/kummayalla-/, ku-ma-ia-la-
‘temple official’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 1130
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/kummayalla-/, ku-ma-ia-la-
‘temple official’1.1.1Transmission
Attested once, this lexeme occurs in an inscription from Commagene dating to the first half of the 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| dat./loc. sg. | /kummayalla/ | ku-ma-ia-la | MALPINAR, §7 (Commagene) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The spelling of this lexeme is quite clear and supported by its morphological transparency, which is discussed below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this word is derived entirely from its morphology; the context of its sole HLuw. attestation does not provide sufficient clues to facilitate a semantic interpretation. However, the presence of the derivational base /kummaya/i-/ in combination with the agent noun building suffix /-alla-/ strongly suggests the proposed meaning (see discussion on stem below), although it is not possible to identify the exact function of the person within the temple.
A previous interpretation analysed the present lexeme as the nom./acc. pl. of a neuter noun (Hawkins 2000a:343), and it was seen as cognate with Hitt. /suppal-/ ‘sacrificial animals’ (Starke 1990a:161 n. 526).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
Based on the adjective /kummai(ya)-/, this lexeme is a formation in /-alla-/, a well-known suffix in Luwian used to build agent nouns, e.g. for denoting professions (Sasseville 2014-2015a:110). As shown by the dat. sg. ending in /-a/ in the attested form, HLuw. /kummayalla-/ does not show i-mutation and therefore is not to be confused with CLuw. /kummayalla/i-/, whose morphological make-up is different because it includes the adjectival suffix /-alla/i-/ and therefore undergoes i-mutation (cf. Sasseville 2014-2015a:120).
[AH.B.]