gasabala-

This lexeme is a hapax attested in TL 104, the inscription on the relief-adorned grave of Tebursseli dated to the reign of Perikle in the first half of the 4^th century BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:75).

[O.B.]

nom. sg. (?)

gasabala

TL 104b.2 (Limyra)

See Meaning for possible readings as dat./loc. sg.

[O.B.]

According to Imbert 1916a:341, Lyc. gasabala stands in apposition to Tebursseli, the patron of TL 104 (thus also Bugge apud Torp 1900a:15) and means ‘treasurer’, a loan from Iranian *ganjabara- (followed only tentatively in Neumann apud Borchhardt 1988a:123, Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:83, DLL:21, Sasseville 2014-2015a:112 n. 18). Initial g- is not expected for inherited Lycian words. However, the mismatch between the Ir. *-r- and Lyc. -l- is problematic, as pointed out by Benveniste 1966a:103 and Neumann apud Borchhardt 1988a:123. According to Sasseville 2014-2015a:112 n. 18, the word may have been reinterpreted as an agent noun in -ala- with the resonant changing accordingly. Furthermore, -r-/-l- vacillation is not without precedent, cf. atla-/atra- ‘self’ although in a different phonological environment. Neumann apud Borchhardt 1988a:123 remarks that a Lycian adorning himself with an Iranian title would lack precedent in the Lycian corpus.

Stoltenberg 1958c:383 and Schürr 2007a:36 compare Lyc. gasabala- to the Cilician place name Kastabala. The mismatch between -st- vs. -s- is resolved by Schürr with appeal to the sound law *-VstV- > Lyc. -VsV-. According to Schürr, the name stands in the dat./loc. sg. and is separated from Tebursseli by a line break on the inscription, where the inscriber could have used the space remaining on the same line should (s)he have wanted to include gasabala as an apposition to Tebursseli. The initial g- remains problematic, however. In response, Schürr suggests we are dealing with “umgekehrte Schreibung” in opposition to the tendency for -x- to replace -g- within words, which remains without precedent. Lyc. gasabala- as a place name is also problematic contextually. The verb of the sentence is prñnawate ‘built’, which lacks an overt object. If gasabala is the place in which Tebursseli built, then the monument in Limyra may no longer serve as the object of prñnawate and we are left without any other suitable candidate.

Hajnal 1995a:16 and van den Hout 1995c:156 regard gasabala as a personal name in the dat./loc. sg., which is possible contextually, but difficult to substantiate.

In summary, assuming that gasabala- is a loan from Iranian meaning ‘treasurer’ is not unproblematic, but is at present perhaps the likeliest proposal. The meaning given in the heading should accordingly be regarded as highly tentative.

The proposal to translate gasabala- as a type of grave found in Deecke 1889a:231 is outdated.

[O.B.]

Lyc. gasabala- is a common gender a-stem, possibly synchronically analyzable as an agent noun in -ala- (cf. Sasseville 2014-2015a:112 n. 18).

[O.B.]

For an Iranian origin of the word, see Meaning.

[O.B.]