kebei(je)-

The word is found in a religious decree.

[D.S.]

nom./acc. pl. n.

kebeija

TL 65.16 (Isinda)

Neumann 2007a:183 mentions the possibility of interpreting the passage as mla : k(e)=ebeija (likewise DLL:31 mla{:}=k(e) ebeija, followed by Gehrisch 2018a:117), which is not credible, since there is no particle =ke in Lycian A. It is of course tempting to see a form of the demonstrative pronoun ebeija (nom./acc. pl. n.), although the {k} would have to be emended (see Schürr 2012a:138 for a few suggestions). Pending further evidence, the word is left as is.

[D.S.]

The adjective kebeija agrees with mla ‘(votive offering)’. Melchert (DLL:31) reconstructs a lexeme *kebe/i- ‘small’ (= Hitt. kappi-) based on Neumann 1985a:22, which may be the derivational base of kebeija. However, regardless of the phonological mismatch between the Lycian lenis -b- and the Hitt. fortis -pp-, this semantic approach is hardly verifiable with this single attestation.

[D.S.]

Taken at face value, kebei(je)- is an adjective in -ei(je)- derived from a non-attested noun *kebe(/i)-.

[D.S.]