Editing Lycian language

{{Short description|Extinct Indo-European language of southwestern Anatolia}}
{{Other uses|Lycian (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Lycian
|nativename={{lang|xlc|{{Script|Lyci|𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊍𐊆}}}} {{Transliteration|xlc|''Trm̃mili''}}
|states=[[Lycia]], [[Lycaonia]]
|region=Southwestern [[Anatolia]]
|ethnicity=[[Lycians]]
|era=500 – ca. 200 BC
|ref = linglist
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Anatolian languages|Anatolian]]
|fam3=[[Anatolian languages#Luwic branch|Luwo]]-[[Lydian language|Lydian]]
|fam4=[[Anatolian languages#Luwic branch|Luwo]]-[[Palaic language|Palaic]]
|fam5=[[Anatolian languages#Luwic branch|Luwic]]
|fam6=Lyco-Carian
|fam7=Lycian–[[Sidetic language|Sidetic]]
|ancestor=[[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]
|ancestor2=[[Proto-Anatolian language|Proto-Anatolian]]
|iso3=xlc
|glotto=lyci1241
|glottorefname=Lycian A
|linglist=xlc
|imagecaption=Xanthos stele with Lycian inscriptions
|image=Lycian inscription at Xanthos.jpg
|imagesize=
|script=[[Lycian script]]
}}
{{Contains special characters|Uncommon Unicode}}
The '''Lycian language''' ({{lang|xlc|{{Script|Lyci|𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊍𐊆}}}} {{Transliteration|xlc|''Trm̃mili''}})<ref name=bry30>Bryce (1986) page 30.</ref> was the language of the ancient [[Lycians]] who occupied the [[Anatolia]]n region known during the [[Iron Age]] as [[Lycia]]. Most texts date back to the fifth and fourth century BC. Two languages are known as Lycian: regular Lycian or Lycian A, and Lycian B or [[Milyan language|Milyan]].
Lycian became extinct around the beginning of the first century&nbsp;BC, replaced by the [[Ancient Greek language]] during the [[Hellenization]] of Anatolia. Lycian had its [[Lycian script|own alphabet]], which was closely related to the [[Greek alphabet]] but included at least one character borrowed from [[Carian language|Carian]] as well as characters proper to the language. The words were often separated by two points.

==Area==
Lycia covered the region lying between the modern cities of [[Antalya]] and [[Fethiye]] in southern [[Turkey]], especially the mountainous headland between Fethiye Bay and the Gulf of Antalya. The ''[[Lukka]]'', as they were referred to in ancient [[Egypt]]ian sources, which mention them among the [[Sea Peoples]], probably also inhabited the region called [[Lycaonia]], located along the next headland to the east, also mountainous, between the modern cities of Antalya and [[Mersin]].

== Discovery and decipherment ==
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| caption_align = center
| 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>

==Sources==
[[File:Lycian inscriptions.png|thumb|Map showing places where Lycian inscriptions have been found.]]Lycian is known from these sources, some of them fairly extensive:<ref>Adiego (2007) page 764.</ref><ref>Bryce (1986) page 42.</ref><ref>Christiansen, Birgit (2019), ''Editions of Lycian Inscriptions not Included in Melchert’s Corpus from 2001'', in: {{cite book |last1=Adiego (et al., eds.) |first1=Ignasi-Xavier |title=Luwic dialects and Anatolian. Inheritance and diffusion |date=2019 |publisher=Universitat de Barcelona |location=Barcelona |isbn=978-84-9168-414-5 |pages=65–134 |url=http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/149564/5/9788491684145%20%28Creative%20Commons%29.pdf |access-date=2021-10-26}}</ref>
* 172 inscriptions on stone in the [[Lycian script]] dating from the 5th and 4th&nbsp;century BC (until ca. 330&nbsp;BC).<ref>Bryce (1986) pp. 50, 54.</ref> They include:
** The [[Xanthus stele]]. The inscribed upper part of a tomb at Xanthos, called the Xanthus Stele or the Xanthus Obelisk. A Lycian&nbsp;A inscription covers the south, east and part of the north faces. The north side also contains a 12&nbsp;line poem in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] and additional text, found mainly on the west side, in Milyan. Milyan appears only there and on a tomb in [[Antiphellos]]. The total number of lines on the stele is 255, including 138 in Lycian A, 12 in Greek, and 105 in Milyan.
** The [[Letoon trilingual]], in Lycian&nbsp;A, Greek and Aramaic.
** 150 burial instructions carved on rock tombs.
** 20 votive or dedicatory inscriptions.
* About 100 inscriptions on coins minted at [[Xanthos|Xanthus]] from the reign of Kuprili, 485-440&nbsp;BC, to the reign of Pericle, 380-360&nbsp;BC.<ref>Bryce (1986) pages 51–52.</ref>
* Personal and place names in Greek.

