šλipi-(d)
‘to cause destruction (vel sim.)’
- Language
- Lydian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 2282
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lydian
šλipi-(d)
‘to cause destruction (vel sim.)’1.1.1Transmission
This verb is ubiquitous in the curse formulae of inscriptions found in Sardis and the surrounding area, and occurs once in a prohibitive construction (LW 3.3).
[I.Y.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. act. | ẽnšλipid | LW 3.3 (Sardis) | |
| fẽnšλipid | LW 2.5,11 (Sardis) | ||
| LW 3.4 (Sardis) | |||
| LW 4a.1 (Sardis) | |||
| LW 4b.3 (Sardis) | |||
| LW 6.4 (Sardis) | |||
| LW 10.23 (Sardis) | |||
| LW 23.2 (Sardis) | |||
| LW 45.5 (East of Sardis) | |||
| LW/N 115.10 (Koloe) | |||
| fẹ̃ṇṣ̌λ̣ịp̣ịḍ (?) | LW 19.1 (Sardis) | ||
| fẽnšλpid | LW 7.5 (Sardis) | ||
| fẽnšλip[id] | LW 17.2 (Sardis) | ||
| fẽnšλ[ipid] | LW 9.6 (Sardis) | ||
| fẽnš[λipid] | LW 26.3 (Sardis) | ||
| fẽnšλifid | LW 1.7 (Sardis) | ||
| [fẽnšλ]ifid | LW 108.5 (Sardis) | ||
| unknown | fẽnšλi[ | LW 18.1 (Sardis) |
Pace Gusmani 1964a:252, the form in LW 4a.5 cannot be read ẽnšλip[id], while fẽn[- in LW 42.6 can be restored in a variety of ways. The interpretation of the poorly preserved form in LW 19.1 remains questionable.
[I.Y.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
Given that the root vowel of šλipi- probably carries accent (see below), the form fẽnšλpid (LW 7.5) can be best explained as a graphic aberration.
[I.Y.]
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
See Gérard 2005a:60f. for the variation /p/ ~ /f/ in this verbal form, which does not seem to be directly attested elsewhere, but vindicates the possible origin of /f/ from the lenition of /p/ in other forms.
[I.Y.]
1.1.4Meaning
The Aramaic equivalent of fẽnšλifid in the text of the bilingual (LW 1.7) is yḥbl ’w yprk ‘destroys or smashes’. Based on this correspondence, the verb under discussion was translated as ‘to damage’ in Littmann 1916a:35 but its intransitive character was noticed in Lidzbarski 1917a:125. According to Gusmani 1964a:124f. it means ‘to cause damage’. Beyond the recognition that it belongs to the semantic field of negative physical impact, its precise translation must remain conjectural, but the version offered here strives to approximate its meaning to the Aramaic translation, observing at the same time that it always governs a dative argument and requires the use of the sentential particle =(i)t.
[I.Y.]
1.1.5Stem
The verb šλipi-(d) shows the suffix -i- and lenited ending in 3sg. pres. According to Melchert 1992a:48f., such verbs can go back to Proto-Anatolian *-i̯e/o- stems accented on the root. A collateral benefit of this reconstruction in our particular case is that it can motivate the lenition šλipi- > šλifi-. One then has to assume that the accented root vowel was etymologically long or, more likely, reflects an etymological diphthong. The verb šλipi-(d) is always combined with the prefix ẽn- and takes an additional prefix f(a)- in the protasis of a curse formula. For an Indo-European etymology, cf. Sasseville 2021a:243f.
[I.Y.]