mupm̃me/i-

This word is found in an undated grave inscription.

[D.S.]

dat./loc. pl.

mupm̃me

TL 149.14 (Rhodiapolis)

In comparison with tupm̃me/i- ‘twice as many’, Shevoroshkin 1979a:183 n. 13 suggests that mupm̃me miñte means ‘to the four members of the Mindis’. The segment mu- would thus be related to Luw. māuwa- and Hitt. miyuwa- ‘four’ (followed by DLL:41). Neumann 2007a:227 translates the formation mupm̃me/i- with the suffix -m̃me/i- not as ‘four’ but as ‘fourfold’ or ‘as many as four’, which, comparing tupm̃me/i-, seems indicated. Christiansen 2020a:227 translates mupm̃me simply as ‘four (?)’ without taking into account the formation in -m̃me/i-.

[D.S.]

Regarding the morphology of tupm̃me/i-, Carruba 1974a:590 suggests that the sequence -pm̃me/i- goes back to a pre-form *-weme/i- with syncope of the medial vowel and assimilation of *w > p (the letter 〈p〉 representing in this case a voiced bilabial stop [b]). This is rendered plausible by the lack of the sequence *-wm̃m- in Lycian. Regarding mupm̃me/i-, he argues likewise that it comes from a pre-form *muweme/i- with the same phonological development. However, since the pre-form of the numeral must be *mawa-, a contraction of the initial sequence is required, i.e. *mawa-me/i- > *muwame/i- > *muwme/i- > mupm̃me/i-.

[D.S.]

For the lemma head see Lyc. A *mu-.