pasba-
‘small livestock, sheep’
- Language
- Lycian
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 687
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lycian A
*pasba-
‘small livestock, sheep (?)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is not securely attested in the Lycian A dialect.
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| acc. pl. | [pas?]ḅas | N 324.15 (Xanthos) |
The status of the word pisba[s] in TL 44b.30 found in a fragmentary context following the names of various cities stays obscure. An etymological connection with Lyc. B pasba- is very speculative (thus Gusmani 1968c:13, pace Shevoroshkin 1977a:141).
[D.S.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
No restoration is given in Bousquet 1992a:184. For the restoration of [pas]ḅas see under Meaning.
[D.S.]
1.1.4Meaning
The phrase [pu]httij=ẽne=de : ẽti : uhi [… pas]ḅas [u]hazata ‘He [inscr]ibes the yearly delivery as [ … pas]ba-animals in a year.’ allows the restoration of [pas]ḅas ‘sheep’ based on the Lycian B lexeme pasba- ‘small livestock, sheep’. Nevertheless, the restoration must be considered tentative until further evidence.
[D.S.]
1.2 Lycian B
pasba-
‘small livestock, sheep’1.2.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested on the inscribed pillar of Xanthos dated shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE.
[D.S.]
1.2.2Forms
| acc. sg. | pasbã | TL 44c.32 (Xanthos) | |
| TL 44c.46 (Xanthos) | |||
| pasb{b}ã | TL 44c.56 (Xanthos) | ||
| pasbu | TL 44d.50 (Xanthos) | ||
| gen. adj. nom. sg. c. | pasbasi | TL 44d.36-37 (Xanthos) |
1.2.3Graphic Features
The second b of pasbbã is taken here as a scribal mistake and emended based on the other attestations.
[D.S.]
1.2.4Meaning
Savelsberg 1874a:57 n. 2, 3 compares etymologically Lyc. B pasba- with Avestan pasu- ‘cattle’ and assigns the same semantics (likewise DLL:124, followed by Sasseville 2014-2015a:115). The contextual assignment is appropriate, since it represents something that is sacrificed to the god Natri (TL 44c.32) and that is carried off during a military campaign by the king (ibid. 46). In TL 44d.50, it represents something that is being prepared for a sacrifice by the qidrala- ‘priest in charge of sacrificial animals’ (see Sasseville ibid.). In this sentence, it is modified by the adjective urttuwa- ‘big’. Therefore, the meaning ‘sheep’ or ‘small livestock’ can be assigned; cf. Hitt. [M]ÁŠ.GAL šal-la-an ‘a big male sheep’ (KUB 35.135 iv 27’). It is however difficult to say with any certainty whether Lyc. B pasba- designates a specific kind of sheep, e.g. ‘ram’, or if it is more generic ‘small livestock’. Based on TL 44c.46, where the king carries off a large number of pasba- from different places, we expect the word pasba- to have a collective sense, i.e. ‘small livestock’. In passages, where the pasba- is sacrificed, it is not possible to tell whether there is only one or a group of them. Both are contextually possible. The genitival adjective pasbasi occurs as a divine epithet of a deity designated with the title esẽnẽmla- c. ‘lord, distributor’ (Sasseville 2018a:310f.). Gusmani 1968c:12-13 suggests that pasba- refers to a person, which is not credible due to its status as direct object of sla-(ti) ‘to sacrifice’; see under lexeme. Differently, Schürr 2016d:167 assumes a connection between pasba- and the word pasñte ‘?’, which is unfounded. Shevoroshkin 2014a:259 translates pasba- with ‘detachment’, which makes no sense in the context. For a summary of outdated hypotheses see Neumann 2007a:258.
[D.S.]
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘small livestock, sheep’
The Lycian lexeme pasba- can be reconstructed as *pek̂u- with a transfer to the a-stems, i.e. *pek̑u- >> *pesb-a- > (+ vowel harmony) pasba-, which happens regularly to original u-stems in Lycian; cf. xahba- ‘grandchild’ with Luw. ḫamšu-kalla- ‘great grand-child’ (DLL:124). If Lycian A were to show the -s- as well, the reconstruction would be certain. The etymological connections of Lycian B pasba- with Hitt. paḫš-(mi) ‘to protect’ or peššiye/a-(mi) ‘to throw’ are less convincing and do not find contextual support (pace Shevoroshkin 1977a:141).
[D.S.]
3. Proto-Indo-European
3.1Semantic Reconstruction
The attestations of the individual IE languages point to a PIE noun *pek̑-u- n./m. meaning ‘lifestock’, maybe more precisely ‘small livestock, small domestic animals’, especially ‘sheep’, which is suggested by the meaning of Arm. asr ‘wool, fleece’ and the likely etymological connection with the PIE root *pek̑- ‘to pluck, tuft (wool or hair)’ (LIV²:467). This etymology, however, is rejected in EIEC:23.
