karol(i)-

This lexeme occurs once in a burial inscription from Sardis, which has been recently dated to the second half of the 6^th century BCE (Euler & Sasseville 2019a:135f.), and twice in dedicatory inscriptions from the Kaystros valley, which can be roughly dated to the 4^th century BCE.

[I.Y.]

nom.sg	karoliš	LW/N 115.6 (Kiraz)
dat. sg	karolλ	LW 4a.3 (Sardis)
	karo[lλ]	LW 41.3 (Falaka)

This appellative must be distinguished from numerous instances of the proper noun Karos and its derivatives, including karolλ (LW 28; 10.2). An attempt was made to argue that the form karolas in LW 2.9 reflects the acc. pl. form of the appellative under discussion (Heubeck 1963a:546). Such an analysis, however, appears to be not sufficiently founded, since other forms derived from PN Karos occur in the same inscription LW 2. Therefore I follow the segmentation karola=s proposed in Melchert 1991a:132 and the analysis of karola= as a sandhi form of poss. adj. dat. pl. karolaν ‘to those of Karos’, agreeing with the following noun sfe͂ndaν.

The reconstruction of karo[lλ] in LW 41.3 is conjectural but certainly preferable to the possibility of treating LW 41.3-4 karo[..]trollλ as one word, which is mentioned in the apparatus of LW 41 in Gusmani 1964a:264.

[I.Y.]

The context indicates that karol(i)- is paired with the burial monument in LW 4a, as opposed to the tomb proper, which is referred to in LW 4b. The hard evidence ends here. From the etymological viewpoint, one may compare HLuw. /kar(a)i-^(di)/ ‘to offer, sacrifice (?)’ (q.v.), the only formally compatible Anatolian cognate that is likely to provide a plausible derivational base for a burial implement, hence the proposed tentative interpretation. In LW/N 115, the stele could be itself regarded as an offering. If the proposed restoration of LW 41 is correct, then this stele was erected for the purpose of offering. The interpretation ‘part of the tomb’ (Gusmani 1964a:144) appears to be falsified by LW 41 and LW 115, which probably do not represent burial monuments.   

[I.Y.]

The semi-vocalic stem karol(i)- may represent a historical possessive adjective of the noun karo-. Such a hypothesis would be compatible with the name personal Karos having the etymological meaning ‘the offered one’ (i.e. either a perceived gift of a god or a child offered to a god as his future devotee).

[I.Y.]

No reconstruction possible.

[I.Y.]