==Sample text==
[[Image:LycianScripture GeorgeEBean.jpg|thumb|400px|right|An epitaph in the Lycian language, which reads:
{{fs interlinear
|𐊁𐊂𐊚𐊑𐊏𐊚: 𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀𐊇𐊒: 𐊎𐊚𐊏: 𐊁𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀𐊇𐊀𐊗𐊚: 𐊛𐊀𐊏𐊀𐊅𐊀𐊈𐊀: 𐊛𐊕𐊓𐊓𐊆𐊍𐊀𐊅𐊆: 𐊁𐊛𐊂𐊆: 𐊖𐊁𐊗𐊆𐊅𐊁𐊆𐊎𐊁
|ebẽñnẽ prñnawu mẽn. {e prñnawatẽ} hanadaza {hrppi ladi} ehbi setideime
|"Hanadaza built this building for his wife and sons."}}]]
A Lycian epitaph (shown right): {{lang|xlc|{{Script|Lyci|𐊁𐊂𐊚𐊑𐊏𐊚: 𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊓𐊇𐊒: 𐊎𐊚𐊏: 𐊁𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀𐊥𐊀𐊗𐊚: 𐊛𐊀𐊏𐊀𐊅𐊀𐊈𐊀: 𐊛𐊕𐊓𐊓𐊆𐊍𐊀𐊅𐊆: 𐊁𐊛𐊂𐊆: 𐊖𐊁𐊗𐊆𐊅𐊁𐊆𐊎𐊁}}}}

Transliteration: Ebẽñnẽ prñnawu mẽn e prñnawatẽ hanadaza hrppi ladi ehbi setideime.

Translation: Hanadaza built this building for his wife and sons.

== Lycian alphabet ==
{{main|Lycian alphabet}}
The Lycian alphabet consists of about 29 signs, many of them reminiscent of the [[Greek alphabet]]:

{| class="wikitable"
! Lycian sign
| {{Script|Lyci|𐊀}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊂}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊄}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊅}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊆}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊇}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊈}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊛}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊉}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊊}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊋}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊍}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊎}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊏}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊒}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊓}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊔}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊕}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊖}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊗}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊁}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊙}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊚}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊐}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊑}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊘}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊌}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊃}} || {{Script|Lyci|𐊜}}
|-
! transcription
| a || b || g || d || i || w || z || h || θ || j (y) || k || l || m || n || u || p || κ (c) || r || s || t || e || ã || ẽ || m̃ || ñ || τ || q || β || χ
|-
! pronounced ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
| /a/ || /β/ || /ɣ/ || /ð/ || /i/, /ĩ/ || /w/ || /t͡s/ || /h/ || /θ/ || /j/ || /kʲ~ɡʲ/ || /l/, /l̩~əl/ || /m/ || /n/ || /u/, /ũ/ || /p~b/ || /k/?, /kʲ/?, /h(e)/? || /r/, /r̩~ər/ || /s/ || /t/ || /e/ || /ã/ || /ẽ/ || /m̩~əm/, /m./ || /n̩~ən/, /n./ || /tʷ/? /t͡ʃ/? || /k/? /kʷ/?|| /k/? /kʷ/? /ç/? || /q/? /kʷ/?
|-
! [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] equivalent
| Α || Β || Γ || Δ || Ε || Ϝ || Ζ || Η || Θ || Ι || Κ || Λ || Μ || Ν || Ο || Π || Ϙ || Ρ || Σ || Τ ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || || Ψ
|}

==Classification==
[[File:Lycian alphabet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|Lycian alphabet: an early attempt at transliteration]]
Lycian was an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language, one in the [[Luwian language|Luwian]] subgroup of [[Anatolian languages]]. A number of principal features help identify Lycian as being in the Luwian group:<ref>Adiego (2007) page 765.</ref>
* [[Assibilation]] of [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) [[palatals]] (''[[Centum and satem languages|satem]]'' change): ''*h₁éḱwos'' to Luwian ''á-zú-wa/i-'', Lycian ''esbe'' 'horse'.
* Replacement of [[genitive case]] with adjectives ending in ''-ahi'' or ''-ehi'', Luwian ''-assi-''.
* A [[preterite]] [[Grammatical voice|active]] formed with PIE [[Ancient Greek grammar#Verbs|secondary]] [[Grammatical voice#The middle voice|middle]] endings:
**PIE ''*-to'' to Luwian ''-ta'', Lycian ''-te'' or ''-de'' in the [[Grammatical person|third person]] singular
**PIE ''*-nto'' to Luwian ''-nta'', Lycian ''-(n)te'' in the third person plural
* Similarity of words: Luwian ''māssan(i)-'', Lycian ''māhān(i)'' 'god'.

The Luwian subgroup also includes cuneiform and hieroglyphic Luwian, [[Carian language|Carian]], [[Sidetic]], [[Milyan language|Milyan]] and [[Pisidian language|Pisidic]].<ref>Adiego (2007) page 763.</ref> The pre-alphabetic forms of Luwian extended back into the [[Late Bronze Age]] and preceded the fall of the [[Hittite Empire]]. These vanished at about the time of the [[Neo-Hittite]] states in southern Anatolia (and [[Syria]]); thus, the Iron Age members of the subgroup are localized daughter languages of Luwian.

