sabi

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Attestation:	VB·11 (sabi) (1)
Language:	perhaps Ligurian
adapted to:	Latin
Word Type:	proper noun
Semantic Field:	personal name
Grammatical Categories:	gen. sg. masc.
Stem Class:	o
Morphemic Analysis:	sab-ī (?)
Phonemic Analysis:	/sabī/ (?)
Meaning:	'of Sabos' (?)

Commentary

sabi, attested in Latin script, may be an abbreviation, but is probably a genitive (cf. cesii, pusionis, )antionis, onesi). The grammar may be Latin, and the base is not likely to be Celtic either. Kretschmer 1905: 125 notes the many names in sab- attested in the Ligurian area – cf. the topo- and hydronyms listed in AcS II: 1267–1272; while some of Holder's forms in sab- may be Celtic (e.g. CIL XIII 2761 sabius), the overall picture speaks against it (cf. Meid 2005: 281). If the form is an abbrevation, Latin sabinus (attested in Castellamonte, s. Untermann 1960; 294) can be compared. A connection with sapsutai, suggested by Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 146, is improbable due to /s/ in the latter form. Cf. the possible abbreviation sa.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

AcS	Alfred Holder, Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz, Leipzig: Teubner 1896–1907.
CIL	Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. (17 volumes, various supplements)