fẽntašẽn(i)-

This lexeme is attested two times on stone inscriptions found in Sardis, respectively in the cemetery area and in the precinct of Artemis.  Both inscriptions are dated roughly to the 5^th or 4^th century BCE. The inscription LW 12 is poetic.

[I.Y.]

dat. pl.	fẽntašẽnaν	LW 12.10 (Sardis)
		LW 22.4 (Sardis)

The hypothesis that fẽntašẽnaν is a 1sg. pret. verbal form (Eichner 1986b:213) can be excluded on the grounds that the long inscription LW 22 contains no other 1sg. verbal forms. The alternative analysis of the same for as an infinitive (Carruba 1959a:31, n.33) stumbles upon the absence of assured infinitives in -ν in Lydian. The apparent agreement or coordination between sfardẽta=k fẽntašẽnaν in LW 22.4 pleads against its grammatical analysis as acc.sg., and the presence of the direct object linẽd appears to preclude the same grammatical analysis in LW 12.10. The dat. pl. interpretation, preferred here and in Gusmani 1964a:125, suggests that the common gender of the noun in question cannot be inferred from its inflectional endings but is merely assumed based on its likely animate character; cf. under Stem.

[I.Y.]

The general context of LW 22.4 suggests that fẽntašẽnaν refers to a party that is respected to honour the conditions of the agreement preserved as LW 22. The only further cue for its semantics is its apparent agreement or coordination with sfardẽt(i)- ‘Sardian’ in LW 22.4, which would imply that this noun refers to either some subgroup of the Sardians or some group that is distinct from the Sardians in the narrow sense. The first alternative is embraced in Gusmani 1960a:295, where fẽntašẽn(i)- is tentatively interpreted as some sort of priestly collegium of governing body. Such an interpretation is at least not falsified by the other occurrence of fẽntašẽn(i)- in LW 12 but essentially remains a guess. See further Gusmani 1964a:125 for references to the dated proposals.

[I.Y.]

The only case form available in the record is normally not sufficient for determining the stem type, although Sasseville 2017a:136 argues for the existence of a Lydian suffix -ẽn(i)- c., which would be also present in fẽntašẽnaν. In any case, the prefix chain f-ẽn- supports an original deverbative derivation of the noun under discussion.

[I.Y.]

No etymology possible.

[I.Y.]