ñtata-

This lexeme is found in various grave inscriptions.

[D.S.]

nom. sg.	ñtata	TL 118.4 (Limyra)
acc. sg.	ñtatã	TL 6.1 (Karmylessos)
		TL 36.5, 6 (Xanthos)
		TL 124.7-8 (Limyra)
		TL 150.4 (Rhodiapolis)
	ñtatạ̃	TL 118.1 (Limyra)
	[ñta]ṭạ̃	TL 63.2 (Isinda)
	ñtatu	TL 29.2 (Tlos)
		TL 143.2, 4 (Limyra)
	ñtaṭụ	TL 23.1 (Tlos)
loc. sg.	ñtata	TL 36.4 (Xanthos)
	ñtat[a]	TL 6.3 (Karmylessos)

Pace Neumann 2007a:247, ñtatuwa[ … ] (N 324.22) is to be interpreted as ñta tuwa[xa … ] rather than ñtatu wa[ … ]. The nominal clause in TL 118.4 forces us to take ñtata as nominative singular (thus DLL:45), differently Neumann 2007a:247f. “loc. sg.”.

[D.S.]

The Lycian word ñtata- denotes the tombs, in which people are buried, although there are several words used in this language that apply to the various types of graves. In the bilingual inscription TL 6, ñtata- is rendered by Greek μνῆμα ‘memorial’, which does not specify what type of grave it refers to exactly. Considering the prefix ñte in ñta-ta- ‘(lit.) placing into’ (thus already Deecke 1888b:272), Laroche 1974b:136 insists that it means ‘funerary/burial chamber’ (likewise Bryce 1986a:74, DLL:45, Neumann 2007a:247f. ‘Grablege’, Christiansen 2020a:180, 196). Within a study on Lycian funerary monuments, Seyer 2019a:262-265 explains that ñtata- can refer to free-standing or rock-cut house tombs and for the uncanonical free-standing tomb site like in TL 63. However, in addition to that, the term can refer to individual burial chambers (e.g. in TL 36 and 124). Considering the morphology of the noun, the meaning ‘burial chamber’ is likely to have been the original meaning, whereas its signifying the entire monument, in other words the whole tomb, would have arisen through metonymy.

[D.S.]

The substantive ñtata- represents a case of nominal conversion from the verbal stem ñte ta-^(di) ‘to place into’ (+ vowel harmony); cf. Martínez Rodríguez 2018a:280, Sasseville 2021a:346. Hajnal 1994a:143 treats the segment ta- in ñtata- as an old root noun, which is in principle possible, although a late formation appears more likely due to the univerbation.

[D.S.]

This lexeme, if correctly interpreted, is found once in the poetical inscription engraved on the lion sarcophagus of Antiphellos, dated on stylistic grounds to the beginning of the 4^th century BCE (Zahle 1979a:318, Mühlbauer 2007a:91).

[D.S.]

dat./loc. pl. (?)

ñtete (?)

TL 55.8 (Antiphellos)

Schürr 2005a:146 suggests segmenting ñte=te (thus also DLL:123), which would constitute the beginning of a new clause, because the particle =te is restricted to Wackernagel’s position. Differently, Gehrisch 2018a:108 takes it as one word and translates it as ‘tomb’ in analogy to Lyc. A ñtata-. This is convincing except that the form is plural not singular, which means that the word refers to more than one burial chamber or tomb (i.e. dat./loc. pl. *ñtate → (with vowel harmony) ñtete). The latter interpretation is tentatively adopted here.

[D.S.]

The meaning given here is dependent on the Lycian A noun ñtata-.

[D.S.]

For the lemma head, see Lyc. ta-^(di).