*wewVdrā-

This lexeme is attested on the inscribed pillar of Xanthos stele, which is dated shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE.

[D.S.]

Different meanings have been suggested for this lexeme:Hajnal 1994a:137 assumes the meaning ‘bovine sacrifice’, Melchert (DLL:78) suggests ‘herd of cattle’ and Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:36 suggests ‘bovine protomes’. Neumann 2007a:419 argues for ‘bovine figures’ based on the morphological equation of the suffix -dra- with -dr(i)- in tukedr(i)- ‘statue’, which would speak for the hypothesis of Borchhardt & Eichner. All agree that it is a derivative of wawa- ‘cow, bull’, which is surely correct. What can be drawn from the context is that the wawadra is something that can be offered (cf. Lyc. B uwadra-). The exact semantics cannot be determined so far, but the suggestion of Melchert (loc. cit.) as ‘herd of cattle’ is made very plausible by the Lycian B context, see under Lyc. B uwadra-.

[D.S.]

1. uwadraxe/i-

This lexeme is attested on the inscribed pillar of Xanthos stele, which is dated shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE.

[D.S.]

The word uwadra stands in apposition to tuwe/i- ‘offering’, which reveals that it is something that can be offered. Since the substantive uwa- ‘bovine’ appears a few line earlier within a parallel construction, it is likely that it refers to an ‘herd of cattle’ or at least something pertaining to the cattle. Differently, Melchert (DLL:134) takes it as a form of the substantive uwedr(i)- ‘all’.

[D.S.]