Editing Lycian language (section)

== Discovery and decipherment ==
{{multiple image
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| image1   = Tomb_Payava_south_BM_950.jpg
| width1   = 257
| caption1 = Payava (his name is [[Pamphylia]]n) as depicted on [[Tomb of Payava|his tomb]]. The Lycian inscription runs: “Payava, son of Ed[...], acquired [this grave] in the sacred [burial] area of the acropolis(?) of [[Artumpara|A[rttumba]ra]] (a Lycian ruler), when Lycia saw(?) S[alas](??) [as governor(?)]. This tomb I made, a 10 year ''[h]iti'' (project?), by means of Xanthian ''ahama''s.” Payava may be the soldier at the right, honoring his ruler Arttumbara with a laurel wreath.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schürr |first1=Diether |title=Der lykische Dynast Arttumbara und seine Anhänger |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274519945 |publisher=Akademie Verlag |access-date=2021-04-07}} = ''Klio'' 94/1 (2012) 18-44.</ref> 375-360&nbsp;BC.
| image2   = Payava tomb front inscription.jpg
| width2   = 180
| caption2 = The inscription on the front of Payava's tomb in the Lycian language.
}}
From the late eighteenth century Western European travellers began to visit Asia Minor to deepen their acquaintance with the worlds of [[Homer]] and the [[New Testament]]. In southwest Asia Minor (Lycia) they discovered inscriptions in an unknown script. The first four texts were published in 1820, and within months French Orientalist [[Antoine-Jean Saint-Martin]] used a bilingual showing individuals' names in Greek and Lycian as a key to transliterate the [[Lycian alphabet]] and determine the meaning of a few words.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Saint-Martin |title=Observations sur les inscriptions lyciennes découvertes par M. Cockerell |journal=Journal des Savans |date=1821 |issue=Avril |pages=235–248 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57228m/f231.item |access-date=2021-04-06}} (archived at BnF Gallica).</ref> During the next century the number of texts increased, especially from the 1880s when Austrian expeditions systematically combed through the region. However, attempts to translate any but the most simple texts had to remain speculative, although [[combinatorial method (linguistics)|combinatorial analysis]] of the texts cleared up some grammatical aspects of the language. The only substantial text with a Greek counterpart, the [[Xanthian Obelisk|Xanthos stele]], was hardly helpful because the Lycian text was quite heavily damaged, and worse, its Greek text does not anywhere come near to a close parallel.<ref>Neumann, Günther (1969), "Lydisch". In: ''Handbuch der Orientalistik'', II. Band, 1. und 2. Abschnitt, Lieferung 2, ''Altkleinasiatische Sprachen'', Leiden/Köln: Brill, pp. 358-396: pp. 360-371.</ref>

It was only after the decipherment of [[Hittite language|Hittite]], by [[Bedřich Hrozný]] in 1917, that a language became known that was closely related to Lycian and could help etymological interpretations of the Lycian vocabulary. A next leap forward could be made with the discovery in 1973 of the [[Letoon trilingual]] in Lycian, Greek and Aramaic.<ref>Laroche, Emmanuel (1979). "L'inscription lycienne". Fouilles de Xanthos. VI: 51-128.</ref> Though much remains unclear, comprehensive dictionaries of Lycian have been composed since by [[Craig Melchert]]<ref>Melchert, H. Craig (2004). ''A Dictionary of the Lycian Language''. Ann Arbor: Beech Stave.</ref> and [[Günter Neumann (philologist)|Günter Neumann]].<ref>Neumann, Günter & Tischler, Johann (2007). ''Glossar des lykischen''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.</ref>