tuwẽme(/i)-

This lexeme is attested on both Lycian B inscriptions TL 44d and TL 55. TL 44 is the pillar of Xanthos, dated stylistically to around 400 BCE and contextually to shortly after the ascension of the Persian emperor Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.). The inscription TL 55 is found engraved on the lion sarcophagus of Antiphellos, dated stylistically to shortly after 400 BCE (Zahle 1979a:318, Mühlbauer 2007a:91).

[O.B.]

abl./instr.	tuwemedi	TL 44d.52 (Xanthos)
	[tu]ẉẽmedi	TL 55.6 (Antiphellos)
	t[u]wẽmẹḍ!ị	TL 55.4 (Antiphellos)

Schürr 2005a:153 tentatively restores the attestation on TL 55.4 as t[u]wẽm[i] as there is only space for one sign in the lacuna. This is not forced, however. Firstly, the lacuna did not necessarily contain a sign, in which case t[u]wẽm forms the end of line 4. Schürr 2005a:126, 105 reads lei : on the beginning of line 5. The word lei is not attested elsewhere, and may rather spell the end of the word begun on the previous line. The included picture on page 104 is hardly legible, but the beginning of line 5 could seemingly also be read edi : or ed^!i : (from eei :), depending on whether the vertical stroke in the second sign read by Schürr is real or a crack in the rock. This would yield another instance of the abl./instr. form tuwẽmedi, which would be congruent with q]erei[m]edi found later on line 5. This solution is more attractive and is provisionally adopted.

[O.B.] [D.S.]

On both TL 44d.52 and TL 55.6 the noun occurs in the abl./instr. with the verb muwa-^(ti) ‘to strengthen’. The recipients of the strengthening are nymphs in TL 44d.52 and votive offerings on TL 55.6. Thus, it is possible to hypothesize that tuwẽme(/i)- refers to a sacrificial act of some kind, which may act to strengthen the worship of a certain deity. By this logic, Shevoroshkin 2014a:237 restricts tuwẽme(/i)- to libations performed for female deities. Sasseville 2021a:48 rather keeps the translation open, opting for ‘standing offering’ (similar to earlier translations as ‘Weihung’ by Shevoroshkin, e.g. in Shevoroshkin 1977a:134). In either case, a kind of offering seems to be the best option judging from the available material. This would fit well with an etymological connection to tuwe-^(ti) ‘to place (vertically), establish’ (see Stem), under Shevoroshkin’s translation with the expanded sense ‘to dedicate’. With Sasseville’s interpretation, it is the notion of ‘standing’ that is connected to the root verb (cf. Gk. ἀναθήμα ‘standing offering’ formed to ἀνατίθημι ‘to set up’). This is the meaning given credence here.

Schürr 2005a:153 interprets the meaning tuwẽme(/i)- literally as a participle to tuwe-^(ti), providing the meaning ‘errichtet’ (similarly in Meriggi 1937a:516 with the meaning ‘gewidmet’). Under this analysis, tuwẽme(/i)- refers to monuments themselves rather than the offering itself. This works less well on TL 44d.52, where the sentence is surrounded by mentions of animal offerings.

Melchert (DLL:133) gives ‘means of overpowering’ on the basis of his translation of muwa-^(ti) as ‘to overpower’ (assuming the semantics of the cognate Luwian verb for Lycian B). This is difficult to reconcile with the attested contexts, however.

[O.B.]

The gender of tuwẽme(/i)- is not possible to determine, since the abl./instr. does not distinguish for this category. Hence it is not possible to know whether the stem is i-mutating or not, which is why the mutating vowel is given in parentheses. Note that Schürr’s restoration of t[u]wẽm[i] (cf. under Forms) would require common gender, since it would agree with ladã ‘wife’ in the acc. sg. c. (ladã tuwẽmi ‘die (als Statue) errichtete Gattin’ per Schürr 2005a:153).

Morphologically, tuwẽme(/i)- is transparently analyzable as a participle formed to the verb tuwe-^(ti) ‘to place (vertically), to establish’ (thus already Meriggi 1937a:516). Under Shevoroshkin’s and Sasseville’s interpretation as a kind of offering (see Meaning), the participle must have been substantivized.

[O.B.]

For the derivational base see Lyc. tuwe-^(ti).