bý

Hapax in a Carian graffito from Egypt (Abu Simbel), c. 593/592 (Adiego 2007a:31 with ref.).

[Zs.S.]

acc./nom. pl. c.

býš

E.AS 7

The attestation follows Adiego 2007a:359 checked against the photo in O. Masson 1979a:Pl. IV.3.

[Zs.S.]

Býš clearly stands in agreement with the following word, esaγ^?δowš (Adiego 2007a:359) and, accordingly, it is either an adjective or a demonstrative pronoun. Melchert apud Schürr 1996a:69 n. 19 and Schürr 1996a:69f., Schürr 2001d:98, 112 supported the latter option (see also Adiego 2007a:359 with question mark) as the Carian reflex of PA *obó/í- ‘demonstrative pronoun; 3rd person pronoun’ (see s.v.) with aphaeresis. Unfortunately, both the meaning of esaγ^?δowš (which does not mean ‘king’, contrary to the widespread belief, see s.v.) and the meaning of the entire inscription is unclear (the translations given in Schürr 1996a:70, Schürr 2001d:98 are fully invented) and thus, no decision can be made on semantic bases (only two words are more or less clear, k̑ik̑ that may mean ‘whoever’ [see s.v.] and pismaśk, the Carianization of Psmtk / Psammetichos, the name of the ruling pharaoh). The connection with PA *obó/í- (the only fitting demonstrative pronoun from an Anatolian point of view) is morphologically problematic, since ‹ý› goes back to *ū̆ (Adiego 2007a:257; Melchert 2021b) and there is no evidence that it would continue *ó or *i (reflected normally as a and i in Carian, respectively, cf. Adiego 2007a:258). The aphaeresis is also problematic: while [b] is probably secondary on Anatolian grounds, the rules of the aphaeresis and thus, the possibilities for the precise vowel are currently unclear and none of the Carian words starting with b- have a clear etymology. All in all, an adjective is more probable, even if its precise meaning is completely unclear.

[Zs.S.]