mlati

This lexeme is attested in the inscription of the inscribed pillar of Xanthos, dated contextually to shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE and stylistically to around 400 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.).

[D.S.]

dat./loc. sg.	mlati	TL 44d.4 (Xanthos)
		TL 44d.48 (Xanthos)
		TL 44d.51 (Xanthos)
	mlat[i]	TL 44d.14 (Xanthos)

Syntactically impossible is the interpretation as a verbal form (3sg. pres.) ‘to sacrifice’ used by Gehrisch 2018a:90f. The dat./loc. sg. interpretation is clear in each context (thus also DLL:121), pace Schürr 2018b:72 “nom. or acc.”.

[D.S.]

Neumann 2007a:218 rightly compares the phrase seb(e)=uwedriz mlat[i] masaiz (TL 44d.14) with seb(e)=uwedriz qlei masaiz (TL 55.5) ‘and all the gods in the precinct’, which would imply that mlati is a place, where the gods are located. Shevoroshkin 2002b:140 suggests the meaning ‘temenos’, which would be adequate (contra Schürr 2018b:72 “a person”). However, considering that its derivational base is mla- ‘votive offering’, mlati should refer to the place where votive offerings are brought and preserved, i.e. the cella of the temple (Gk. ναός). From a Greek and Roman perspective, this was also the place in which it was thought that the gods were residing.

For a list of outdated hypotheses, see Neumann 2007a:218.

[D.S.]

The stem of the noun is obscured by its lack of attestations in the nom. or acc. cases. It could be a mutated stem, i.e. mlat(i)- (with gen. adj. in -ase/i-), or an a-stem, i.e. mlata-. A neuter stem in -e- is less likely, since it would fail to explain the vowel -a- in ml-a-ti vis-à-vis the vowel harmony. Further evidence is needed.

[D.S.]

For the lemma head, see Lyc. mla-.