aλida-

The occurrences of this lexeme are limited to one text, apparently representing a formal agreement and found in the precinct of Artemis in Sardis.

[I.Y.]

For the early history of approaching the interpretation of this lexeme see Gusmani 1964a:56f. The connection with Lyd. aλa- ‘other’ and the meaning ‘change’ (vel sim.) is the mainstream view since Vetter 1959a. The same meaning was reaffirmed in Schürr 1997a, a paper that marked a major progress in the interpretation of the inscription LW 22. Apparently, the noun aλida- is used for the agreement that gave a pretext to the composition of this inscription and functions as a direct object of the verb kaττi- with the basic meaning ‘to decree (vel sim.)’.  Hence the proposed more nuanced translation ‘reform’.

Norbert Oettinger (pers. comm.) suggests an alternative, according to which aλida- may have a meaning ‘(agreement about) the status of an alien’. This translation implies that aλa- had the historical meaning ‘alien, remote’, as advocated in Rieken & Yakubovich 2022a, and that the agreement LW 22 regulated the status of a group that were regarded as non-residents in Sardis. This suggestion is worth further consideration but cannot be regarded as probative until the pragmatics of LW 22 is understood in every detail. Therefore the preference here is provisionally given here to a more general meaning, a more straightforward semantic derivation.

[I.Y.]

The a-stem aλida- appears to be derived from aλa- ‘other’ with the synchronic suffix -ida-. Although the suffix of such a shape does not appear to be attested elsewhere in Lydian, it can be compared with the -da- suffix, which is derived from PAnat. *-i̯o- (Gérard 2005a:89). The intermediate form of the same suffix, predating the syncope, must have been -ida-. Since the Lydian syncope represents a change in progress, one can hypothesize that aλ-ida- represents an archaic formation. It is remarkable that the suffix -ida- < *-i̯o- was secondarily attached to a lexeme that had already been extended with the suffix *-i̯o- in Proto-Indo-European (cf. Lyd. aλa-).

[I.Y.]

For the lemma head see Lyd. *al(i)-.