rm̃pala-
‘the one in charge of the pillar’
- Language
- Lycian B
- Class
- Derivative
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 517
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lycian B
rm̃pala-
‘the one in charge of the pillar’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested on the inscribed pillar of Xanthos dated to shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE.
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| dat. sg. | rm̃pali | TL 44c.42 (Xanthos) |
1.1.3Meaning
The meaning of rm̃pali, an obvious derivative of arm̃pa- ‘pillar’ (thus already Shevoroshkin 1969a:269), can be best elucidated through its morphology. As elucidated in Sasseville 2014-2015a:110-112, the stem-final -ali can only reflect the dative singular of a formation in -ala- c. Consequently, rm̃pali is the dative singular of an agent noun rm̃pala-. From a morphological perspective, we assign to rm̃pala- the morphematic meaning ‘the one in charge of pillar(s)’ (pace Schürr 2016d:156, who suggests a personal name leaving the derivational base arm̃pa- and the other derivative arm̃paime/i- in the same context unaccounted for). The sentence in which rm̃pali occurs expresses a command given by the king Gergis to his sbirte-priest. The agent noun is in all likelihood the indirect object of the verb pibi ‘give!’, i.e. pibi … rm̃pali ‘Give to the one in charge of the pillar... !’.
[D.S.]
1.1.4Origin
For the lemma head see Lyc. arm̃pa-.