katof(i)-

This lexeme is found once in the final formula of a poetic inscription found at the cemetery of Sardis and datable to the 5th or 4th century BCE.   

[I.Y.]

Note the rare variant of the accusative ending -n instead of the usual -ν (Melchert 1994a:339).

[I.Y.]

The verb occurs in the protasis of the text-final formula, which occupies the same structural position as the curse formulae in many other Lydian inscriptions. Its apodosis features the predicate nid kantrod ‘(let him) not allow’. The protasis contains the infinitive ifrol, which is apparently dependent on the verbal phrase fakorfid katofn. It appears likely on contextual grounds that fakorfid katofn means ‘undertakes an attempt’, or something similar, while ifrol refers to an undesirable action, which will not be allowed according to the apodosis of the same sentence.

The translation of fa-korfi-d as ‘undertakes’ appears now to be generally accepted (cf. under korfi-), but this had no consequences for the interpretation of katof(i)-. The old interpretation ‘inscription’, going back to Sayce 1925a:42f. and taken over in Gusmani 1964a:146, was lately repeated in Gérard 2005a:83. The only justification of this approach adduced in Gusmani 1964a:146 is the comparison between katof(i)- and the Lydian verbal stem kat-u-, which looks extremely daring on formal grounds given the absence of the suffix -f- in Lydian. On the other hand, if one assumes that the root of katof(i)- is -of-, it may represent a cognate of Hitt. ēpp-/app-^(mi) ‘to take, seize’ and thus belong to the same semantic field as korfi-. This etymological argument cannot, of course, be regarded as decisive, but given the lack of contextual support for the etymology advanced by Sayce, it can be safely abandoned.                       

[I.Y.]

Traditionally, katof- (sic!) is treated as a consonantal stem, e.g. in Gusmani 1964a:146, but no consonantal stems ending in obstruents are unambiguously attested in Lydian. Therefore, it is more economical to treat katof(i)- as a semi-vocalic common gender stem, which loses its thematic vowel in the acc. sg. according to the general rule (see Sasseville 2017a). The word katof(i)- contains the prefix kat- and is accentuated on the root.    

[I.Y.]

Because of the uncertainties of the semantic interpretation and of its etymology, no reconstruction will be offered here.

[I.Y.]