Etruscan numerals
Encyclopedia
The Etruscan numerals were used by the ancient Etruscans
. The system was adapted from the Greek Attic numerals
and formed the inspiration for the later Roman numerals
.
There is very little surviving evidence of these numerals. Examples are known of the symbols for larger numbers, but it is unknown which symbol represents which number.
Thanks to the numbers written out on the Tuscania dice, there is agreement about the fact that zal, ci, huθ and śa are the numbers up to 6 (besides 1 and 5). The assignment depended on the answer to the question whether the numbers on opposite faces on Etruscan dice add up to seven, like nowadays. Some dice found did not show this proposed pattern.
An interesting aspect of the Etruscan numeral system
is that some numbers, as in the Roman system, are represented as partial subtractions. So "17" is not written *semφ-śar as users of the Hindu-Arabic numerals might reason. We instead find — literally, "three away from twenty". The numbers 17, 18 and 19 are all written in this way.
Recently (fall 2011), Artioli and colleagues presented evidence from 93 Etruscan dice "allowing the firm attribution of the numeral 6 to the graphical value huth and 4 to sa". Citation: Artioli, G., Nociti, V., Angelini, I., "Gambling with Etruscan Dice: a Tale of Numbers and Letters", Archaeometry, Vol. 53, Issue 5, October 2011, pages 1031–1043 (Abstract).
Recently (2006) S. A. Yatsemirsky (PDF) has presented evidence that zar = śar meant ‘12’ (cf. zal ‘2’ and zaθrum ‘20’) while halχ meant ‘10’. According to his interpretation the attested form huθzar was used for ‘sixteen’, not ‘fourteen’.
The words for 17, 18, and 19 may have influenced Latin duodeviginti (18) and undeviginti (19), literally "two-from-twenty" and "one-from-twenty" (with Etruscan -(n)em apparently meaning "from"). Both these forms of 18 and 19 have disappeared from modern Romance languages.
The numbers show no sign of Indo-European
origin.
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
. The system was adapted from the Greek Attic numerals
Attic numerals
Attic numerals were used by the ancient Greeks, possibly from the 7th century BC. They were also known as Herodianic numerals because they were first described in a 2nd century manuscript by Herodian...
and formed the inspiration for the later Roman numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
.
| Etruscan | Decimal | Symbol * |
|---|---|---|
| θu | 1 | |
| maχ | 5 | |
| śar | 10 10 (number) 10 is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11.-In mathematics:Ten is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and... |
|
| muvalχ | 50 50 (number) This article discusses the number fifty. For the year 50 CE, see 50. For other uses of 50, see 50 50 is the natural number following 49 and preceding 51.-In mathematics:... |
|
| ? | 100 100 (number) 100 is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.-In mathematics:One hundred is the square of 10... |
or C |
There is very little surviving evidence of these numerals. Examples are known of the symbols for larger numbers, but it is unknown which symbol represents which number.
Thanks to the numbers written out on the Tuscania dice, there is agreement about the fact that zal, ci, huθ and śa are the numbers up to 6 (besides 1 and 5). The assignment depended on the answer to the question whether the numbers on opposite faces on Etruscan dice add up to seven, like nowadays. Some dice found did not show this proposed pattern.
An interesting aspect of the Etruscan numeral system
Numeral system
A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
is that some numbers, as in the Roman system, are represented as partial subtractions. So "17" is not written *semφ-śar as users of the Hindu-Arabic numerals might reason. We instead find
The general consensus
The general agreement among Etruscologists nowadays is the following (except about which of huθ and śa were "four" or "six", to what had always existed discussion, but see below the new results):| Etruscan | Decimal |
|---|---|
| θu | 1 |
| zal | 2 |
| ci | 3 |
| śa | 4 |
| maχ | 5 |
| huθ | 6 |
| semφ | 7 |
| *cezp | 8 |
| nurφ | 9 |
| śar | 10 |
| *θuśar | 11 |
| *zalśar | 12 |
| *ciśar | 13 |
| huθzar | 14 |
| *maχśar | 15 |
| *śaśar | 16 |
| ciem zaθrum | 17 |
| eslem zaθrum | 18 |
| θunem zaθrum | 19 |
| zaθrum | 20 |
| cealχ | 30 |
| *huθalχ | 40 |
| muvalχ | 50 |
| śealχ | 60 |
| semφalχ | 70 |
| cezpalχ | 80 |
| *nurφalχ | 90 |
Recently (fall 2011), Artioli and colleagues presented evidence from 93 Etruscan dice "allowing the firm attribution of the numeral 6 to the graphical value huth and 4 to sa". Citation: Artioli, G., Nociti, V., Angelini, I., "Gambling with Etruscan Dice: a Tale of Numbers and Letters", Archaeometry, Vol. 53, Issue 5, October 2011, pages 1031–1043 (Abstract).
Recently (2006) S. A. Yatsemirsky (PDF) has presented evidence that zar = śar meant ‘12’ (cf. zal ‘2’ and zaθrum ‘20’) while halχ meant ‘10’. According to his interpretation the attested form huθzar was used for ‘sixteen’, not ‘fourteen’.
The words for 17, 18, and 19 may have influenced Latin duodeviginti (18) and undeviginti (19), literally "two-from-twenty" and "one-from-twenty" (with Etruscan -(n)em apparently meaning "from"). Both these forms of 18 and 19 have disappeared from modern Romance languages.
The numbers show no sign of Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European numerals
The numerals of the Proto-Indo-European language have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages. The following article lists and discusses their hypothesized forms.-Cardinal numbers:...
origin.
See also
- Etruscan civilizationEtruscan civilizationEtruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
- Etruscan languageEtruscan languageThe Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
- Old Italic alphabetOld Italic alphabetOld Italic refers to several now extinct alphabet systems used on the Italian Peninsula in ancient times for various Indo-European languages and non-Indo-European languages...
- Old Hungarian scriptOld Hungarian scriptThe Old Hungarian script is an alphabetic writing system used by the Hungarians before the Middle Ages...
External links
- http://users.tpg.com.au/etr/etrusk/tex/grammar.html#num
- http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/language.html