k̑arno(s)

Attested in two inscriptions, a tomb-stela from Memphis c. 530-500 (Kammerzell 1993a:169, 171) and a votive inscription on a bronze vessel of unknown provenance and of unknown date (on both issues see the discussion s.v. no-).

[Zs.S.]

nom./dat. sg.	k̑arnos	E.Me 45
unknown	k̑arnosδ	C.xx 2

The attestations follow Adiego 2007a:376, checked against the photographs of O. Masson 1978a:Pl.XXI.2 and Gusmani 1978c:Pl.III. The grammatical definition depends on the meaning of this word, which is currently fully unclear (see under Meaning): formally speaking, k̑arnos could be a dative of k̑arno (see already Schürr 1992a:153) but also the nom. sg. of a genitival adjective k̑arnos (Janda 1994a:175).

[Zs.S.]

This word is only attested (until now) in the phrase alos(δ) k̑arnos(δ). The inscriptions are unfortunately not helpful, except that k̑arno(s) looks like a substantive qualified by alo(s). The problems of the proposals regarding the meaning of this phrase (especially the identification with Halicarnassus) are discussed in extenso s.v. alo(s), and therefore, only the specific details regarding k̑arno(s) are elaborated here.

Accepting the identification of this phrase with Halicarnassus, Janda 1994a:184 identified k̑arno(s) as the Carian cognate of Hitt. ḫāran- ‘eagle’. Since according to him alo(s) would mean ‘horse’, he proposed ‘(Stadt des) Adlerpferds’ as the original meaning of Halicarnassus. This is, however, improbable on several grounds (see s.v. alo(s)) and it must be excluded as k̑arno(s) cannot derive from the word for ‘eagle’, since the Carian reflexes of the initial laryngeal are ‹k› and ‹q›, never ‹k̑›, which goes back to *k^w (Simon 2011b and Adiego 2007a:259). For the formal problems of his alternative solution from Luwian ala- “‘sea’” and “harnisa-” ‘fortress’ (Janda 1994a:184 n. 19) see the discussion s.v. alo(s). Since the morphophonological problems of neither solution are solved, the connection with Halicarnassus is still not proven, and the context of the inscriptions are not helpful enough, no meaning can currently be assigned to k̑arno(s).

[Zs.S.]