šawtar-

The substantive šawtaar- c. appears to be derived from the verbal stem *šaw- ‘to see’ (< *sHeg^u̯-) by means of the suffix -taar- (< *-tor-), Melchert 1992a:40, Gérard 2005a:89, 107 n. 727. However, since the root is reconstructed with *h₃, it becomes difficult to account for the palatalization of the initial š-, which requires the presence of the vowel *e; for a solution see Part 2: Proto-Indo-European under Morphological Reconstruction.

[D.S.]

For the derivational base see Lyd. *šaw-.

Lyd. šawtaar- ‘watcher’ as well as YAv. aiβii-āxštar- ‘overseer’ and Gk. ὀπτήρ ‘spy, scout’ are merely synonymous (‘±watcher’). In Greek, the meaning became narrowed down to ‘who is looking for secrets’. The Latin noun secūtor, however, means ‘follower’. Accepting the semantic connection of ‘to follow’ and ‘to see, watch’ (cf. the root etymology s.v. PAnat. *sHóg^u̯-o-/*sHg^u̯-´), the discrepancy between ‘follower’, on the one hand, and ‘watcher’, on the other, can be disregarded. Thus, the underlying formation is reconstructed here as PIE *sh₃ék^u̯‑tor- ‘who attaches oneself/one’s eyes’.

Lyd. šawtaar- can be projected back to *sh₃ek^u̯‑tor‑,Sub PAnat. Reconstruction above, it is mentioned that the palatalization of *s- > Lyd. š- actually only happens before *‑e- and not before *‑o- (< *‑h₃e‑). Thus, the loss of *‑h₃- after *s- could be posited, which, however, is not proven, cf. corresponding Core IE *sek^u̯- ‘to accompany’ < *sh₃ek^u̯‑.YAv. (aiβii‑)āxštar- to *h₃Ek^u̯‑s‑ter‑,On the sibilant, cf. the root etymology s.v. PAnat. *sHóg^u̯-o-/*sHg^u̯-´.Gk. ὀπτήρ to *h₃(E)k^u̯‑tér- and Lat. *sector (→ secūtor) to *sék^u̯‑tVr‑.The original suffix vowel of the Latin lexeme cannot be determined because Latin has always ‑tor, never ‑ter, albeit in kinship terms, Weiss 2011a:308f.From the phonological point of view, Lydian and Latin share an isogloss, (acrostatic) *s(h₃)ék^u̯‑tor- ‘(habitual) follower (Lat.), (habitual) watcher (Lyd.)’ (cf. Gk. δώτωρ, ‑τορος ‘habitual giver’).On the two types of agent nouns in *‑ter-, cf. most prominently Tichy 1995:376–379.On the other hand, Gk. ὀπτήρ, ‑τῆρος shows reflexes of hysterokinetic inflection: *(s)h̥₃k^u̯‑tér- (cf. Gk. δοτήρ, ‑τῆρος ‘occasional giver’).Cf., e.g., the meaning ‘eye witness’ and ὀπτῆρες ‘(occasional) watchers’ in A.Suppl.185.YAv. aiβii-āxštar- shows the Common Indo-Iranian extension of the root by *‑s- (PIIr. *ak‑š‑) and may thus be einzelsprachlich. Furthermore, it is closely connected with and maybe derived from the verb YAv. aiβii-āxšaiia- ‘to watch (over)’.
In view of the Avestan situation and the deviant hysterokinetic type in Greek, it is recommended to exclude the Greek and Young Avestan lexemes from the comparison. Thus, only on the basis of Lydian and Latin evidence an acrostatic agent noun can tentatively be reconstructed: PIE *sh₃ék^u̯‑tor‑/*sh₃ék^u̯‑tr- ‘who attaches oneself/one’s eyes habitually’.However, Lat. secūtor ‘follower’ may, like the Avestan and Greek lexemes, be created einzelsprachlich, too. In this case, Lyd. šawtaar- ‘watcher’ would have no direct cognates.

[A.O.]

(?)YAv. aiβii-āxštar- m. ‘overseer’Cf. also the verb YAv. aiβii-āxšaiia- ‘to watch (over)’ s.v. PAnat. *sh₃óg^u̯-o-. On the long root vowel in both formations, cf. de Vaan 2003a:33, 103, NIL:382 n. 86.
Bartholomae 1904:97, Tichy 1995:39

(?)Gk. ὀπτήρ, ‑τῆρος m. ‘spy, scout (Od.14.261+); eye witness (Antipho 5.27+)’ (also as a second compound member)
GEW II:407, DELG:811, EDG:1094, LSJ:1242

Lat. secūtor m. ‘follower, attendant (also epithet of Mars) (Apul.+); (type of Gladiator) (Juv.+)’Lat. secūtor replaced Lat. *sector ‘follower’ (homophonous with Lat. sector ‘cutter’, Pl.+), cf. LHS:150, EDLIL:555f. etc. Similarly and probably not independently, also Lat. PPP secūtus ‘followed’ is a replacement of *sectus (reconstructable from sectārī ‘to run after’ etc.). Lat. secta ‘course (to be followed)’ (Naev.+, OLD²:1895) is the only relic form of the old participle. A parallel is Lat. loquī ‘to talk, speak’ : PPP locūtus ‘told, spoken’ (← *loctus) : locūtor ‘chatterer’ (← *loctor), cf., e.g., EDLIL:349.
EDLIL:—, WH II:—, EM:—, OLD²:1900