sttala-

This lexeme is so far attested only in the Xanthos valley.

[D.S.]

The meaning of Lycian sttala- ‘stele’ was first suggested by Savelsberg 1878a:210, who assumed a borrowing from Doric Greek στάλα (followed by among others Arkwright 1923a:16, Meriggi 1967a:222). Confirmation of his semantic assignment was received upon the discovery of the Letoon trilingual, where it is translated with Greek στήλη (Laroche 1979c:70f., DLL:59, Neumann 2007a:333).

[D.S.]

This lexeme is a common gender a-stem (Gusmani 1979c:228, DLL:59). For the outdated literature see Neumann 2007a:333.

[D.S.]

This lexeme has always been assumed to be a loanword from Greek; see most recently Melchert 2014g:68, Schürr 2014d with further literature. On the other hand, Sasseville 2014-2015a:112 n. 19 points out that Lycian sttala- can be morphologically explained as an agent noun in -ala- c. derived from the Lycian verb stta-^(ti) ‘to stand’, i.e. sttala- ‘that which stands’. For a morphological parallel derived from the same root cf. Greek στατήρ, ὁ (designation of a weight and a coin). If the morphologically derivation is correct, then it is the Greek language, which borrowed the word for stele from Lycian and not the other way around. Further evidence for this claim can be adduced: The first attestations of the word for ‘stele’ in Greek are found in Homer’s Iliad, which is a terminus ante quem for the borrowing. It is important to notice that one passage, in which the word for ‘stele’ is used, is in relation to Lycia and to its Lycian ruler Sarpedon (Il. 16.457): “But when his (sc. Sarpedon) soul and life have left him, then send thou Death and sweet Sleep to bear him away until they come to the land of wide Lycia; and there shall his brethren and his kinsfolk give him burial with mound and pillar (= στήλη); for this is the due of the dead.” (Murray 1925a). This passage can be interpreted as evidence for an early connection between the concept of a stele as well as the word “stele” and the land of Lycia; for further evidence of the connection between steles and Anatolia in archaic Greek literature, see Högemann 2003a:15.

By accepting the Lycian origin of this lexeme, one would be rid of the awkward morphological and etymological analyses, which have been suggested for the Greek lexeme. First, the presence of the putative suffix *-sleh₂- in Greek as posited by Risch 1974a:110, i.e. στήλη < *sta-slā- (cf. EDG:1404), disappears. Second, the traditional etymological connection with the word στέλλω ‘to dispatch’, which is semantically less than obvious, can be abandoned (cf. EDG:1404). From an Indo-European perspective, it is more economical to assume a loanword from Lycian.

[D.S.]

For the lemma head see Lyc. A stta-^(ti).