pzzi-(ti)
‘to instruct’
- Language
- Lycian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 859
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lycian A
pzzi-(ti)
‘to instruct’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is only found so far in inscriptions from Xanthos.
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. ind. act. | pzziti | N 320.41 (Xanthos) |
| pzzit(i) | N 324.19 (Xanthos) |
1.1.3Meaning ‘to decide, decree, determine’
The verb pzzi-(ti) is attested in the trilingual inscription, where the phrase me hriqla : asñne : pzziti=ti is rendered in Greek with Πιξώταρος δὲ κύριος ἔστω ‘Pixodaros must have the authority.’ (Laroche 1979c:76). The Lycian sentence is explained syntactically best by Melchert 1999c:77 and can be translated as follows: ‘The acropolis is to carry out what he instructs.’ (contra Neumann 1998b, Gusmani 2010a:69; for a summary of the literature on this passage see Gusmani ibid. 66). It is clear from the context that the verb pzzi-(ti) refers to the power of decision and, thus, it can be translated with ‘to decide, to decree, to determine’ (DLL:54). For a list of outdated suggestions from the older literature see Neumann 2007a:295.
[D.S.]
1.1.4Derivatives
1.2 Lycian B
pzzi-(ti)
‘to instruct’1.2.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested on the inscribed pillar of Xanthos, dated shortly to after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE.
[D.S.]
1.2.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. ind. act. | pzziti | TL 44c.41 (Xanthos) |
| TL 44d.16 (Xanthos) |
1.2.3Meaning ‘to entreat, decree to’
The verb pzzi-(ti) is used transitively just like the Lycian A cognate. In TL 44c.41 it takes a person as direct object, i.e. sbirte- c. (a kind of priest), and a direct speech with a series of imperative follows. Thus, the meaning ‘to entreat’ would be adequate. Schürr 2016d:168 takes the direct object sbirte- c. to refer to an animate and translates for the Lycian B verb ‘to instruct’, which is equally fine. Based on a comparison with Lycian A pzzi-(ti), similar meaning such as ‘to declare, to determine’ was assumed (Eichner 1993a:145, DLL:126). The exact translation of the verb is variable from context to context, although a verb of speaking expressing one’s power of decision over a matter or someone else sums it up.
[D.S.]
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘to instruct’
Shevoroshkin 1977a:144 suggests for Lyc. pzzi-(ti) a connection with the Proto-Indo-European root *bhei̯dh- ‘to persuade’. Due to the lack of lenition in the ending, the verb can be reconstructed as PAnat. *b(h)id(h)-i̯é/ó-(ti). His etymology is both semantically and phonologically plausible, because the sequence *-dhi̯- would have yielded Lyc. -z-.
[D.S.]
3. Proto-Indo-European
3.1Semantic Reconstruction
3.2Morphological Reconstruction
The PIE root *bhei̯dh- is well attested in several IE languages. According to EIEC:418, it is “[a]t least a word of the west and center of the IE world.” Among the verbal formations, the equation of Gk. πείθε/o- act. ‘to persuade’According to LIV²:72 n. 2, the active πείθω is secondary and replaces the lost nasal present., med. ‘to obey’, Lat. fīdere, -ō ‘to trust’, and perhaps also PGerm. *ƀīđe/a- ‘to wait’For the semantics, cf. LIV²:72 n. 3 with further lit., EDPG:63. points to a thematic present stem PIE *bhéi̯dh-e/o- (LIV²:71). In Anatolian, a stem *bhidh-i̯é/ó- is attested (Lyc. A pzzi-(ti), Lyc. B pzzi-(ti) ‘to instruct’, see PAnat. reconstruction above.). Further verbal stems are listed in LIV²:71f. As far as the nominal derivatives of *bhei̯dh- are concerned, two i-stem nouns *bhéi̯dh-oi̯- and *bhidh-éi̯- are reconstructable on the basis of Gk. Πειθώ, -όος ‘persuasion (as a goddess)’ and Lat. fidēs, gen. fideī ‘trust, guarantee’, respectively.Cf. NIL:12f. with n. 2 and further discussion and lit. Furthermore, a noun *bhoidh-éh2- can be reconstructed on the basis of PGerm. *ƀai̯đō- (in OE bād f. ‘deposit; expectation’)Cf. NIL:12., Alb. bē f. ‘oath’ and perhaps also OCS běda f. ‘distress, need, necessity’ and Lith. bėdà f. ‘misfortune, trouble, guilt’. For more nominal derivatives of the root *bhei̯dh-, cf. NIL:12f.
[T.S.]
4. Transmission
Goth. beidan ‘to await, look for’, ON bíða ‘to wait for; to suffer, undergo’, OE bīdan ‘to wait, remain’, etc.; Goth. baidjan ‘to force’, ON beiða ‘to ask, request’, OE bǣdan ‘to demand; to force’, etc.Cf., e.g., Lühr 2000a:240, LIV²:71f. with n. 3–4, EDPG:47, 63.
OCS běditi, běždǫ ‘to force, persuade’, Russ. bedít’ (dial.) ‘to spoil, vex’, etc.; ?OCS běda f. ‘distress, need, necessity’, Russ. bedá f. ‘misfortune, trouble’, etc.Cf., e.g., Lühr 2000a:240, LIV²:71, NIL:13 n. 9, EDSIL:38f.
Alb. pres. bind ‘persuades, convinces’, sbst. bē f. ‘oath’Cf., e.g., Lühr 2000a:240, LIV²:71 with n. 1a and further lit., NIL:12f. with n. 10.