datros(i)-

This noun is attested three times, once in a text of an official agreement from the precinct of Artemis in Sardis and twice in poetic inscriptions found at the cemetery of Sardis. All the texts are broadly dated to 6^th - 4^th century BCE.

[I.Y.]

nom. sg.	datros(=)	LW 22.7 (Sardis)
acc. pl. (?)	datrosiš	LW 11.8 (Sardis)
	datrosiš(=)	LW 13.3 (Sardis)

The most unproblematic case assignment is the nom. sg. in LW 22.7, where it represents the only candidate for the subject in the respective clause. Since the form of datros=k in LW 22.7 is different from datrosiš (=k) in LW 13.3, the simplest solution is to assume that they reflect two different cases. The acc. pl. interpretation implies the historical ending *-ns, which would explain why datrosiš in 13.7 could be resistant to the sandhi with the following =k. The analysis of datrosiš in LW 11.8 is problematic, but the hypothesis that it stands in opposition to the animate subject group in the preceding line 11.7 would imply a radically different meaning from the one implied by the other two contexts. Therefore, it is taken here as a plural direct object, which is, in essence, a default solution.

[I.Y.]

As noted in Schürr 1997a:210, the juxtaposition of wastνun=k and datros=k in LW 22.7 must be treated in the context of the collocation LW 13.2-3 ištaminliš wstaas datrosiš=k šarys. On the other hand, datros(i)- probably represents the derivative of the verbal stem tro- ‘to hand over’, as seen already in Meriggi 1935a:96 n. 54. Since there are independent reasons to believe that wsta- and its derivative wastνun(i)- belong to the semantic field of business transactions, the same hypothesis emerges as the most likely one in the instance of datros(i)-. In particular, in LW 22 this noun appears to refer to the periodical payments to be allocated to the mλimna-group (Yakubovich 2017b).

For the earlier treatments of datros(i)-, see Gusmani 1964a:95f. They converge in treating this noun as a designation of an animate entity, which is congruous with the meaning of the related šarištros(i)- and arguably better compatible with the context of LW 11.8 but not with the other two contexts of its attestation.   

[I.Y.]

Synchronically, this is a semi-vocalic stem derived with the help of the suffix -s(i)-, which is also present in šarištros(i)-. This suffix, apparently capable of deriving nouns from verbal roots, must be distinguished from the verbal suffix -ši-, on which see Gérard 2005a:87. The base datro- contains the common verbal prefix da-.

[I.Y.]

For the lemma head see Lyd. tro-^(d).