View source for Etruscan alphabet

{{Short description|Alphabet used by the Etruscans of central and northern Italy}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
[[File:Tablette Marsiliana.jpg|thumb|280px|The Marsiliana Tablet, with an archaic form of the Etruscan alphabet inscribed on the frame]]
The '''Etruscan alphabet''' was used by the [[Etruscans]], an ancient civilization of central and northern [[Italy]], to write [[Etruscan language|their language]], from about [[700 BC]] to sometime around [[100 AD]].

The Etruscan [[alphabet]] derives from the [[Euboean alphabet]] used in the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] colonies in southern Italy which belonged to the "western" ("red") type, the so-called [[Western Greek alphabet]]. Several [[Old Italic scripts]], including the [[Latin alphabet]], derived from it (or simultaneously with it).
<!--
{{Infobox Writing system
|name=Etruscan
|type=Alphabet
|sample=masiliana tablet.svg
|caption=Marsiliana ''abecedarium''
|languages=[[Etruscan language|Etruscan]]
|time=8th to 1st centuries BC
|fam1=[[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
|fam2=[[Proto-Sinaitic]]
|fam3=[[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
|fam4=[[Greek script]] ([[Cumae alphabet]])
|children=[[Latin alphabet]], [[Runic alphabet]]
|sisters=[[Anatolian alphabets]]
}}-->

==Origins==
The Etruscan alphabet originated as an adaptation of the [[Euboean alphabet]] used by the [[Euboea|Euboean]] Greeks in their first colonies in [[Italy]], the island of [[Pithekoussai]] and the city of [[Cumae]] in [[Campania]].<ref name=benellietruscology>{{cite book |last1=Benelli |first1=Enrico |editor-last=Naso |editor-first=Alessandro |title=Etruscology |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |date=2017 |location=Berlin, Germany|pages=245–253 |chapter=Alphabets and language|isbn=978-1-934078-49-5}}</ref>
In the alphabets of the West, X had the [[help:IPA|sound value]] {{IPA|[ks]}}, Ψ stood for {{IPA|[kʰ]}}; in Etruscan: X = {{IPA|[s]}}, Ψ = {{IPA|[kʰ]}} or {{IPA|[kχ]}} (Rix 202–209).

The earliest known Etruscan ''[[abecedarium]]'' is inscribed on the frame of a [[wax tablet]] in ivory, measuring {{cvt|8.8|×|5|cm|in|round=0.5}}, found at [[Marsiliana]] (near [[Grosseto]], [[Tuscany]]). It dates from about 700 BC, and lists 26 letters corresponding to contemporary forms of the Greek alphabet, including [[digamma]], [[San (letter)|san]] and [[qoppa]], but not [[omega]], which had still not been added at the time.

