trol(i)-

This lexeme occurs once in a dedicatory inscription from the Middle Kaystros valley, which is datable to the mid-4^th century BCE.  

[I.Y.]

Although the end of LW 41.3 is obliterated, it seems unlikely that the initial part of x-trolλ is lost there. The two-letter space, available at the end of LW 41.3 according to Gusmani 1964a:264 must be filled in with the final part of karo[..], obviously an incomplete form. The possibility that karo[..]trolλ form one word, although taken seriously in Gusmani 1964a:216, appears to be fairly remote, since each of the two parts contains easily recognizable roots, whose compound is otherwise not attested in the Lydian corpus.     

[I.Y]

The root of tro-^(d) ‘to hand over’ is easily segmentable in trolλ, especially given the existence of datros(i)- ‘type of payment (?)’. The likely dedicatory content of the inscription LW 41 (Gérard 2005a:29) and the mention of Artemis further in LW 41.4 make it likely that the inscribed stele was conceived as a votive gift to Artemis. The partly reconstructed sequence karo[lλ] trolλ could then be literally translated “for the offering of gift”, that is to say ‘as a gift offering’.

The comparison between trolλ and LW 50.3 […]tralaλ, mentioned as a possibility in Gusmani 1964a:216, appears to have little merit in view of the double mismatch in the vocalism and the apparent incomplete character of […]tralaλ, contrasted with the likely complete character of trolλ. On the other hand, the suggestion that karo[lλ] trolλ continues the immediately preceding dating formula cannot be dismissed out of hand. It would yield the somewhat bizarre interpretation: ‘in the month Kanlala, (one) offering gifts’, but it is inconceivable that the Lydians viewed this month as particularly suitable for offering votive gifts.

[I.Y.]

Under the preferred interpretation, trolλ is a dative singular form of the etymological possessive adjective derived from an abstract noun *tro- (cf. fedtro-). Whether this was a synchronic possessive adjective remains an open question depending on the synchronic existence of the respective noun.

[I.Y.]

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