Of the Luwic languages, only the Luwian parent language is attested prior to 1000&nbsp;BC, so it is unknown when the classical-era dialects diverged. Whether the [[Lukka]] people always resided in southern Anatolia or whether they always spoke Luwian are different topics.

From the inscriptions, scholars have identified at least two languages that were termed ''Lycian''. One is considered standard Lycian, also termed Lycian&nbsp;A; the other, which is attested on side D of the [[Xanthos]] stele, is [[Milyan language|Milyan]] or Lycian B, separated by its grammatical particularities.

== Phonology ==
=== Vowels ===
{|
|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Oral vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[High vowel|High]]
|{{IPA link|i}} {{grapheme|𐊆; i}}
|{{IPA link|u}} {{grapheme|𐊒; u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}} {{grapheme|𐊁; e}}
|
|-
![[Low vowel|Low]]
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ä|a}} {{grapheme|𐊀; a}}
|}
|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Nasal vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
|-
![[High vowel|High]]
|({{IPA link|ĩ}} {{grapheme|𐊆𐊑; ĩ}})
|({{IPA link|ũ}} {{grapheme|𐊒𐊑; ũ}})
|-
![[Close vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|ẽ}} {{grapheme|𐊚; ẽ}}
|
|-
![[Low vowel|Low]]
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ã}} {{grapheme|𐊙; ã}}
|}
|}

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Labialized velar consonant|Labio-<br>velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!<small>plain</small>
!<small>[[Labialization|lab.]]</small>
!<small>plain</small>
!<small>[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]</small>
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}} {{grapheme|𐊎; m}}
|
|{{IPA link|n}} {{grapheme|𐊏; n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Plosive]]
|{{IPA link|p}} {{grapheme|𐊓; p}}
|
|{{IPA link|t}} {{grapheme|𐊗; t}}
|{{IPA link|tʷ}}? {{grapheme|𐊘; τ}}
|{{IPA link|c}} {{grapheme|𐊔; c}}
|{{IPA link|k}} {{grapheme|𐊌; q}}
|{{IPA link|kʲ}} {{grapheme|𐊋; k}}
|{{IPA link|kʷ}} {{grapheme|𐊃; β}}
|{{IPA link|q}} {{grapheme|𐊜; χ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Affricate]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|t͡s}} {{grapheme|𐊈; z}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
!<small>voiceless</small>
|
|{{IPA link|θ}} {{grapheme|𐊉; θ}}
|{{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|𐊖; s}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|{{IPA link|h}} {{grapheme|𐊛; h}}
|-
!<small>voiced</small>
|{{IPA link|β}} {{grapheme|𐊂; b}}
|{{IPA link|ð}} {{grapheme|𐊅; d}}
|
|
|
|{{IPA link|ɣ}} {{grapheme|𐊄; g}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|r}} {{grapheme|𐊕; r}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|l}} {{grapheme|𐊍; l}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|
|
|
|
|{{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|𐊊; y}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|w}} {{grapheme|𐊇; w}}
|
|
|}

*Melchert reconstructs /{{IPA link|k}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊌}}, /{{IPA link|kʷ}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊃}}, /{{IPA link|q}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊜}} and /{{IPA link|θ}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊉}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Melchert |first=Craig H. |title=Lycian |publisher=Cambridge: Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |location=In Woodard, Roger D. (ed.), The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor |pages=46–55}}</ref> Kloekhorst instead proposes /{{IPA link|kʷ}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊌}}, /{{IPA link|ç}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊃}}, /{{IPA link|k}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊜}} and /{{IPA link|t}}{{IPA link|h}}/ for {{grapheme|𐊉}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kloekhorst |first1=Alwin |title=Studies in Lycian and Carian Phonology and Morphology |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/KADMOS.2008.011/html |journal=Kadmos | date=February 2009 |access-date=2025-01-21}}</ref>
*{{grapheme|𐊘}} alternates with {{grapheme|𐊗}} and represents a transitional sound between /{{IPA link|t}}/ and /{{IPA link|kʷ}}/. Based on this, Melchert suggested a phonetic value [{{IPA link|tʷ}}] for {{grapheme|𐊘}} but later retracted this view.<ref name=":0" />
*Lycian stops (represented by {{grapheme|𐊓}}, {{grapheme|𐊗}}, {{grapheme|𐊘}}, {{grapheme|𐊔}}, {{grapheme|𐊌}}, {{grapheme|𐊋}}, {{grapheme|𐊜}} and possibly {{grapheme|𐊃}}) are voiced when after nasal consonants and voiceless otherwise.
*Nasal and liquid sounds can also occur as syllabic {{IPA|/m̩, n̩, l̩, r̩/}}, and with {{IPA|/m̩, n̩/}} being written as ''m̃'' {{grapheme|𐊐}} and ''ñ'' {{grapheme|𐊑}} respectively.<ref name=":0" />

== Grammar ==
=== Nouns ===
Nouns and adjectives distinguish [[grammatical number|singular and plural]] forms. A [[dual (grammatical number)|dual]] has not been found in Lycian. There are two [[grammatical gender|genders]]: animate (or 'common') and inanimate (or 'neuter'). Instead of the [[genitive case|genitive]] singular case normally a so-called [[possessive]] (or "genitival adjective") is used, as is common practice in the [[Luwic languages]]: a suffix -(e)h- is added to the root of a substantive, and thus an adjective is formed that is declined in turn.

