šanto-

This lexeme is found in an inscription that has not been dated accurately.

[D.S.]

dat. sg.

šantoλ

LW 10.20 (Sardis)

The meaning of the word šanto- is debated. It is also unclear whether it belongs to the sentence in line 20, or to the following one in line 21. However, since the following line is left empty save for the letter τ (for which see Vetter 1959a:23), it is preferable to assume that it belongs to the first sentence. Therefore, šantoλ would be the recipient of the dedication, which implies that it likely refers to a person. This would be in accordance with our morphological hypothesis that the suffix -to- builds agent nouns (Sasseville 2021a:182). Therefore, it is likely derived from a root šan-, probably the same as the one in the verb šani-. However, this is not provable based on the current state of research.

Gusmani 1961a:194 suggests a place name meaning for šantoλ without any justification. Carruba 1960a:41 n. 21 suggests that it represents a variant of the divine name sãntas (the War-god) and compares the Cilician personal names Σανδης and Σανδων, which is not persuasive especially on morphological grounds.

[D.S.]