==Letters==
{|class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Phoenician model
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|aleph|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|beth|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|gimel|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|daleth|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|he|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|waw|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|zayin|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|heth|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|teth|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|yodh|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|kaph|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|lamedh|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|mem|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|nun|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|samekh|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|ayin|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|pe|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|sade|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|qoph|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|res|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|sin|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"|{{Glyph|Phnx|taw|12}}
|
|
|
|
|
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Western Greek
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Alpha 03}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Beta 16}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Gamma archaic 1}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Delta 04}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Epsilon archaic}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Digamma oblique}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Zeta archaic}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Eta archaic}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Theta archaic}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Iota normal}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Kappa normal}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Lambda 09}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Mu 04}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Nu 01}}
| 
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Omicron 04}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Pi archaic}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|San 02}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Koppa normal}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Rho pointed}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Sigma normal}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Tau normal}}
| style="background-color:#E0FFE0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Upsilon normal}}
| style="background-color:#FFB0B0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Chi normal}}
| style="background-color:#FFB0B0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Phi archaic}}
| style="background-color:#FFB0B0 !important;"|{{GrGl|Psi straight}}
|
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Sound in Ancient Greek (Western)
|{{IPAblink|a}}||{{IPAblink|b}} ||{{IPAblink|ɡ}} ||{{IPAblink|d}}||{{IPAblink|e}}||{{IPAblink|w}}||{{IPAblink|dz}}~{{IPAblink|z}}~{{IPA|[zd]}}||{{IPAblink|h}}||{{IPAblink|tʰ}}||{{IPAblink|i}}||{{IPAblink|k}}||{{IPAblink|l}}||{{IPAblink|m}}||{{IPAblink|n}}|| ||{{IPAblink|o}}||{{IPAblink|p}}||{{IPAblink|ts}}~{{IPAblink|s}}||{{IPAblink|k}}||{{IPAblink|r}}||{{IPAblink|s}}||{{IPAblink|t}}||{{IPAblink|u}}||{{IPA|[ks]}}||{{IPAblink|pʰ}}||{{IPA|[kʰ]}}|| 
|- style="text-align: center;"
! [[Old Italic (Unicode block)]]
| {{script|Ital|𐌀}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌁}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌂}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌃}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌄}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌅}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌆}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌇}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌈}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌉}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌊}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌋}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌌}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌍}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌎}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌏}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌐}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌑}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌒}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌓}}
----
{{script|Ital|𐌛}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌔}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌕}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌖}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌗}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌘}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌙}}
| {{script|Ital|𐌚}}
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Marsiliana tablet
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|A-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|B-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|C-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|D-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|E-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|F-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|Z-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|H-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|TH-03|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|I-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|K-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|L-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|M-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|N-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{GrGl|Xi archaic grid|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{GrGl|Omicron 04|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|P-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|SH-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|Q-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|R-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{GrGl|Sigma Z-shaped|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|T-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|V-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|X-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|PH-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|KH-01|12}}
| 
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Archaic Etruscan (to 5th c.){{sfn|Bonfante|1983|p=64}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|A-01|12}}
| 
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|C-01|12}}
| 
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|E-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|F-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|Z-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|H-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|TH-03|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|I-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|K-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|L-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|M-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|N-01|12}}
| 
| 
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|P-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|SH-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|Q-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|R-03|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|S-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|T-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|V-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|X-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|PH-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|KH-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|F-02|12}}
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Neo-Etruscan{{sfn|Bonfante|1983|p=64}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|A-01|12}}
| 
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|C-01|12}}
| 
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|E-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|F-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|Z-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|H-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|TH-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|I-01|12}}
|
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|L-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|M-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|N-02|12}}
| 
| 
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|P-01|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|SH-01|12}}
|
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|R-04|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|S-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|T-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|U-02|12}}
|
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|PH-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|KH-02|12}}
|style="background-color: white !important;"| {{Glyph|Etru|F-02|12}}
|- style="text-align: center;"
!Transliteration<ref>{{cite book|first=Rex|last=Wallace|year=2008|title=Zikh Rasna: A Manual of the Etruscan Language and Inscriptions|location=Ann Arbor, MI|publisher=Beech Stave Press|isbn=978-0-9747927-4-3 |pages=xvii, 20}}</ref>
| a
| b
| c
| d
| e
| v
| z
| h
| θ
| i
| k
| l
| m
| n
| s᫈
| o
| p
| σ
| q
| r
| s, ς
| t
| u
| s̽
| φ
| χ
| f
|- style="text-align: center;"
! Approx. pron.
| {{IPAblink|a}}
| —
| {{IPAblink|k}}
| —
| {{IPAblink|e}}
| {{IPAblink|w}}
| {{IPAblink|ts}}
| {{IPAblink|h}}
| {{IPAblink|tʰ}}
| {{IPAblink|i}}
| {{IPAblink|k}}
| {{IPAblink|l}}
| {{IPAblink|m}}
| {{IPAblink|n}}
| —
| —
| {{IPAblink|p}}
| {{IPAblink|ʃ}}, {{IPAblink|s}}
| {{IPAblink|k}}
| {{IPAblink|r}}
| {{IPAblink|s}}, {{IPAblink|ʃ}}
| {{IPAblink|t}}
| {{IPAblink|u}}
| —
| {{IPAblink|pʰ}}
| {{IPAblink|kʰ}}
| {{IPAblink|f}}
|}
The shapes of the Archaic Etruscan and Neo-Etruscan letters had a few variants, used in different places and/or in different epochs. Notably, opposite letters were used for {{IPAblink|s}} and {{IPAblink|ʃ}} depending on the locality. Shown above are the glyphs from the [[Old Italic (Unicode block)|Unicode Old Italic block]], whose appearance will depend on the font used by the browser. These are oriented as they would be in lines written from left to right. Also shown are SVG images of variants shown as they would be written right to left, as in most of the actual inscriptions.<ref>{{cite book
        |publisher = Manchester University Press
        |ol = 19629507M
        |isbn = 0-7190-0902-2
        |publication-place = Manchester
        |title = The Etruscan language
        |url = https://archive.org/details/etruscanlanguage0000bonf
        |first = Giuliano
        |last = Bonfante
        |year = 1983
 |publication-date = 1983
        |oclc = 610734784
        |page = [https://archive.org/details/etruscanlanguage0000bonf/page/64 64]
        }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
        |publisher = DuMont
        |ol = 1198388M
        |isbn = 3-7701-3128-2
        |publication-place = Köln
        |title = Die Etrusker und ihre Welt
        |url = https://archive.org/details/dieetruskerundih0000stut
        |first = Herbert Alexander 
        |last = Stützer
        |year = 1992
 |lccn = 94191271
        |oclc = 611534598
        |publication-date = 1992
        |page = [https://archive.org/details/dieetruskerundih0000stut/page/12 12]
        }}</ref>

==Development==
[[File:Etruscan bucchero cock.jpg|thumb|Small Etruscan bottle from 630 to 620 BCE with an early form of the alphabet]]
[[File:Etruscan bucchero cock inscription.jpg|thumb|The alphabet in the cockerel bottle]]

