'
Etr. ziz- < *stist- (Lat. sisto)
Etr. zuk, s/uk- < *stuk- 'stock, piece, part' (Lat. socius)
Etr. zus- < *stus- < *stu(n)d-s- (Lat. studeo, ON stunda 'streben')
Etr. zut(h), s/uth- < *studh- (ON. OE. sto/dh)
Etr. s/ure < *staur- (lat. su/rus, restauro)
Etr. supri = lat. stupendus (-ri gerundive morph.)
Etr. s/ep-  < *step-
Etr. caz- < *cast- < *kwedh-t- 'sharp, acute'
Etr. vez- < *vest- < *khwedh-t- (see above)

I could continue; but likely it would be useless. As I don't know to explain
why this happened, I asked if the same result is known in other languages. In
the middle of the word an original -th-t- ( > IE. -st- ) may be supposed (cf.
Celt. ss < -dh-t-). According to Helmut Rix, "Raetisch und Etrusckisch", 1998,
p. 52, the letters <ph>, <kh>, <th>, in both languages (which are cognate) mark
"im Anlaut ... stimmlosen Spiranten /f/, /kh/, /th/", but in Etruscan <kh>,
<th> could mark also "palatisierte /p'/ und /t'/". Then a particular emphasis
could give s+th' > s+z > z. The equivalence <sth> = <ths> is attested in Raetic
where the word <castri> is written also <caszri>, while the interchange between
initial and mean <p> and <ph> is attested too. In Etruscan <p>, <ph> and <f>
alternate in every position of the word, but <t> and <th> in general alternate
in the middle and at the end of a word only.

I should like to know other suggestions.

Adolfo Zavaroni