ON PROBLEMS IN INDO-GEBMAN PHILOLOGY. 157 



suthi we have cen phleres tree (Vermigl. p. 31) and eka erske ndk achrum 

 phler-thrke (Dennis, i. xc.) ; wheve phleres differs ivom suthi in being the de- 

 signation of moveable objects rather than of fixed monuments or sepulchres. 

 Thus we have ken phleres teke (or trke) on the toga of the statue of Aulus 

 Metellud (Micali, Antichi Monumenti, pi. 4^. n. 2), and on the left thigh of 

 the laurel-crowned Apollo (Gori, Museum Etruscum, i. pi. 32) we have the 

 legend: mi phleres Epul aphe Aritimi, Phasti Ruphria turce den cecha. 

 From these and a number of other examples it is clear that phleres must de- 

 note the object offered up or consecrated. As most of the objects are of the 

 nature of supplicatorj' gifts, it would be natural to suppose that the word 

 denotes a votive oblation. Now we know from Festus (p. 230, cf. 77, 109) 

 that ploro and imploro or endoploro in old Latin signified ' to call for aid.' 

 If then we compare the Icelandic fleiri, Suio-Gothic Jlere, with the Latin 

 plures, we shall easily see how phleres may contain the same root as ploro, 

 especially since the Latin language recognises a similar change in the cognate 

 Jieo. The word is then in its effect equivalent to the Greek avadrjfia, and 

 means a " votive offering," like the votiva tahella of the ancient temples, or 

 the veto of the modern churches in Italy, and it is easy to see how the ideas 

 of ' vow,' ' prayer,' and ' offering,' run into one another. But though we can 

 at once translate mi phleres Epul aphe Aritimi, " I am a votive offering to 

 Apollo and Artemis," this does not tell us the meaning of the word tree or 

 three, which in the other cases is appended to phler or phleres. Here the 

 Scandinavian languages at once come to our aid ; for in Suio-Gothic trcega 

 is dolere, and trcBge=^dolor ; and in Icelandic at trega is desiderare and tregi 

 is desiderium or mceror; and to the same root we may refer the Icelandic 

 threk=gravis labor or molestia, for tregi also means impedimentum. Now 

 as the monuments on which three or tree occurs are clearly sepulchral, it fol- 

 lows th&t phler-thrce must mean "a votive offering of sorrow." The inscrip- 

 tion eka erske nak achrum phler-thrke appears on an amphora found at Vulci 

 and in connexion with a picture representing the i'arewell embrace of Adme- 

 tus and Alcestis. It may be assumed then that the amphora was a funereal 

 offering from a husband to his deceased wife. We learn from Galassi's vase 

 that era in Etruscan signifies 'earth,' and therefore er-ske* would naturally 

 denote an earthenware vessel ; nak is the preposition which, under the form 

 na, nahe, nach, occurs in all the Teutonic and Sclavonian languages; and 

 achr-um is the locative of achr=-acker, ager, which occurs in the great Peru- 

 gian inscription; so that the legend signifies: "this earthen vessel in the 

 ground is a votive offering of sorrow." It is as well to mention that I do not 

 consider turce on the statue of Apollo as connected with the word thrke : its 

 position between the proper name and the well-known den shows that it is a; 

 family adjunct; and as the word ceca, compared with cechaze on the Feru- 

 gian Inscription (1. 45), and with cechase on the Bomarzo Sarcophagus 

 (Dennis, i. p. 313), seems to be a reduplicated verb-form (perhaps akin to 

 the Icelandic hasa, Danish hokase, ' to heap up,' or ' build,' — perhaps con- 

 nected with gefa, geben, x^Fw, &c.), we may I'ender the passage thus: 

 " Eastia Rufria, Tuscijilia natu maxima, dedit." 



It is not necessary for my present purpose to pursue these comparisons of 

 individual words any farther. Arguments of this nature are alwaj's more or 

 less precarious, and no number of instances would be more decisive than the 

 fact that the Scandinavian sut=.dolor and trage=dolor stand under the forms 

 suthi and treke on funereal monuments in Etruria. I shall therefore with- 

 hold the other examples which I have collected, and direct your attention to 



* The termination -sX:a is very common in derivative Icelandic nouns, as bem-ska, * child- 

 ishness/ ill-ska, * malice,' &c. 



