Greetings, Teemings!
I have a very obscure issue which I hope someone here can help me resolve.
I’m working on a writing project set in the late 2nd/early 3rd century CE and am using Anthony Birley’s Septimius Severus: The African Emperor as a source. Septimius Severus was born in Lepcis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. In discussing the history of Lepcis, Birley delves into its Punic roots & culture.
I’m curious about the translation & transliteration of a couple of Punic phrases he mentions.
(1) He translates the transliterated Punic t’ht rb mhnt to “the general in place of the general of the army” – and in context takes this to mean “proconsul”). My question is, which part of the transliterated Punic corresponds to the word “army” and which to the word for “general/leader/commander”?
(2) mynkd, was apparently the c. 8 BCE Punic rendering of the Roman word imperator. Is there another Semitic language which has a form of this word with known vowel sounds?
(3) Generally, any tips/guidelines/resources on how render Punic words “pronounceable” formats, i.e. with vowels?
My overall goal here is to use some of the Punic words in my story, and to write them in a form which gives the reader some sense of pronunciation – and, where possible, I’d like the words to “resemble” existing Semitic words, for verisimilitude.
Example: I know that “king” is mlk, and that in transliterated Arabic this can be rendered as “malik” or “maluk”. I’d like do the same with the Punic titles above, but am at a loss.
I hope I am explaining this clearly. . .
Thanks for expending some grey matter on my little problem!
Jerevan