humeli(je)-

This lexeme is a hapax occurring on the sepulchral inscription TL 85 in Myra.

[O.B.]

dat./loc. pl.

humelije

TL 85.2 (Myra)

The meaning given in the lemma heading follows Melchert (DLL:26), Tischler 2007a:667 and Neumann 2007a:105 (with further examples of similar interpretations in earlier works). In its single attestation, Lyc. humeli(je)- clearly occurs in apposition to the dat./loc. pl. form tideime ‘children’, forming the nominal phrase tideime : ehbije : humelije ‘for his legitimate (?) children’. As noted by Neumann 2007a:105, an adjective with a legal rather than affectionate meaning is most appropriate for a sepulchral inscription (contra earlier proposals such as ‘beloved’ etc., found in e.g. Savelsberg 1878a:112f.). Lyc. humeli(je)- would as such be comparable in function to γνήσιος ‘legitimately conceived’ known from Greek epigraphy (Tischler 2007a:667, Neumann 2007a:105). The precise meaning of the Lycian word cannot be securely established because of the lack of external evidence, however.

Neumann 2007a:105 tentatively suggests a connection of Lyc. humeli(je)- to the Luwian personal names Šumala- and Šummalaziti- (see Laroche 1966b:164), which would be possible given the positive connotation of the Lycian word.

[O.B.]

Lyc. humeli(je)- is an adjective inflecting as an -i(je)-stem.

[O.B.]

For a dubious etymological connection with the Hittite noun šuḫmili- ‘firm, fixed’, see Tischler 2007a:667.

[O.B.]