šar(i)-
‘pertaining to patronage (vel sim.)’
- Language
- Lydian
- Grammar
- adj
- ID
- 770
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lydian
šar(i)-
‘pertaining to patronage (vel sim.)’1.1.1Transmission
This noun is attested in a poetic dedicatory inscription found at the cemetery of Sardis and broadly datable to the 5th or 4th century BCE.
[I.Y.]
1.1.2Forms
| acc. pl. c. | šarys | LW 13.3 (Sardis) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
According to (Gérard 2005a:37 n. 125), the use of the rare grapheme <y> in this form may be due to the raising of /i/ next to /r/. The position of y is metrically unstressed (Melchert 1994a:342). The hypothesis that šarys represents a scribal error for šaros (Gusmani 1980a:88) appears to be unlikely because the personal name šaro- would not make sense in the context. But the final <s>, as opposed to the expected palatalized <š>, remains a problem.
[I.Y.]
1.1.4Meaning
The combination datrosiš=k šarys in LW 13.3 cannot be separated from the etymological figure šarištrosλ … datrosiš in LW 11.7-8. While the phrase datrosiš=k šarys can be literally understood as ‘payment for patronage’, or something similar, in both cases we must be dealing with references of a reciprocal relationship between the donors and their specific divine patron. The divine character of the patronage is underscored by the reference to another deity with the epithet astrko- (q.v.), who apparently acts as a recipient of additional offerings in the immediate proximity of both contexts (LW 13.4 and LW 11.9 respectively). See further under šarištros(i)-.
[I.Y.]
For the lemma head see Lyd. *šar-.