alba-

This lexeme is found in the inscription of the inscribed pillar of Xanthos, dated contextually to shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE and stylistically to around 400 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.).

[D.S.]

acc. sg.	albã	TL 44d.38 (Xanthos)
nom./acc. coll.(?)	alb(a)	TL 44d.7 (Xanthos)

Melchert (DLL:112) suggests restoring the letter (a) or (ã) in alb=mu=b(e)=ẽ, which would have been syncopated. The restoration of a collective ending is made attractive by the word zawa occurring within the same sentence that could be in agreement with it. However, any interpretation should be considered tentative until the context is better understood.

[D.S.]

The noun alba- is found in an obscure context. In line 38, it may be modified by the adjective qelideli ‘of the pen (?)’, although, considering the factitive verb alba-^(ti) found in the same context, alba- is not likely to designate a sacrificial animal. Shevoroshkin 2014a:249 (Shevoroshkin 2012a:468) translates ‘beverage, libation’, which is a mere guess, and his etymological connection with Hitt. alwanzaḫḫ-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to bewitch’ does not provide any sense for the context. Previously, Shevoroshkin 2002c:407 tried to connect it to the Luwian verb luwa- ‘to pour’, translating it as ‘award, provision’, which is phonologically awkward and semantically unsupported. No meaning is suggested by Melchert (DLL:112) or Schürr 2018b:64.

[D.S.]

1. alba-^(ti)

No reconstruction or etymology will be offered here.

[D.S.]