An ancient form of Albanian
The French author Zacharie Mayani (1899 - ) has put forward a theory that links Etruscan to Albanian. This theory places Albanian (which is an IE derived langauge, survival from the ancient Ilyrian IE) outside of the IE group of languages, sharing one branch with Etruscan and another with ancient Greek. (The latter language is also considered by nearly everyone else to belong to the IE group.)
Mayani's view is espoused by the Albanian poet, Nermin Vlora Falaschi, who has published a "translation" of the stele in accordance with this theory. This "translation" and the other evidence she adduces in support of the theory may be found in L'Etrusco lingua viva. This point of view is also supported by Robert d'Angély, Giuseppe Catapano, Matthieu Aref and one or two others.
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transcription reads:
ZI A ZI MARAZ MAF ZI ARKH FEIS A FIS E FIS TH H ZER O NAI TH SI FAI AKER TAF AR ZI TH FAMA PA ZI AP ZER O NAI MORI NA IP HOPAIE ZI MATH H TH
SI FAI A FIS ZI ARKH FIS MARAKHN A FIS A O NAI RON HARAN O SI FAI EPI E ZI O AR AI TIKH HOKE LOT AI FSI HOKI AS I APE ZERO ZAI H E FIS TH H T H FER O NA
translation in english reads:
Grief and grief, anguish, black veil, grief you gave to the kindred, oh kinsman. And the kinsman - th, h - has - th - seized - oh - us. For what fault? A grave, a throne of gold, grief - th - fame he saw; grief was spread. He was seized from us and taken away: great grief - h, th - assails us in the breast. For what fault? And, kinsman, you gave grief, kinsman, and affliction. And the kinsman - ah, oh! - makes the lineage - oh! - live on for us. For what fault did he also give grief? Oh! gold, he suffered the knife; that kinsman suffered tears; he did not even utter a sound - oh! - nor offense - h. And, kinsman, - th, h - you - h - have lacerated - oh - us.
This is meant to be a funeral lament, so the interjections of 'oh!' and 'ah!' might be expected. Rather odd, however, are the often repeated interjections 'h' and 'th'. According to Falaschi, they represent the weeping and sobbing of the inconsolable relatives (" ... la continua ripetizione dei segni «TH» e «H» come per rappresentare il suono del pianto e dei singhiozzi dei pare[/FONT][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] )[/FONT]
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