Nouns can be divided in five declension groups: ''a''-stems, ''e''-stems, ''i''-stems, consonant stems, and mixed stems; the differences between the groups are very minor. The declension of nouns goes as follows:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laroche |first1=Emmanuel |title=L'inscription lycienne |journal=Fouilles de Xanthos |date=1979 |volume=VI |pages=51-128: 87, 119-122}}</ref><ref name="kloekhorst2013">{{cite journal |last1=Kloekhorst |first1=Alwin |title=Ликийский язык (The Lycian language), in: Языки мира: Реликтовые индоевропейские языки Передней и Центральной Азии (Languages of the World: Relict Indo-European languages of Western and Central Asia) |journal=Языки Мира: Реликтовые Индоевропейские Языки Передней И Центральной Азии &#91;"Languages of the World: Relict Indo-European Languages of Western and Central Asia"&#93; (Edd. Y.b. Koryakov & A.a. Kibrik), Moscow, 2013, 131-154 |date=2013 |publisher=Москва Academia |location=Moscow |pages=131–154 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5549740 |access-date=2021-04-17}}  (in Russian)</ref><ref name="didier">{{cite journal |last1=Calin |first1=Didier |title=A short English-Lycian/Milyan lexicon |url=https://www.academia.edu/38134494 |website=Academia |date=January 2019 |access-date=2021-04-21}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | case
! colspan="2" | ending
! ''lada''<br>'wife, lady' !! ''tideimi''<br>'son, child' || ''tuhes''<br>'nephew, niece' || ''tese''<br>'vow, oath' || ''atlahi''<br>'own'
|-
! animate || inanimate || (a-stem) || (i/e-stem) || (consonant stem) || (inanimate) || (adjective){{efn|''atlahi'' is the possessive derivative of ''atla'', 'person'.}}
|-
| valign="top" rowspan="6" | Singular || [[nominative case|Nominative]] || align="center" | -Ø, -s || align="center" rowspan="2" | -~, -Ø, -yẽ || lad'''a''' || tideim'''i''' || tuhe'''s''' || rowspan="2" | (tese) || atlah'''i'''
|-
| [[accusative case|Accusative]] || align="center" | -~, -u, -ñ || lad'''ã''', lad'''u''' || tideim'''i''' || tuhe'''sñ''' || atlah'''i'''
|-
| [[ergative case|Ergative]] || align="center" | — || align="center" | ? ||  ||  ||  || || 
|-
| [[dative case|Dative]] || colspan="2" align="center" | -i || lad'''i''' || tideim'''i''' || tuhe'''si''' || || atlah'''i'''
|-
| [[locative case|Locative]] || colspan="2" align="center" | -a, -e, -i || (lada) || (tideime) ||  || tes'''i''' || (atlahi)
|-
| [[genitive case|Genitive]] || colspan="2" align="center" | -Ø, -h(e);<br>[[Possessive]]: -(e)he-, -(e)hi- || (Poss.:) laθ'''θi''' ||  || || ||
|-
| SIng., Pl. || [[ablative case|Ablative]]-[[instrumental case|instrumental]] || align="center" colspan="2" | -di || (ladadi) || (tideimedi) || tuhe'''di''' || ||
|-
| valign="top" rowspan="6" | Plural || Nominative || align="center" | ~-i || align="center" rowspan="2" | -a || lad'''ãi''' ||  tideim'''i''' || tuh'''ẽi''' || rowspan="2" | tas'''a''' ||
|-
| Accusative || align="center" | -s || lad'''as''' || tideim'''is''' || ||
|-
| Ergative || align="center" | — || align="center" | -ẽti ||  ||  ||  || tes'''ẽti''', tes'''eti''' || 
|-
| Dative/Locative || colspan="2" align="center" | -e, -a || lad'''a''' || tideim'''e''' || tuhe || tes'''e''' || atlah'''e'''
|-
| Genitive || colspan="2" align="center" | -ẽ, -ãi || lad'''ãi''' (?) || tideim'''ẽ''' ||  ||  ||
|}
{{notelist}}

=== Pronouns ===
==== Demonstrative pronoun ====
The paradigm for the demonstrative pronoun ''ebe'', "this" is:<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: p. 386.</ref><ref name="didier"/>

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | case
! colspan="2" | Singular
! colspan="2" | Plural
|-
! {{small|animate}} || {{small|inanimate}}
! {{small|animate}} || {{small|inanimate}}
|-
| Nominative || align="center" | ebe || rowspan="2" align="center" | eb'''ẽ''' || align="center" | eb'''ẽi''' || rowspan="2" align="center" | ebe'''ija'''
|-
| Accusative || align="center" | eb'''ẽ''', ebe'''ñnẽ''', eb'''ẽñni''' || align="center" | ebe'''is''', ebe'''ijes'''
|-
| Dative / Locative || colspan="2" align="center" | ebe'''hi''' || colspan="2" align="center" | ebe'''tte'''
|-
| Genitive || colspan="2" align="center" | (Possessive:) ebe'''hi''' || colspan="2" align="center" | eb'''ẽhẽ'''
|-
| Ablative / Instrumental || colspan="2" align="center" | ? || colspan="2" align="center" | ?
|}

==== Personal pronoun ====
The demonstrative ''ebe'', 'this', is also used as a personal pronoun: 'this one', therefore 'he, she, it'. Here is a paradigm of all attested personal pronouns:<ref name="didier"/>
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | case
! rowspan="2" | ''ẽmu, amu''<br>'I'
! rowspan="2" | ''ẽmi-''<br>'my'
! rowspan="2" | ''eb(e)-''<br>'he, she, it'
! colspan="2" | ''ehbi(je)-''<br>'his'
! colspan="2" | ''epttehe/i-, eb(e)ttehe/i-''<br>'their'
|-
! {{small|animate}} || {{small|inanimate}}
! {{small|animate}} || {{small|inanimate}}
|-
| rowspan="5" | Singular || Nominative || rowspan="2" | ẽmu, amu || rowspan="2" | ẽmi || ebe || rowspan="2" | ehbi || rowspan="2" | ehbijẽ || ebttehi ||rowspan="2" |
|-
| Accusative || ebñnẽ ||
|-
| Genitive ||  ||  ||  || colspan="2" align="center" | (Possessive:) ehbijehi || colspan="2" | 
|-
| Dative || emu ||  ||  || colspan="2" align="center" | ehbi || colspan="2" align="center" | ebttehi
|-
| Ablative/Instrumental ||  ||  ||  || colspan="2" align="center" | ehbijedi || colspan="2" | 
|-
| rowspan="5" | Plural || Nominative ||  ||  ||  || ehbi || rowspan="2" | ehbija || ebttehi
|-
| Accusative ||  || ẽmis ||  || ehbis || ebttehis
|-
| Genitive ||  ||  ||  || colspan="2" |  || colspan="2" | 
|-
| Dative / Locative ||  ||  || ebtte || colspan="2" align="center" | ehbije || colspan="2" align="center" | epttehe 
|}

==== Other pronouns ====
Other pronouns are:<ref name="didier"/>
* [[relative pronoun|Relative]] or [[interrogative word|interrogative]] pronouns: ''ti-'', 'who, which'; ''teri'' or ''ẽke'', 'when'; ''teli'', 'where'; ''km̃mẽt(i)-'', 'how many' (also indefinite: 'however many').
* [[indefinite pronoun|Indefinite]] pronouns: ''tike-'', 'someone, something'; ''tise'', 'anyone, anything'; ''tihe'', 'any'.
* [[reflexive pronoun|Reflexive]] pronoun: ''-ti'' ([[suffix]]ed), 'himself'.

=== Numerals ===
The following [[numeral (linguistics)|numerals]] are attested:<ref name="didier"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|- 
! !! [[cardinal number]] !! '' 'x-fold' '' !! '' 'x-year-old' '' !! also attested
|-
| ''two'' || [kbi-] || '''tu'''pm̃me-, 'twofold, pair'  || '''kbi'''sñne/i-, 'two-year-old' || '''kbi'''hu, 'twice'; '''kbi'''jẽt(i)-, 'double'; <br>'''kbi-''', '''kbije-''', '(an-)other'; '''kbi'''sñtãta, 'twenty'
|-
| ''three'' || teri- || '''tr'''ppem-, 'threefold (?)' || '''tri'''sñne/i-, 'three-year-old' || (''[[Milyan language|Milyan]]'':) '''tr'''isu, 'thrice'
|-
| ''four'' || mupm̃m[- || '''mu'''pm̃m[-, 'four, fourfold' ||  || 
|-
| ''eight'' || aitãta ||  ||  || 
|-
| ''nine'' || nuñtãta ||  ||  || 
|-
| ''twelve'' || qñnãkba ||  ||  || (''Milyan'':) '''qñnãtb'''isu, 'twelve times'
|-
| ''twenty'' || kbisñtãta ||  ||  || 
|}

=== Verbs ===
Just as in other Anatolian languages (Luwian, Lydian) verbs in Lycian were conjugated in the present-future and preterite tenses and in the imperative with three persons singular and plural. Some endings have many variants, due to [[nasalization]] (''-a- → -añ-, -ã-; -e- → -eñ-, -ẽ-''), [[lenition]] (''-t- → -d-''), [[gemination]] (''-t- → -tt-; -d- → -dd-''), and [[vowel harmony|vowel harmonization]] (''-a- → -e-'':  ''prñn'''a'''wãtẽ → prñn'''e'''wãtẽ'').

About a dozen [[grammatical conjugation|conjugations]] can be distinguished, on the basis of (1) the verbal root ending (''a''-stems, consonant stems, ''-ije''-stems, etc.), and (2) the endings of the third person singular being either unlenited (present ''-ti''; preterite ''-te''; imperative ''-tu'') or lenited (''-di''; ''-de''; ''-du''). For example, ''prñnawa-''<sup>(ti)</sup> (to build) is an unlenited ''a''-stem (''prñnawati'', he builds), ''a(i)-''<sup>(di)</sup> (to make) is a lenited ''a(i)''-stem (''adi'', he makes). Differences between the various conjugations are minor.

Verbs are conjugated as follows; Mediopassive ''(MP)'' forms <span style="color:#a06000;">are in brown</span>:<ref>Billings, Nils Oscar Paul. "Finite verb formation in Lycian" (thesis), Leiden 2019.</ref><ref name="sass2020">{{cite book |last1=Sasseville |first1=David |title=Anatolian Verbal Stem Formation: Luwian, Lycian and Lydian |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden / Boston |isbn=9789004436282 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! width="20%" colspan=3 rowspan=2 |
! width="11%" | Active
! width="11%" | <span style="color:#a06000;">Mediopassive</span>
! width="11%" | ''prñnawa-''<sup>(ti)</sup> !! width="11%" | ''(t)ta-''<sup>(di)</sup> !! width="11%" | ''a(i)-''<sup>(di)</sup> !! width="11%" | ''(h)ha-''<sup>(ti)</sup> !! width="11%" | <span style="color:#a06000;">''si-''<sup>(?)</sup></span>
|-
! ending || <span style="color:#a06000;">ending</span>
! 'to build' || 'to put, place' || 'to make, do' || 'to release' || <span style="color:#a06000;">'to lie' (''MP'')</span>
|-
| rowspan="6" valign="top" | Present / <br />future || rowspan="3" valign="top" | Singular || 1 || align="center" | -u (-w) || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">-xani, -xãni</span> ||  ||  ||  ||  || <span style="color:#a06000;">si'''xani'''</span>
|-
| 2 || align="center" | ? || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> ||  ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
| 3 || align="center" | -di, -(t)ti, -i, -e || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">-ẽni, -tẽni</span> || prñnawa'''ti''' || (t)ta'''di''' || a'''di''', '''edi''' || ha'''di''', ha'''ti''' || <span style="color:#a06000;">sij'''ẽni''', sij'''eni''', sit'''ẽni'''</span>
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | Plural || 1 || align="center" | ? || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
| 2 || align="center" | (-tẽni ?) || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> ||  ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
| 3 || align="center" | ~-ti, -(i)ti, -ñti || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">~-tẽni (?)</span> ||  || t'''ãti''' (t'''ẽti''') || ai'''ti''' || (h)h'''ãti''', (h)ha'''ti''' || <span style="color:#a06000;">si'''tẽni''' (?)</span>
|-
| rowspan="4" valign="top" | Preterite || rowspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || 1 || align="center" | -(x)xa, -xã, -ga, -ax(a) || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">-xagã, -xaga (?)</span> || prñnawa'''xã''', -wa'''xa''' || ta'''xa''' || a'''xa''', a'''ga''', a'''xã''', a'''gã'''; <br /><span style="color:#a06000;">(''MP:'') a'''xagã''', a'''xaga'''</span> ||  ||
|-
| 3 || align="center" | -tẽ, -(t)te, -dẽ, -de || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">(-tte ?)</span> || prñnawa'''tẽ''', -wa'''te''' (-w'''etẽ''', -we'''te''') || ta'''dẽ''', ta'''de''' (te'''tẽ''' ?) || a'''dẽ'''. a'''de''' (e'''de''', a'''da''') || ha'''dẽ''', ha'''de''' ||
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | Plural || 1 || align="center" | ? || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> ||  ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
| 3 || align="center" | ~-tẽ, -(i)tẽ, -(i)te, ~-te, -ñtẽ, -ñte || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> || prñnaw'''ãtẽ''', -w'''ãte'''; prñn'''e'''w'''ãtẽ''' || t'''ete''' || ai'''tẽ''', ai'''te''' || h'''ãtẽ''', hã'''te''' ||
|-
| rowspan="5" valign="top" | Imperative || rowspan="3" valign="top" | Singular || 1 || align="center" | -lu (?)<ref name="lycb">Only attested in [[Milyan language|Lycian B]].</ref> || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> || || || || ||
|-
| 2 || align="center" | -Ø<ref name="lycb" /> || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> || || || || ||
|-
| 3 || align="center" | -(t)tu, -du, -u || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">(-tẽnu ?)</span> ||  || ta'''tu''' ||  || ha'''du''' ||
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | Plural || 2 || align="center" | (-tẽnu ?) || align="center | <span style="color:#a06000;">(-tẽnu ?)</span> ||  ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
| 3 || align="center | ~-tu || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">(~-tẽnu ?)</span> ||  || t'''ãtu''', ta'''tu''' ||  ||  ||
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | Participle Active <span style="color:#a06000;">(Passive?)</span> || colspan="2" | Singular || colspan="2" align="center" | -mi, ~-mi, -me, -ma ||  ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
| colspan="2" | Plural || colspan="2" align="center" | -mi ||  ||  || (''acc. neutr.:'') '''eim̃''' || <span style="color:#a06000;">(''accusative:'') h'''m̃mis'''</span> ||
|-
| colspan="3" | Infinitive || align="center | -ne, ~-ne, -na, ~-na || align="center" | <span style="color:#a06000;">?</span> ||  || (t)t'''ãne''', ta'''ne''', tt'''ãna''' ||  || ha'''ne''', hã'''ne''', hhã'''na''' ||
|}

