Milyan dialectal divergence and its traces in onomastics

Abstract

Abstract Taking as a starting point the discussion of the emendation of xina ‘grandmother’ in Schurr’s latest edition of the Milyan version of the Xanthos Pillar (Schurr 2018), this article deals with two different equations Mil. : Lyc. and Lyc. : Lyc. , argued to share the same phonetic trigger ie. the presence of an alveolar nasal, and explores the phonetic correlation through establishing new cognates between the two languages, or by adding new evidence to old open questions such as the phonetic value of or the likely interchangeability of , and . The Greek adaptation of the onomastic material will allow the phonetic nature of the nasal in the cluster /xnt-/ (Lyc. xñtawati- ‘ruler’, cf. Luw. handawat(i)-): Gr. Κενδ-, Κινδ-, Κονδ- to be addressed, and ultimately compare the phonetic developments of Lycian and Milyan with its possible traces in the Greek sources of classical Lycia.