Akota bronzes--a few pages please!

[Stefan Baums]

Dear Jonathan,

the Gāndhārī form devasama‐ occurs in line 11 of Seṇavarma’s
reliquary inscription, see here:

   http://ebmp.org/a_inscription.php?catid=CKI0249

In his 1986 edition of this inscription (p. 280), Rich gives some
further references. (Von Hinüber does not comment on this form in
his 2003 edition of Seṇavarma.) For the apparently Eastern sound
change of intervocalic y to v (reflected in Pali āvuso, tāvatiṃsa,
etc.) that may be operative here see von Hinüber, Älteres
Mittelindisch, § 214. This word also occurs contracted to desama-
in the Taxila silver scroll:

   http://ebmp.org/a_inscription.php?catid=CKI0060

and elsewhere, so at least in the Northwestern parts the identity
of the first part of the compound appears to have become unclear
fairly early on, making possible the (presumably) folk etymology
connecting it with deva‐.

Best wishes,
Stefan

-- 
Stefan Baums
Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington