asfãν

The lexeme occurs four times in three inscriptions found at various locations in Sardis. The inscription LW 80 can be dated to the 4^th century BC, while the rest of the relevant texts can be dated only more approximately to 5^th / 4^th century BCE.

[I.Y.]

indecl.	asfãν	LW 22.12 (Sardis)
		LW 22.13 (Sardis)
	asfã!ν	LW 80.14 (Sardis)
	asfã(ν)	LW 13.4 (Sardis)

Gusmani 1964a:66f. analyzes asfa- as a nominal form of the common gender and suggests that it always occurs in the accusative case. But already this distribution makes the proposed interpretation suspect, given that asfãν occurs each of the four times in a different context. Furthermore, three of the four attestations of asfãν feature other direct objects in the same clause without any sign of coordination or agreement (the fourth one is fragmentary). For Carruba 1960a:34, asfãν is the infinitive, but there are no assured cases of infinitives in -ν in Lydian (cf. e.g. under šawν). The default solution adopted here is analyzing asfãν as an indeclinable adverb.

[I.Y.]

For the emendation of asfmν to asfã^!ν in LW 80, see Gusmani 1980a:155. There is no reason to emend asaãν to asf^!ãν in LW 50, cf. the discussion under Lyd. asa-.

[I.Y.]

The best contextual cue for the analysis of asfãν is its occurrence in two consecutive clauses in the text of an official agreement LW 22. Both clauses apparently refer to some legally binding transactions that will occur in the future. On the assumption that asfãν is an adverb, one expects it to belong to the formal register and have a positive meaning. Furthermore,  if this lexeme is etymologically related to Hitt. aššu- ‘good’, then its meaning in context may be ‘in good faith’, or something similar (Yakubovich 2017b:281, tentatively followed by Högemann & Oettinger 2018a:81); cf. Sasseville 2018c:134, who retains the interpretation of asfa- as a substantive meaning ‘goods’.

[I.Y.]

For the lemma head see Lyd. *as-.