3.2Morphological Reconstruction
Based on the forms attested in the IE languages, both a neuter and a masculine u-stem noun *pék̑-u- n. (Ved. páśu-, Lat. pecū, PGerm. *feχu-, etc.) and *pek̑-ú- m. (Ved. paśú-, Av. pasu-) are reconstructable for PIE. The question, however, how these two stems are related to each other morphologically is difficult to answer. Lühr 2000a:206 assumes that PIE *pék̑-u- n. was derived from the root PIE *pek̑- ‘to pluck, tuft (wool or hair)’ (LIV²:467 s.v.) and primarily meant ‘wool, fleece’ (cf. Arm. asr, gen. sg. asow ‘wool, fleece’ < pre-PArm. *pek̑-u+r). Secondarily (“mit metonymischer Übertragung auf das Tier, das das Produkt liefert”Lühr 2000a:206.), PIE *pék̑-u- also meant ‘animal producing wool, i.e. sheep’, whence finally ‘lifestock’ in general. The masculine form PIE *pek̑-ú- ‘wooly animal’, on the other hand, is analyzed by Lühr 2000a:206 as a possessive derivative that was internally derived from PIE *pék̑-u- n. ‘wool, fleece’. For internal derivation with contrastive accent, cf. also PIE *médh-u- n. ‘sweetness, sweet drink’ (Ved. mádhu- n. ‘sweetness, sweet drink, honey’, Gk. μέθυ n. ‘wine’) : *medh-ú- m. ‘that which is provided with sweetness’ (PGerm. *među- m. ‘mead’, Lith. medùs m. ‘honey’ [accent class 4: OLith. mędús, gen. sg. medáus Daukša]), cf. Schaffner 2001a:586 n. 6.Differently, e.g., Pinault 2003a, esp. p. 169–173; and cf. also the brief remarks of Widmer 2004b:195 with n. 277.
[T.S.]
4. Transmission
Indo-Aryan:
Ved. páśu- n. ‘cattle’ (RV [nom./acc. sg. páśu, dat. sg. páśve]) beside Ved. paśú- m. ‘id.’ (RV [nom. sg. paśúḥ, acc. sg. paśúm, gen./abl. sg. paśváḥ; nom./acc. du. paśvā́; acc. pl. paśváḥ, et al.]+); also in derivatives and compounds: cf., e.g., Ved. kṣu-mánt- ‘rich in cattle’Dissimilated from *pṣu-mánt- (= YAv. fšū-maṇt-), with *pṣu- being the zero-grade form of Ved. páśu- or paśú-, cf. EWAia I:433, EWAia II:109. and Ved. paśu-tr̥p- ‘stealing cattle’Cf., e.g., EWAia II:108–110.
Iranian:
Av. pasu- m. ‘cattle’ (acc. sg. YAv. pasūm, gen. sg. OAv. pasǝ̄uš, YAv. pasǝ̄uš, nom. pl. YAv. pasuuas-ca, acc. pl. YAv. pasuuō, etc.);Cf., e.g., EWAia II:109, ALF:129–132. also in derivatives such as YAv. fšūmaṇt- ‘rich in cattle’With Av. fšū- < *pk̑u-. or Av. fšuiia- ‘to keep cattle/lifestock’ (whence Av. fšuiiaṇt- ‘cattle breeder’)Cf., e.g., EWAia II:109, Lühr 2000a:206.
Arm. asr, gen. sg. asow ‘wool, fleece’< pre-PArm. *pek̑u+r; for the additional -r, cf., e.g., Arm. cownr ‘knee’ < *g̑ónu+r (Lühr 2000a:269). Cf. also Olsen 1999a:202, EDAIL:122–124.
Lat. pecū, gen. sg. pecūs, nom./acc. pl. pecua n. ‘cattle, herd, flock’ (Naev.) beside Lat. pecus, gen. sg. pecoris n. ‘id.’ (Andr.+) and pecus, gen. sg. pecudis f. ‘single piece of cattle, any animal of a farm’ (Pl.+);Cf., e.g., EDLIL:454 with lit. Umbr. pequo (acc. pl.) ‘cattle’Cf., e.g., Untermann 2000a:527f., EDLIL:454.
Goth. faíhu n. ‘money, possessions’, OE feo(h) n. ‘cattle’, OS fehu n. ‘id.’, OHG fihu n. ‘id.’, etc.< PGerm. *feχu- n. ‘cattle’. Cf., e.g., Lühr 2000a:206, EDPG:134.
OPr. acc. sg. pecku ‘cattle’, acc. sg. peckan ‘id.’; Lith. pe͂kus m. ‘cattle, herd, flock’Cf., e.g., Lühr 2000a:206, ALEW II:751.