išl(i)-

This adjective is attested in the Aramaic and Lydian bilingual inscription, found at the cemetery of Sardis and commonly dated to the early 4th century BCE.  

[I.Y.]

The word occurs in the dating formula. The apparent Aramaic correspondence to išlλ in the text of the bilingual is the numeral 5 (Gusmani 1964a:135, 250). But the syntax of the Lydian texts differs from its Aramaic counterpart: išlλ is placed after the word for month (oraλ) and before the name of a particular month (pakillλ). As indicated in Kahle & Sommer 1927a:26f. this would speak against equating išlλ with the numeral, since the phrase ‘in the month of the fifth of p.’ would make little sense. The available alternative is the proposal of Meriggi 1935a:78, n. 18, according to which išlλ represents an attribute of oraλ with a broader meaning, such as ‘beginning’. Meriggi (ibid.) cites the typologically parallel phrase μήνος ἀπιόντος ‘at the end of the month’, while the potential closer parallel μήνος ἱσταμένου ‘at the beginning of the month’ is adduced in Gusmani 1964a:135. Such an analysis would seem to indicate that the Lydians used approximate dates in their dating formulae.

[I.Y.]

The semi-vocalic stem išl(i)- can be formally analysed as a possessive adjective from the unattested stem *iš(i)-. The resemblance with to the verbal prefix iš-, noted in Meriggi 1935a:78, n. 18, may or may not be accidental.   

[I.Y.]

No etymology possible.

[I.Y.]