/kar(a)i-^(di)/, (“SIGNACULUM+*195”)ka-ri+i-

Attested three times, the lexeme can be found in two inscriptions from Aleppo and Karkamiš, dating to the 11^th century and the late 9^th or early 8^th century BCE respectively.

[AH.B.]

3sg. impv. ind. act.	/karidu/	ka+ra/i-tu	ALEPPO 6, §6 (Aleppo)
			ALEPPO 6, §10 (Aleppo)
3sg. pret. ind. act.	/karida/	(“SIGNACULUM+*195”)ka-ri+i-tà	KARKAMIŠ A24a2+3, §10 (Karkamiš)

Up until the finding of ALEPPO 6, the verb had been a hapax legomenon of unknown meaning (cf. Hawkins 2000a:136), and the meaning now is assigned based on the contexts in ALEPPO 6, where it occurs twice in the context of what sacrifices are to be made by persons of different standing (Hawkins 2011b:41, 45). ALEPPO 6, §10 runs: a-wa/i *a-pa-sa-ha OVIS(ANIMA) ka+ra/i-tu, approx. /a=wa abas=ha hawin karidu/, meaning ‘and he, too, shall sacrifice a sheep’. The stem formation of the verb suggests an iterative meaning, i.e. ‘to keep sacrificing’ e.g. once on each visit to the temple; see the discussion of the stem below. Only further evidence, especially from the cognate realm, can confirm or disprove the suggested meaning.

With respect to the attestation in KARKAMIŠ A24a2+3, §10, it should be taken into consideration that the logogram SIGNACULUM ‘(bread) stamp’ (sign *402, formerly interpreted as SCUTELLA) has received this new interpretation from Payne 2017a:77-83. Payne 2017a:82 tentatively suggests that the sign following *402 in KARKAMIŠ A24a2+3, §10, i.e. *195, may depict horns, and that the combination of the two signs is perhaps used in connection with the sacrificing of cultic bread.

[AH.B.]

The verb is likely a stem in /-(a)i-^(di)/, which means its derivational base can either be nominal or verbal; the structure of the form suggests a verbal base, cf. Sasseville 2021a:219 The meaning of the verb may hence be iterative, as this is common for deverbal lexemes in this class. It is possible, though perhaps less likely, that the verb belongs to the stem class in /-i(ya)-^(di)/, which undergoes occasional contraction of /-iya-/ to /-i-/ in the singular active forms, cf. Sasseville 2021a:321. Further data are needed to solve the question.

[AH.B.]

No etymology possible.

[AH.B.]