Topics in Anatolian Historical Grammar Prof. Dr. H. Craig Melchert

H. Craig Melchert
Naming in Anatolia
Oxford, Wadham College
July 11, 2011
melchert@humnet.ucla.edu
‘Naming Practices in 2nd and 1st Millennium Western Anatolia’
I. Limitations/Caveats
1. All figures in section III are mere approximations to give order of magnitude of
available data:
a. Reading of word as personal name vs. appellative not always assured (nor even
segmentation in case of scriptio continua).
b. Constant publication of new texts adds new examples not yet in handbooks.
2. Assignment of indirect attestations to specific Anatolian Indo-European languages
varies in degree of assurance: hence designations “in Lycia” or “in Isauria”, etc. rather
than “Lycian”.
a. Higher degree of certainty for Lydian and Carian, much lower for the others: due to
relative dialectal isolation of Lydian and unique phonological developments in Carian.
b. But some Luvian or Carian names in Lydian context (see IV.2 (7) & IV.3 (13) below).
c. Other evidence for spread of individual names: NB case of Greek-influenced
Μουσατης in Lydia, Carian Músat-, and Pisidian Μουσητα- (see 5.1.2 (22) below).
3. Some differences cited in typology and percentages of borrowed names reflect special
circumstances of our corpora:
a. Overwhelming majority of Carian texts are from Egypt, not Caria.
b. Hieroglyphic Luvian texts include Southern Anatolia and Syria.
4. With single exception (“Satznamen”), presentation is confined to (synchronic)
typology with no attempt to determine origins of various types.
5. Do assume with Goetze 1954, Houwink ten Cate 1965, Adiego 2007 et al. strong
continuity from 2nd millennium to 1st.
II. Morphological Preliminaries
1. Both forms of Luvian, Lycian, and to a lesser extent Carian and Lydian all show the
phenomenon dubbed “i-mutation” (first established by Starke 1990: 54-85; for the correct
diachronic account see Rieken 2005): animate stems insert an -i- between stem and
ending just in the nominative and accusative cases. A stem-final -a- is deleted before the
inserted -i-. This addition does not alter the underlying stem. Effect for personal names is
widespread existence of doublets: thus Cuneiform Luvian m Zida-/Ziti- ‘man’ or
piyam(m)a- ‘given’ (as 1st cpd. member) vs. Lycian -pijemi- ‘given’ (2nd cpd. member).
2. At least Lycian also attests the PIE “individualizing” suffix *-on- often used in
personal names (type of Latin Catō ‘sharpy’, Greek Στράβων ‘the squinty-eyed one’),
with or without “i-mutation”: thus Xudalijẽ- ‘the nimble one’ beside Xudali- or Mutlẽi-
‘the mighty one’ (cf. Luvian Muwattalli- ‘mighty’).