*d^hh₁-s-ó-

This lexeme is attested in the trilingual inscription of the Letoon dated to 337 BCE (Wagner 2011a:156 with further literature).

[D.S.]

nom./acc. sg. n.	θθẽ	N 320.7 (Xanthos)
		N 320.16 (Xanthos)

The expression kumezijẽ θθẽ in line 7 is rendered by Greek βωμόν ‘altar’ but can be literally translated as ‘sacrificial block’ = ‘altar’ (Laroche 1979c:63). In line 16, the adjective kumezijẽ is omitted and θθẽ together with tahñtãi are rendered with Greek καὶ ὅσον πρὸς τῷ ἀγρῷ καὶ τὰ οἰκήματα ‘and all that adds to the field and the housings’. In this case, θθẽ refers to anything that stands as a block (Laroche 1979c:68). Melchert (DLL:74) translates ‘place of sacrifice, altar’, which is adequate. Watkins 2010a:138 translates θθẽ instead as ‘monument’, which is an over-interpretation. Schürr 2016c:123-128 reemphasizes that θθe- only means ‘altar’ when modified by kumezijẽ, otherwise it has a more neutral connotation, which he renders with ‘construction’, although ‘stone block’ is more adequate.

[D.S.]

Pace Melchert (DLL:74), the assumption of an n-stem θθe(n)- is possible, but not necessary. Furthermore, it is not supported by the comparative perspective with Lyd. tasa- c. (Eichner 1985a:19f.); cf. also HLuw. /tad-/ n.

[D.S.]

1. tahñta-

This lexeme is found in an inscription inscribed on a column drum from the temple of Athena at Pergamon.

[D.S.]

acc. sg.

tasẽν̣

LW 40.1 (Pergamon)

The reading tasẽν̣ confirmed recently by Payne & Sasseville 2016a with the help of RTI-technology had already been determined by Buckler 1924a:57. The later autopsy by Gusmani 1986a:160, which yielded taạc̣^?, is not tenable, nor is the suggestion by Schürr 1999a:166 to read taiẽν in any way supported. For a summary of the literature on the readings of this inscription, see Payne & Sasseville 2016a.

Brandenstein 1931b:38 wants to restore the same word in LW 13.10, i.e. [tas]ẽν, but that lacks contextual evidence.

[D.S.]

Since Lydian ešν tasẽν denotes something the reader is standing in front of, the meaning ‘column’ has been assigned to Lyd. tasa- c. (Littmann 1916a:40 and Gusmani 1964a:210f., followed by Schürr 1999a:166-168, Watkins 2010a:137, 139, Payne & Sasseville 2016a:76). The word has often been wrongly compared to tac(i)- ‘(votive) offering’ and thus given the same meaning, see e.g. Brandenstein 1931b:38, Neumann 1965a:274 with further literature. Philologically impossible is the translation ‘stele’, as given by Hajnal 2004a:192 and Högemann & Oettinger 2018a:74f. n. 37. A different possibility would be to take tasẽν to refer to not just the column but to the whole temple of Athena, which seems less likely however. Pending further evidence from dedicated column drums with inscriptions, the meaning ‘column (?)’ is adopted here.

[D.S.]

The noun tasa- is oxytone and shows the nasalized vowel -ẽ- instead of -ã- in its accusative singular form. On the historical background, see Hajnal 2004a:191f.

[D.S.]