tuwere/i-

This hapax is attested on the sepulchral inscription of TL 84 in Sura.

[O.B.]

nom. pl. (?)

tuweri

TL 84.5 (Sura)

Neumann 2007a:394 suggests that a restoration of tuw[er]i on TL 65.13 may be possible. However, since there is no contextual support for such a restoration in this fragmentary passage, it is left out of consideration here. We may just as well be dealing with another form of the verb tuwe-^(ti). See Meaning for the tentative grammatical analysis.

[O.B.]

The term tuweri occurs in a context designating the sacrifices to be performed for Mizratije, the owner of TL 84, after his passing: m(e)=ede=t(e)=ew[ẽ] kumezeiti : uhazata : tuweri. In this passage two analyzes seem possible – tuweri is either a subject in the nom. pl. or an indirect object or adverbial in the dat./loc. sg. Neumann 2007a:394 tentatively analyzes tuweri as acc. sg., but this is unlikely – the objects must be =ede and uhazata, both in the nom./acc. pl. n. (or possibly dat./loc. sg. for uhazata) and not the common gender.

Bryce 1980a:46 takes tuweri as the subject of kumezeiti (and adi occurring later, although this is impossible – adi is conjugated in the singular) and provides the translation ‘the t. will make sacrifice yearly […]’, perhaps to be improved to ‘the t. will sacrifice them as yearly offerings […]’. The reading as nom. pl. is followed by Melchert (DLL:74), who gives the meaning ‘celebrant (vel sim.)’. Conversely, a dat./loc. reading ‘they will sacrifice them as yearly offerings for/on the t.’ is also possible. Shevoroshkin 1979a:193 suggests the meaning ‘building’ (followed by Carruba), which would give the translation ‘they will sacrifice them as yearly offerings for/in the building’. It is not a priori possible to decide between either interpretation contextually – external evidence will have to be adduced to give credence to either interpretation.

Bryce 1980a:46 and Neumann 2007a:394 tentatively suggest comparing tuweri to other terms of relationship in -re/i-, cf. nere/i- ‘sister’ and tidere/i- ‘collacteus’. The sequences -ere/i- in these words do not share same origin, however (acknowledged in Neumann 2007a:360). In nere/i-, the suffix -re/i- may be cognate to Luw. /-sr(i)-/ and Hitt. -ššara- with feminine function (cf. CLuw. nānašri(ya)- ‘of the sister, sisterly’), although this remains unconfirmed (see Meaning under the corresponding lemma). In either case, nothing in particular favors a feminine interpretation of tuwere/i-. The comparison to tidere/i- may remain relevant, however. According to Neumann 2007a:360f., tidere/i- is a compound consisting of *tide/i- ‘breast’ and *ere/i- ‘companion (cf. Hitt. arā- ‘companion’). By the same logic, one could attempt to trace tuwere/i- to a compound with an identical final member, but built on Lyc. B tuwe/i- ‘(laid) offering’ instead of *tide/i-. Under this hypothesis, tuwere/i- would literally mean ‘companion of the offering’. With extended semantics the word may then perhaps designate some form of sacrificial personnel, which would be contextually appropriate. Nevertheless, this analysis hardly moves beyond the realm of speculation. The meaning ‘companion of the offering’ is accordingly only very tentatively given in the entry heading. In either case, both morphological comparisons to nere/i- and tidere/i- suggest an animate noun, in which case a nom. pl. reading is plausible.

Further etymological considerations hardly provide any decisive arguments with regard to meaning. If the word concerns sacrificial activity, it is possible to envision a connection to Lyc. B tuwe/i- ‘(laid) offering’ as above. In case of ‘building’, tuwe-^(ti) ‘to place (vertically)’ would constitute a more plausible base.

The interpretation of tuweri as a numeral (e.g. ‘2’ by Deecke 1889a:193, ‘12’ by Carruba apud Shevoroshkin 1979a:193) is outdated on contextual and phonological grounds. Numerals beginning with ‘2’ begin with kb- in Lycian A and there is no discernable contextual support for a numeral interpretation.

[O.B.]

The lemma is given here as an e/i-stem. However, it is in principle not possible to know if the stem had this declension type or that of an -i(je)-stem. Credence is given here to an i-mutating stem on account of the possible morphological comparisons to nere/i- and tidere/i-.

The base may be either Lyc. B tuwe/i- ‘(laid) offering’ or tuwe-^(ti) ‘to place (vertically)’, depending on the semantics assigned to tuwere/i- (see Meaning).

[O.B.]