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From: petrich@netcom.com (Loren Petrich)
Subject: Re: Etruscan
Message-ID: <petrichDw30qr.J6z@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <4ujm18$5au@news.xs4all.nl> <320EC7EA.4B41@introweb.nl> <ALDERSON.96Aug12143506@netcom5.netcom.com> <Dw1wy6.5x4@critpath.org>
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 15:08:50 GMT
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Sender: petrich@netcom18.netcom.com

In article <Dw1wy6.5x4@critpath.org>, Anthony West <aawest@CritPath.Org> wrote:

>Can anyone name the scholar who (1970-90?) attempted to
>derive Etruscan from Hittite? ...

>In his favor (my notes, not his): (1) both Classical
>historiography and the Lemnian sister-language of 500
>B.C. point Etruscanists to the NW corner of Anatolia ca.
>1000 B.C. ...

>The "lumpers" most in fashion today - Russia's Proto-
>World theorists - do not group Etruscan closely w/
>IE. The "splitters" say: nothing can yet be said about
>Etruscan affiliations. Obviously, at least one group
>of scholars is missing the boat. I wonder if perhaps
>each is right about the other.

	Try this one out for size:

	The hypothesis that Etruscan is related to the North Caucasian
languages. This is proposed by some of those Russian lumpers, and the
details are to be found in one of Shevoroshkin's books on on Nostratic and
related subjects (I forget exactly exactly which one). 

	Also of interest is Diakonov and Starostin's book proposing that 
Hurro-Urartian is related to the Northeast Caucasian languages.

	So could Etruscan and Lemnian be related to North Caucasian and 
Hurrian-Urartian?

	The acid test of this hypothesis is how well it does on 
interpreting the more obscure vocabulary, as well as how well it does 
with the grammar.

-- 
Loren Petrich				Happiness is a fast Macintosh
petrich@netcom.com			And a fast train
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