*lau̯-
‘to show reverence, honor (?)’
- Language
- Proto-Luwic
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 920
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lycian A
*law-
‘to show reverence, honor (?)’1.1.1Derivatives
1.2 Lydian
lo-(d)
‘to honor (?)’1.2.1Transmission
This form occurs in a burial inscription from Sardis, which can be dated to the 5th or 4th century BCE.
[I.Y.]
1.2.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. med. | išlodaλ | LW 10.16 (Sardis) |
According to Gusmani 1964a:136, this is a dative-locative case form of a noun or adjective. Such an analysis, however, appears to be unlikely, because it leaves the relevant clause without a predicate, whereas the clause-initial modal particle fak does not otherwise occur in nominal clauses. The alternative solution became possible with the identification of medio-passive forms in Lydian in Melchert 2006b. The forms treated in this paper all contain the ending -taλ, it is, however, very likely that the allomorph -daλ was also available given the coexistence of the allomorphs -t and -d in 3sg. pres. of the active forms (Melchert 1992a, Yakubovich 2019b).
[I.Y.]
1.2.3Meaning ‘to respect, revere’
The relevant context is not fully clear, but it appears likely on synchronic grounds that the commissioner of the inscription expresses the wish that his remains (i.e. kastaλc(i)-) be placed or revered together with those of his ancestors (ẽna-, pl.). This synchronic observation squares well with the genetic comparison between Lyd. iš-lodaλ and Lyc. A lawitẽnu, which appears to be proposed here for the first time. The Lycian verbal form likewise occurs in a burial inscription in a modal clause, but the most spectacular aspect of the resemblance between the two forms, is that they are both medial and transitive. Based on the evidence adduced thus far, it seems to be impossible to make a choice between the interpretations ‘to bury’ and ‘to honor, revere’, but if ši-lawa- (LW 3.3) is indeed cognate with the verb under discussion, this tips scales in favor of the second interpretation, for which see Yakubovich 2019b.
[I.Y.]
1.2.4Stem
Based on the only attested form, the stem assignment is lo-. The Lycian cognate makes it likely that the allomorph lod- < *loi̯- existed in 1sg. pret., but the diagnostic form is not available. The stem lo- is combined with the verbal prefix iš-.
[I.Y.]
1.2.5Derivatives
1.2.5.1Uncertain Derivative
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘to show reverence, honor (?)’
Comparing Lyd. lo-(d) ‘to show reverence (?)’ with Lyc. lawi- ‘to respect (?)’ (Yakubovich 2019b), we may reconstruct a Proto-Luwic root verb *lau̯- conjugated in the medio-passive (*láu̯-tori > Lyd. lodaλ, see Yakubovich 2019b:400) beside a deradical formation in *-i̯e/o-, thus *lau̯-i̯e/o-, conjugated likewise in the medio-passive (> Lyc. lawi-). The a-vocalism of the root is assured by the Lycian cognate, in which Lyc. a can only go back to *a or *ā. The Proto-Anatolian root could look exactly the same, i.e. *lā̆u̯-, or one could restore a voiced (or lenited) labio-velar, i.e. *lā̆gu̯-, which becomes *u̯ in Proto-Luwic; cf. under Proto-Indo-European Etymology.
[D.S.]
3. Proto-Indo-European
3.1Semantic Reconstruction
According to Melchert (apud Yakubovich 2019b:407), the Luwic cognates Lyd. lo‑(d) ‘to show reverence(?)’ and Lyc. A lawi- ‘to respect(?)’ may be connected with Lat. laus, laudis ‘praise’. Since, however, there is a discrepancy in the root shape between PLuw. *lau̯- and its putative cognates (cf. below), the relationship is confined to the basic, unextended root *lau̯‑.
3.1.1Root etymology
Taking PLuw. *lau̯- ‘to show respect’, Lat. laus ‘praise’, OIr. luaidid ‘celebrate’, PGerm. *leu̯þa- ‘song’ as cognates,On the phonological issues, cf. below. On the semantic change from ‘respectful utterance’ to ‘(respectful) singing’, cf., e.g., Old Low Franconian lovon ‘to praise, panegyrize’ > ‘chant sb.’s praises’ (EWAhd V:1414).the meaning of the underlying root may be reconstructed as ‘to treat respectfully/honorably’. This assumption is based on the fact that the Luwic forms, unlike the non-Anatolian cognates, do not denote an utterance but an action or a behavior, hence ‘to treat’. The Core-IE meaning of the root may be ‘to mention respectfully/honorably’ and may thus semantically be narrowed from PIE *lau̯- ‘to treat respectfully/honorably’.Whether the dental root extensions contribute to the semantic change and add, e.g., the oral connotation, cannot be discussed here.
3.2Morphological Reconstruction
Since there are no cognates of the bare root PLuw. *lau̯‑,Lat. laus, laudis is sometimes interpreted as derived from PIE *lou̯‑ó- ‘praising’, cf., e.g., EDLIL:330, Vine 2006a:238.cf. below for the morphological and phonological reconstruction.
3.2.1Root etymology
The phonological shape of the root PLuw. *lau̯- clearly points to the admittedly rare root vowel PIE *a, which is a possible predecessor of the radical vowel in Lat. laud- and OIr. luaidid, too.Differently EWAhd V:1338: pre‑PItal. *lou̯‑V́‑d(h)- > PItal. *lau̯(V)d- (via Thurneysen-Havet’s Law, on which see Vine 2006a), cf. similarly EDLIL:330. However, in view of the Anatolian evidence, which is in favor of PIE *‑a‑, there is no need to assume an operation of Thurneysen-Havet’s Law in this case.On the other hand, the Germanic cognates unanimously require radical *e, cf. EWAhd V:1338. Yakubovich 2019b:407, however, solves this mismatch of PLuw., Lat., OIr. ‑a- vs. PGerm. ‑e- by positing that the vowel PIE *‑a- was replaced in Germanic as “a secondary adjustment of the root vocalism to the more productive type.” If Yakubovich’s proposal is accepted, the basic root can be reconstructed as PIE *lau̯- ‘to treat respectfully/honorably’ with two (or three) different dental extensions reflected in the non-Anatolian branches, viz. pre‑PItal. *lau̯‑d‑,But cf. above on the alternative morphological analysis.pre‑PCelt. *lau̯‑d(h)- and pre‑PGerm. *lau̯‑t- (→ *leu̯‑t‑). The fact that Luwic attests the unextended root variant *lau̯- provides further evidence for the assumption that the non-Anatolian lexemes belong together via different root extensions of one and the same root PIE *lau̯- ‘to treat respectfully/honorably’.
[A.O.]
4. Transmission
Lat. laus, laudis ‘praise’ (Andr.+), laudāre ‘to praise, speak well of; to name’ (Plaut.+)
WH I:776, EM:346, EDLIL:330, OLD²:1111, 1112, Prósper 2019a:474f.< *deh2u‑dh(h1)- ‘composition-making’
OIr. lúaidid ‘to celebrate, mention’
eDIL s.v. 1 lúaidid II
PGerm. *leu̯þa- ‘song’, cf. Goth. compound awi‑liuþ n. ‘acknowledgements’, ON ljóð ‘stanza of a song’, OE lēođ ‘song, poem’, OHG liod ‘song, praise’
EDPG:—, Orel 2003a:243, GED:52f., EWAhd V:1336–1338