On the second paragraph of the Great Bactrian inscription of Surkh Kotal (SK4)

Abstract

In this article, the morphosyntactic analysis of § 2 of the great Bactrian inscription of Surkh Kotal (SK4) is revisited. A threefold argument will be made: (i) that the sequence ταδιοο consists of the clause-initial conjunction ταδι “so, then” < *tā + *uti and the demonstrative pronoun οο “that, he” < *awam; (ii) that κεδο (also κεδι; κιδο) < *kahya + *uti does not function as a temporal conjunction meaning “when” but as the agent of the transitive preterite φρογιρδο “completed” < *fra-kr̥ta‑; and (iii) that the pronoun ‑ηιο in ταδηιο is not co-referential with μα λιζο “the citadel” but with the newly identified οο κεδο “he who.”