kastaλc(i)-

The only attestation of this lexeme occurs in a long burial inscription found at the cemetery of Sardis.

[I.Y.]

acc. sg.

kastaλcν

LW 10.17 (Sardis)

The adverbial interpretation of kastaλcν (Meriggi 1935a:100 n. 66) is highly implausible, since this form appears to agree in gender, number, and case with the preceding alarmn.

[I.Y.]

As already seen in Meriggi 1935a:99 n. 57 and accepted in Gusmani 1964a:145, this is probably a derivative of kasta-, which can be tentatively assigned the meaning ‘bone’. The phrase alarmn kastaλcν is attested in a prescriptive sentence in immediate vicinity of another accusative phrase ẽnas amãs ‘my ancestors’, while alarm- appears to have the reflexive force. Therefore the author of the inscription appears to refer here to his own remains. The available evidence is not sufficient to determine whether the noun under discussion meant ‘skeleton’, as its etymology would seem to suggest, or had a more euphemistic meaning. In addition, kastaλc(i)- may refer to a container for bones, such as sarcophagus or ossuary.  

[I.Y.]

The noun under discussion is one of several semi-vocalic stems that end in -cν (acc. sg.). The closest parallels are LW 10.15 qardoλcν and LW 15.1 kafolcν, but the derivational bases of these two nouns are not directly attested, whereas in the present case the segmentation kast-aλcν is demonstrable. The stem representation kastaλc(i)- is the simplest solution but not the only option. The contrast between nom. sg. wissiš and acc.sg. ni-wiscν would suggest an alternative stem assignment kastaλš(i)- (or something similar); cf., however, kolciš (LW 15.2), which makes the assumption of nom. sg. *kastaλciš unproblematic.

[I.Y.]

For the derivational base see Lyd. kasta-.