page_title: Etruscan language
section_title: History of Etruscan literacy
hierarchical_section_title: Etruscan language / History of Etruscan literacy
caption_attribution_description: Asturianu: Debuxu d'un modelu etruscu fechu en bronce d'un fégadu d'oveya usáu polos arúspices, afayáu en Piacenza. Español: Modelo etrusco de un hígado de oveja usado por los arúspices, encontrado en Piacenza. Italiano: Il cosiddetto "Fegato di Piacenza", riproduzione in bronzo di un fegato animale con inciso il nome, in etrusco, delle divinità connesse ad ogni parte dell'organo. Come è noto, gli antichi interpretavano il presunto volere degli dèi esaminando le viscere degli animali sacrificati. Questo è quindi un piccolo "manuale di istruzioni" per gli oracoli. Il manufatto fu trovato nel 1877 ed è conservato nel museo civico cittadino.
context_page_description: Etruscan was the language of the Etruscan civilization, in Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Corsica, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy and Campania. Etruscan influenced Latin but eventually was completely superseded by it. The Etruscans left around 13,000 inscriptions that have been found so far, only a small minority of which are of significant length; some bilingual inscriptions with texts also in Latin, Greek, or Phoenician; and a few dozen loanwords. Attested from 700 BC to AD 50, the relation of Etruscan to other languages has been a source of long-running speculation and study, with its being referred to at times as an isolate, one of the Tyrsenian languages, and a number of other less well-known theories.
  The consensus among linguists and Etruscologists is that Etruscan was a pre–Indo-European language, and is closely related to the Raetic language spoken in the Alps, and to the language attested in a few inscriptions on Lemnos.
  Grammatically, the language is agglutinating, with nouns and verbs showing suffixed inflectional endings and ablaut in some cases.
context_section_description: Etruscan literacy was widespread over the Mediterranean shores, as evidenced by about 13,000 inscriptions (dedications, epitaphs, etc.), most fairly short, but some of considerable length. They date from about 700 BC.
  The Etruscans had a rich literature, as noted by Latin authors. Livy and Cicero were both aware that highly specialized Etruscan religious rites were codified in several sets of books written in Etruscan under the generic Latin title Etrusca Disciplina. The Libri Haruspicini dealt with divination by reading entrails from a sacrificed animal, while the Libri Fulgurales expounded the art of divination by observing lightning. A third set, the Libri Rituales, might have provided a key to Etruscan civilization: its wider scope embraced Etruscan standards of social and political life, as well as ritual practices. According to the 4th century Latin writer Maurus Servius Honoratus, a fourth set of Etruscan books existed; dealing with animal gods, but it is unlikely that any scholar living in that era could have read Etruscan. However, only one book (as opposed to inscription), the Liber Linteus, survived, and only because the linen on which it was written was used as mummy wrappings.
  In 30 BC, Livy noted that Etruscan was once widely taught to Roman boys, but had since become replaced by the teaching of only Greek, while Varro noted that works of theatre had once been composed in Etruscan.
caption: Drawing of the inscriptions on the Liver of Piacenza; see haruspex
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