A [[suffix]] -s- (cognate with Greek, Latin -/sk/-), appended to the stem and attested with half a dozen verbs, is thought to make a verb [[iterative]]:<ref name="didier" /><ref>Billings (2019), pp. 116-118.</ref>
: stem ''a(i)-'', 'to do, to make', ''s''-stem ''a'''s'''-''; (Preterite 3 Singular:) ''ade, adẽ'', 'he did, made', ''a'''s'''tte'', 'he always did, has made repeatedly';
: stem ''tuwe-'', 'to erect, place (upright)', ''s''-stem ''tu'''s'''-''; (Present/future 3 Plural:) ''tuwẽti'', 'they erect', ''tu'''s'''ñti '', 'they will erect repeatedly'.

=== Syntax ===
[[Emmanuel Laroche]], who analysed the Lycian text of the Letoon trilingual,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laroche |first1=Emmanuel |title=L'inscription lycienne |journal=Fouilles de Xanthos |date=1979 |volume=VI |pages=51–128: 95–98}}</ref> concluded that word order in Lycian is slightly more free than in the other Anatolian languages.  Sentences in plain text mostly have the structure
: ''ipc (initial particle cluster) - V (Verb) - S (Subject) - O (direct Object)''.

The verb immediately follows an "initial particle cluster", consisting of a more or less meaningless particle "''se-''" or "''me-''" (literally, 'and') followed by a series of up to three suffixes, often called emphatics. The function of some of these suffixes is mysterious, but others have been identified as pronomina like "he", "it", or "them". The subject, direct object, or indirect object of the sentence may thus proleptically be referred to in the initial particle cluster. As an example, the sentence "X built a house" might in Lycian be structured: "and-he-it / he-built / X / a-house".

Other constituents of a sentence, like an indirect object, predicate, or complimentary adjuncts, can be placed anywhere after the verb.

Contrary to this pattern, funeral inscriptions as a rule have a standard form with the object at the head of the sentence: "This tomb built X"; literally: "This tomb / it / he built / X" (order: ''O - ipc - V - S''). Laroche suspects the reason for this deviation to be that in this way emphasis fell on the funerary object: "This object, it was built by X". Example:<ref>Inscription TL 19 from Pinara.</ref>

::{| valign="top"
|1.
||| ''ebẽñnẽ prñnawã <u>'''mẽti'''</u> prñnawatẽ''
|| This building, [it was] <u>'''he who'''</u> built <u>'''it'''</u>:
|- valign="top"
|2.
||| ''xisteriya xzzbãzeh tideimi''
|| Qisteria, Qtsbatse's son,
|- valign="top"
|3.
||| ''hrppi ladi ehbi se tideime'' 
|| for his wife and for the sons.
|}

In line 1 ''mẽti = m-ẽ-ti'' is the initial particle cluster, where ''m- = me-'' is the neutral "steppingstone" to which two suffixes are affixed: ''-ẽ-'' = "it", and the [[relative pronoun]] ''-ti'', "who, he who".

==== Subject-verb-object hypothesis ====
Kim McCone proposed in the 1970s that Lycian's unmarked word order was instead [[subject-verb-object]]. The apparent VSO and OVS orders come from various frontings and [[Dislocation (syntax)|dislocation]]s of a basic SVO structure.

Lycian's SVO is itself a shift from the typical Anatolian [[subject-object-verb]] order, of which Lycian preverbal object pronouns like ''ẽ'' "him/her/it" would be a relic.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCone|first=Kim|section=The Diachronic Possibilities of the IE "Amplified" Sentence| editor-first=Bela | editor-last=Brogyanyi | title=Studies in Diachronic, Synchronic, and Typological Linguistics: Festschrift for Oswald Szemerényi on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday | publisher=John Benjamins | series=Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science | year=1979 | isbn=978-90-272-3504-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_drSeCMfIkEC | access-date=May 9, 2022 | page=}}</ref>

{{interlinear
| indent = 1.6|mexisttẽn ẽ-ep[i]tuwe-te|Megasthenes.NOM it-set.up.PRET-3sg|Megasthenes set it up…
}}

