faτa- (or faša-)

This lexeme is found once in a dedicatory inscription dated to the 12^th year of the reign of Alexander The Great, i.e. 323-322 BCE (Buckler 1924a:71, Gérard 2005a:20), and once in a fragmentary inscription, which cannot be dated accurately.

[D.S.]

As noticed by Buckler 1924a:64, the first a in faτaν (LW 45.3) has no horizontal bar, which may simply be a mistake on the part of the scribe. Meier-Brügger (apud Gusmani 1980a:55) points out that the middle letter of faτaν (LW 45.3) looks more like š, i.e. fašaν, than τ; see Plate XVI in Buckler 1924a. If this were the case, it would suggest an emendation of one of the two attestations, since it is surely the same lexeme because of the two parallel sentences. A new collation of both LW 45 and LW 50 would be welcome.

[D.S.]

In both contexts of attestation, the word faτaν is the direct object of the verb rawa- ‘to free (?)’ (= Hitt. arawaḫḫ­-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to set free’, HLuw. /arawa-^(ti)?/ ‘id.’). In LW 50.5, Zeus appears to be the subject, although this may depend on the function of the particle =tλ (cf. Hajnal 2004a:198). If Zeus is the subject, faτaν and the verb would refer to the action that the god performed for the mortal Timles, and thus the reason why a dedication is made; cf. the context of ADANA 1, in which HLuw. /arawa-^(ti)?/ is attested. Brandenstein 1931a:35 suggests an etymological connection with PIE *peh₂- ‘to protect’ (followed by Gusmani 1964a:123 and Gusmani 1980a:55, but rejected by Melchert 1994a:335), which is however continued in Lydian pa-^(d), where the outcome of PIE *p as Lyd. p is regular. The word-initial f- can only result from the particle fa-, which would imply that the word is a univerbation, thus perhaps fa- + aτa- (contra Sh. Hawkins 2013a:164). From a phonological perspective, the word aτa- can be expected to equate to a Luwian word */azza-/, perhaps connected to the Luwian verb /azza-^(ti)?/ ‘to love’, Lyc. A asa-^(ti). However, this cannot be phonologically sustained based on the current state of research. Moreover, if the correct shape of the word turns out to be f-aša-, it would lead to different options. A root aš- is well attested in Lydian; cf. f-ašνo-^(d), pλ-ašo- n. Pending more evidence, no semantic assignment is offered here.

[D.S.]

The lexeme faτa- (or faša-) is barytone, as indicated by the lack of stress on the ending -aν.

[D.S.]

No reconstruction possible.

[D.S.]