sm̃ma-(ti)
‘to bind, obligate’
- Language
- Lycian A
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1560
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lycian A
sm̃ma-(ti)
‘to bind, obligate’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is well attested across the Lycian corpus.
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. ind. act. | sm̃mati | TL 39.4 (Xanthos) |
| TL 84.7 (Sura) | ||
| N 320.20 (Xanthos) | ||
| N 320.37-38 (Xanthos) | ||
| N 324.20 (Xanthos) | ||
| 3pl. pres. ind. act. | sm̃mãti | N 337.11 (Limyra) |
| 3sg. pret. ind. act. | sm̃mate | TL 29.4 (Tlos) |
| TL 29.7 (Tlos) | ||
| sm̃ṃạṭẹ̃ | TL 29.15 (Tlos) | |
| ṣm̃mate | TL 29.17 (Tlos) | |
| sm̃[ma]ṭe | TL 44b.12 (Xanthos) |
Contra Meriggi 1936b:272 n. 6 and Neumann 2007a:328, sãma=ti in TL 44a.53-54 does not belong to this paradigm but is rather the name of Samos followed by the relative pronoun within a nominal sentence. The present plural form in the next inscription N 337 was published by Christiansen 2012a:146. Contra Schürr 2010a:150f., there are no instances of sm͂mati that can be convincingly taken as a noun. The comparison with xn͂tawate/i- c. ‘king’ cannot be upheld, because it reflects a different morphological process, which is not applicable to sm͂mati (see Lyc. A xn͂tawate/i- under Reconstruction and Sasseville 2021a:55 n. 41).
[D.S.]
1.1.3Meaning
The meaning of the verb sm̃ma-(ti) ‘to bind, obligate’ became clear when the trilingual inscription of the Letoon was found (e.g. to obligate slaves (to serve the cult) in N 320.20). Its occurrence in curse formulas had already been convincingly compared with the Greek sentence ἁμαρτωλὸς ἔστω ‘he will be responsible (before)’; cf. pddẽ sm̃mati (Laroche 1979c:75, Carruba 1977a:303, Gusmani 1979d:134, Hajnal 1995a:85). The verb, however, is used transitively as shown by TL 84.7 (Gusmani 1979d:135, correctly translated in Gehrisch 2018a:130), which means that the enclitic pronoun is simply omitted in N 320.37-38: ‘One will bind (him)/make (him) responsible before…’. The verb is therefore properly translated as ‘to bind, obligate, make responsible’; the meaning ‘to forbid’ for TL 39 as suggested in DLL:58 is incorrect; cf. Christiansen 2020a:197. Sasseville 2021a:52f., 417f. argues that the verb sm̃ma-(ti) with the preverb ẽnẽ and the direct object hatã means ‘to make a pledge’ (contra Cau 2003b:57 n. 22, Gehrisch 2018a:39).
[D.S.]
1.1.4Stem
The verb sm̃ma-(ti) is a factitive denominative verb derived from the noun sm̃ma- c. (Sasseville 2015a:288-289). The earlier literature, not cognizant of the fact that the derivational base is attested, contains reconstructions of various kinds of pre-forms (see e.g. Eichner 1983a:55 n. 45, Hajnal 1995a:85).
[D.S.]
For the derivational base see Lyc. A sm̃ma-.