The archaic form of the Etruscan alphabet remained practically unchanged from its origin in the 8th century BC until about 600 BC, and the direction of writing was free. From the 6th century BC, however, the alphabet evolved, adjusting to the phonology of the Etruscan language, and letters representing phonemes nonexistent in Etruscan were dropped. By 400 BC, it appears that all of [[Etruria]] was using the classical Etruscan alphabet of 20 letters, mostly written from right to left.
<!--
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Neo-Etruscan alphabet (4th–3rd centuries BC)<ref name="og-etruscan" />
|-
!{{script|Ital|𐌀}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌂}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌃}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌄}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌅}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌆}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌇}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌈}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌉}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌋}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌌}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌍}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌐}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌑}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌓}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌔}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌕}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌖}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌘}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌙}} ||{{script|Ital|𐌚}}
|-
|A ||G ||D ||E ||V ||Z ||H ||[[Theta|Θ]] ||I ||L ||M ||N ||P ||[[Ś]] ||R ||S ||T ||[[Upsilon|Υ]] ||[[Phi|Φ]] ||[[Psi (letter)|Ψ]] ||F
|}-->

An additional sign {{script|Ital|𐌚}}, in shape similar to the numeral 8, transcribed as F, was present in [[Lydian language|Lydian]], Neo-Etruscan and Italic alphabets of [[Osco-Umbrian languages]] such as Oscan, Umbrian, Old Sabine and South Picene (Old Volscian).<ref name=McDonald2015>{{cite book |last1=McDonald |first1=Katherine|year=2015 |title=Oscan in Southern Italy and Sicily |language=en |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |publication-date=2015 |pages=65–82 |isbn=978-1-107-10383-2 }}</ref> This sign was introduced in Etruscan around 600–550 BC and was not present in the Marsiliana tablet, the earliest example of the Etruscan alphabet. It is thought that the sign {{script|Ital|𐌚}} may have been an altered B or H or an ''ex novo'' creation. Formerly it was even suspected to have been an Etruscan invention, but an early Sabellian inscription suggests that it is instead an invention of speakers of a [[Sabellian language]] (Osco-Umbrian languages).<ref name=McDonald2015/> Its sound value was {{IPA|/f/}} and it replaced the Etruscan [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] FH that was previously used to express that sound. Some letters were, on the other hand, falling out of use. Etruscan did not have any [[voiced stop]]s, for which B, C, D were originally intended ({{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, and {{IPA|/d/}} respectively). The B and D therefore fell out of use, and the C, which is simpler and easier to write than K, was adopted to write {{IPA|/k/}}, mostly displacing K itself. Likewise, since Etruscan had no {{IPA|/o/}} vowel sound, O disappeared and was replaced by U. In the course of its simplification, the redundant letters showed some tendency towards a [[semi-syllabary]]: C, K and Q were predominantly used in the contexts CE, KA, QU.

This classical alphabet remained in use until the 2nd century BC, when it began to be influenced by the rise of the [[Latin alphabet]]. Soon after, the Etruscan language itself became extinct — so thoroughly that its vocabulary and grammar are still only partly known, in spite of more than a century of intense research. The Romans, who did have voiced stops in their language, after taking over the archaic Etruscan alphabet in the 7th century BC, continued to use B and D for {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/d/}}, and used C for both {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, until they invented a separate letter G to distinguish the two sounds.

==Legacy==
The Etruscan alphabet apparently was the immediate ancestor for the [[Latin alphabet]],<ref name="Ullman 1927">{{cite journal |last1=Ullman |first1=B. L. |date=October 1927 |title=The Etruscan Origin of the Roman Alphabet and the Names of the Letters |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/262978 |journal=Classical Philology |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=372–377 |doi= 10.1086/360949|jstor=262978 |s2cid=161760080 |access-date=2022-05-03|url-access=subscription }}</ref> as well as of several [[Old Italic scripts]] used in Italy before the rise of [[Rome]], such as those used in the [[Oscan language|Oscan]], [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]], [[Lepontic language|Lepontic]], [[Rhaetian language|Rhaetian]] (or Raetic), [[Venetic language|Venetic]], [[Messapian language|Messapian]], [[North Picene language|North]] and [[South Picene language|South Picene]], and [[Camunic language|Camunic]] inscriptions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Maras|first=Daniele F.|chapter=Epigraphy and Nomenclature|title=The Peoples of Ancient Italy|url={{GBurl|id=UElADwAAQBAJ|p=63}}|editor-first1=Gary D.|editor-last1=Farney|editor-first2=Guy|editor-last2=Bradley|location=Berlin, Boston|publisher=De Gruyter|year=2017|pages=63–88|isbn=978-1-61451-300-1|access-date=14 May 2023}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Etruscan cippus warrior head side.jpg|Etruscan grave marker from the necropolis [[Crocifisso del Tufo]] with an inscription in the Etruscan alphabet
File:8669 - Museo archeologico, Grosseto - Bucchero con alfabeto etrusco, sec. VI a.C.. Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 1 novembre 2015.jpg|{{ill|Bowl from Roselle|ru|Миска из Розелле}} depicts the south variant of Etruscan alphabet
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Etruscan numerals]]
* [[Old Italic scripts]]
* [[Runes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Eurasian languages}}
{{Etruscans}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Etruscan language|Alphabet]]
[[Category:Alphabets]]
[[Category:7th-century BC establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:1st-century disestablishments in Italy]]