Etruscan language

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Etruscan ( ih-TRUSK-ən) was the language of the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria, in Etruria Padana and Etruria Campana in what is now Italy. Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventually superseded by it. Around 13,000 Etruscan inscriptions 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 purported loanwords. It is attested from 700 BC to 50 AD and the relation of Etruscan to other languages has been a source of long-running speculation and study. Nowadays it is generally agreed to be in the Tyrrhenian language family but it used commonly to be treated as an isolate, although there were also a number of other lesser-known hypotheses. The consensus among linguists and Etruscologists is that Etruscan was a Pre-Indo-European and Paleo-European language, closely related to the Raetic language that was spoken in the Alps, and to the Lemnian language...

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