puwerf-^(t)

This lexeme is found once in a curse formula of an official agreement found in the precinct of Artemis in Sardis.

[I.Y.]

3sg. pres. med.

fapuwerftaλ

LW 24.9 (Sardis)

The grammatical analysis of fapuwerftaλ as a medial verb is proposed in Melchert 2006b:1161-1163, while previously the morphology of this form had been regarded as obscure, cf. Gusmani 1964a:113f.

[I.Y.]

The verb designates a harmful action done with respect to a certain property, expressed in by an accusative, to the detriment of an individual, expressed by a dative. A meaning ‘to wrestle by force’ is proposed on etymological grounds in Melchert 2006b:1162. But the stem karše-^(d), which denotes another harmful action in the immediately preceding clause in the same curse formula, probably means ‘to cut off’. Therefore one may legitimately wonder whether the meaning of puwerf- can also denote a way of cutting off access to property. For this reason, the etymological comparison with Hitt. warpa- ‘enclosure’ appears more promising than a link to HLuw. /warp(i)-/ ‘weapon, tool’ and Hitt./Luw. warpalla/i- ‘powerful, warlike (vel sim.)’ (see warpalla/i-). Under this assumption, one of the purposes of the curse formula is preventing a potential perpetrator from enclosing the landed property given to a temple official. The better candidate for a Lydian cognate of warpalla/i- is warptoki-.

[I.Y.]

The formation of the stem puwerf- is unclear. Two possibilities are entertained in Melchert 2006b:1162f. n. 6, i.e. partial reduplication and a rare historical prefix. Whichever option (or the combination of both) one prefers, it remains likely that the root of the verb under discussion is werf- and the ending -taλ is attached directly to the root. The stem puwerf- is combined with the synchronic prefix fa-.

[I.Y.]