axãt(i)-

This lexeme is attested on various Lycian sepulchral inscriptions.

[O.B.]

nom. sg.	axãti	TL 30.2 (Tlos)
		TL 128.1 (Limyra)
	axã[t]i	TL 92.2 (Myra)
	axuti	TL 29.3 (Tlos)
unknown	axụti	TL 23.4 (Tlos)

Note the variant with -u- instead of -ã- on TL 23 and 29, showing the development ã > u known from the acc. sg. of a-stems.

[O.B.]

According to Neumann 1993c:38 (reiterated in Neumann 2004b:234 and Neumann 2007a:7f.), the correspondence between Gk. τοῖς τέκνο[ις] = Lyc. A axụti [k]m͂m[ẽ]t[i] on the bilingual inscription TL 23 proves that the meaning of Lyc. axãt(i)- is ‘descending from’ or similar. The reluctance to translate axãt(i)- as ‘child’, directly corresponding to Gr. τέκνον, comes from the other attestations, where the word is preceded by tubehidi (TL 30), przzidi (TL 128) and mahanahidi (TL 92). Neumann takes these forms as abl./instr., thus with the translation ‘descending from X’. However, the abl./instr. ending in Lycian is normally -a/edi, weakening Neumann’s analysis. In fact, the meaning ‘descendant’ for axãt(i)- as extracted from the bilingual passage on TL 23 is not pressing. The expected Lycian equivalent of τοῖς τέκνο[ις] is tideime (dat./loc. pl. of tideim(i)- ‘child’), found on TL 56 (lines 3 and 6). Curiously, the lacuna on TL 23.3 as depicted in Kalinka 1901a:23 would be a perfect fit for tideime and yield a Lycian phrase perfectly correspondent to the Greek, i.e. Lyc. atli ehbi se tideime = Gr. ἑαυτῶι […] καì τοῖς τέκνοις αὐτοῦ ‘for himself and his children’. However, this would leave the final Lycian line containing axuti without translation.

In all attestations apart from TL 23.4, axãti apparently stands in apposition to the patron of the inscription. On TL 29, TL 92 and TL 128, the word is followed by an animal term in the gen. adj. (uwehi ‘of bovines’ on TL 29 and 92, esbehi ‘of horses’ on TL 128). Accordingly,Hajnal 1995a:115f. n. 124 suggests a connection to sacrificial activity. Per Hajnal 1995a:232 n. 295 the word signifies some type of animal sacrifice. While this is not syntactically coherent with axãti as an apposition (an alternative dat./loc. sg. reading does not provide a satisfactory translation for any passage), the sacrificial connection remains enticing. Melchert (DLL:7) suggests a meaning ‘priest of animal sacrifice’, which is possible but difficult to verify. The base provided in DLL is axã ‘animal sacrifice’, attested twice on TL 44, the Xanthos stele. This base is not necessarily a noun however, but may also be a form of the verb a(i)-^(di) ‘to do, make’, somewhat weakening Melchert’s analysis. Conversely, the hapax axãtaza-, likely derived from axãt(i)-, is attested with a gen. adj. of a deity name (malijahi wedrẽñnehi), supporting a meaning ‘sacrificial officiant’ or similar for axãt(i)-. In either case, however, the meaning given in the heading for this lemma should be regarded as tentative.

The previous translations ‘leader, chief, etc.’ (Savelsberg 1878a:130, followed in e.g. Korolev & Shevoroshkin 1969a:530 and Carruba 1979b:82) are superseded by the analyses presented above.

[O.B.]

Lyc. axãt(i)- is a common gender i-mutated stem. Per Carruba 1979b:82, it is built with the suffix *-nt-. The base is not clear, although Melchert (DLL:7) suggests axa-, found twice on TL 44 (see Meaning).

[O.B.]

1. axãtaza-

The etymology with PIE *h₁ag̑- implied by Melchert (DLL:7) is phonologically impossible, since Lyc. x does not go back to *g̑. Instead, we would expect *g̑ to disappear; cf. also Martínez Rodríguez 2018a:281f. for a criticism of the root etymology.

[D.S.]