In spite of McCone's alternative analysis, the assumption that [[verb-subject-object]] was Lycian's unmarked word order went unchallenged until the 2010s, when [[Alwin Kloekhorst]] independently formulated and adopted the SVO hypothesis. This led to other linguists like Heiner Eichner and H. Craig Melchert to adopt the SVO hypothesis after him.<ref name="Melchert 2021">{{cite journal|last=Melchert|first=H. Craig|title=Lycian relative clauses|journal=Hungarian Assyriological Review|volume=2|issue=1|year=2021|pages=65–75 |doi=10.52093/hara-202101-00013-000|location=Budapest|s2cid=249356921 |url=https://harjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/harassets/har202101-00013.pdf}}</ref> The principal unmarked example cited by SVO supporters comes from the following sentence:<ref>Inscription TL 40 from Xanthos.</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=1.6
|pajawa m[a]n[ax]ine: prñnawa-te: prñnaw-ã ebẽ-ñnẽ:
|Pajawa.NOM Manaxine build.PRET-3sg building-ACC this-ACC
|Pajawa Manaxine built this building. (Note the absence of the initial particle cluster.)
}}

Further examples of subject-initial unmarked clauses cited by Melchert include:<ref name="Melchert 2021"/>

{{interlinear|indent=1.6
|tebursseli prñnawa-te lusñ[tr]e ẽti waziss-e
|Tebursseli.NOM build.PRET-3sg Lysander.GEN at leadership-LOC
|Tebursseli built (this tomb) under Lysander's leadership.<ref>Inscription TL 104 from Limyra.</ref>
}}
{{interlinear|indent=1.6
|upazij ẽne-prñnawa-te hrppi prñnezi ehbi
|Upazij.NOM it-build.PRET-3sg for household his.DAT
|Upazij built it for his household.<ref>Inscription TL 31 from Kadyanda.</ref>
}}

==Endonym==
A few [[etymology|etymological]] studies of the Lycian language [[Exonym and endonym|endonym]] exist, namely:<ref name=bry30/>
* '''Language of the mountain people''' ([[Emmanuel Laroche|Laroche]]): Luwian tarmi- "pointed object" becomes a hypothetical *tarmašši- "mountainous" used in Trm̃mis- "Lycia." Lycia and [[Pisidia]] each had a hill-town named Termessos.
* '''Attarima''' (Carruba): A previously unknown [[Late Bronze Age]] place name among the [[Lukka]].
* '''Termilae''' ([[Trevor R. Bryce|Bryce]]): A people displaced from [[Crete]] about 1600&nbsp;BC.
* '''Termera''' ([[Strabo]]<ref>Strabo 7.7.1, 13.1.59.</ref>): A [[Leleges|Lelege]] people displaced by the [[Trojan War]], first settling in [[Caria]] and assigning such names as Telmessos, Termera, Termerion, Termeros, Termilae, then displaced to Lycia by the [[Ionians]].<ref>Strabo 14.1.3, 14.2.18.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia}}
* [[Letoon trilingual]]
* [[Lycia]]
* [[Lycian script]]
* [[Anatolian languages]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==External links==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |title=Digital etymological-philological Dictionary of the Ancient Anatolian Corpus Languages (eDiAna) |url=http://www.ediana.gwi.uni-muenchen.de |publisher=[[Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München]]}}
* {{cite web |url=http://indoeuro.bizland.com/tree/anat/lycian.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051016055107/http://indoeuro.bizland.com/tree/anat/lycian.html |archive-date=2005-10-16 |df=dmy-all |title=The Lycian language}}
* {{cite web |url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2939.pdf#search='lycian%20language' |title=Working group document on encoding the Lycian script}} in the [[Universal Character Set]]
* {{cite web |url=http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/anatol/lycian/lyccolex.htm |title=Lycian text |publisher=University of Frankfurt}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Adiego |first=I.J. |translator=Markham, Chris |contribution=Greek and Lycian |year=2007 |title=A History of Ancient Greek From the Beginning to Late Antiquity |editor1-last=Christidis |editor1-first=A.F. |editor2-last=Arapopoulou |editor2-first=Maria|editor3-last=Chriti |editor3-first=Maria |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83307-3}}
* {{cite book |first=Trevor R. |last=Bryce |authorlink=Trevor R. Bryce
|volume=I |title=The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |year=1986 |isbn=87-7289-023-1}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Goldstein, David M. "Object agreement in Lycian". In: ''Historische Sprachforschung'' Vol. 127, Number 1 (2014): 101-124. 10.13109/hisp.2014.127.1.101 [https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/abs/10.13109/hisp.2014.127.1.101#.XV3I-y2ZM8Y]
* {{cite journal |last=Patri |first=Sylvain |title=Les nasales syllabiques en lycien |journal=Kadmos |volume=62 |issue=1-2 |date=2023 |pages=131–160 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2023-0007}}
* {{cite journal |last=Patri |first=Sylvain |title=Voyelles nasales et voyelles nasalisées en lycien |journal=Kadmos |volume=62 |issue=1-2 |date=2023 |pages=161–192 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2023-0008}}
{{refend}}

{{Anatolian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lycian Language}}
[[Category:Lycian language]]
[[Category:Anatolian languages]]