=ewẽ
‘(particle)’
- Language
- Lycian A
- Grammar
- part
- ID
- 976
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Lycian A
=ewẽ
‘(particle)’1.1.1Transmission
This particle is found in two inscriptions from Xanthos, one datable to the reign of Arbinas (beginning of 4th c. BCE), the other to the reign of the Carian satrap Pixodaros (340-335/34 BCE), and in various inscriptions that cannot be dated.
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| indecl. | ewẽ | TL 26.9 (Tlos) |
| N 320.26 (Xanthos) | ||
| N 324.20 (Xanthos) | ||
| N 324.27 (Xanthos) | ||
| N 337.2 (Limyra) | ||
| ew[ẽ] | TL 84.5 (Sura) | |
| N 324.18 (Xanthos) |
The particle ewẽ, which is restricted to the sentence initial clitic chain, is not to be confused with the adposition ñtewẽ ‘in face of’ (contra Neumann 2007a:80).
Pace Carruba 1977a:292, it is not likely to be found in the noun epewẽtlm̃mẽi either.
[D.S.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
That the particle begins with the vowel e- and not with w- (cf. DLL:19) can be proven thanks to the newly published inscription N 337 by Christiansen 2012a, in which the intervocalic glide j was inserted between the two words, i.e. me=ñtej=ewẽ (N 337.2; cf. TL 26.9), whereas the other cases show elision, i.e. m(e)=ede=t(e)=ewẽ (N 320.26, N 324.20), tibe=ti=p(e)=ewẽ (N 324.27).
[D.S.]
1.1.4Meaning
No function for the particle ewẽ has been assigned due to the obscurity of the contexts it occurs in (DLL:19). On an etymological level, it has been compared to the Hittite adverb awan, a preverb of unprecise meaning and function that is always combined with another preverb (see e.g. awan arḫa ‘beside’ in Melchert 1996b:135, but for Lycian Carruba 1977a:292, Melchert in DLL:19, Neumann 2007a:80), which would allow for its Proto-Anatolian reconstruction, even though a proper functional analysis of the Lycian cognate is missing. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that Lyc. =ewẽ always occurs last in the particle chain.
[D.S.]
1.2 Hittite
awan
‘(preverb)’1.2.1Literature / Comments
HEG A-H:98f., Hoffner & Melchert 2008a:297, Brosch 2014b:203-205
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction
For a summary of old attempts to find an Indo-European etymology, such as with Skt. áva, ávar ‘down, off’ or with Lith. aurè ‘lo, there’, see HEG A-H:98f., HED A:245 and Brosch 2014b:386f. Recently, Dunkel (LIPP II:100) tentatively suggests that the Hittite particle awan is a univerbation between the preverb *au̯- (dismissed by Puhvel in HED A:245), well attested in Anatolian (see e.g. CLuw. awī-(di)), and a second element *-om or *-en (see Boroday & Yakubovich 2019a for a different perspective on Anatolian adpositions ending in -an). This is, however, a mere suggestion and hardly provable based on the current state of research. The exact Proto-Anatolian reconstruction based on Hitt. awan and Lyc. A =ewẽ is unclear with respect to the vowels; both *au̯om and *au̯en are phonologically adequate, but so would be other options with different vowels. Pending more evidence, no exact reconstruction is given here.
For a possible cognate in Luwian, see HLuw. /wan/.
[D.S.]