/wazza-/, (“PES2”)wa/i-za-
‘to lead’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1270
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/wazza-/, (“PES2”)wa/i-za-
‘to lead’1.1.1Transmission
Found in three different inscriptions from Karkamiš, the lexeme is attested twice in texts dating to the late 10th or early 9th century BCE, and once in a text dating approx. one century later.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 1sg. pret. ind. act. | /wazzahha/ | (PES2)wa/i-[z]a-ha | KARKAMIŠ A12, §4 (Karkamiš) |
| PES2-za-ha | KARKAMIŠ A11b+c, §7 (Karkamiš) | ||
| 3sg. pret. ind. act. | /wazzatta/ | (“PES2”)wa/i-za-tá | KARKAMIŠ A24a2+3, §6 (Karkamiš) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is reasonably certain. It is marginally possible that the vocalically ambiguous sign 〈wa/i〉 stands for a reading /wizza-/ here, and such has been suggested e.g. by HEG W-Z:534. More recently, Yakubovich 2016a:85f. made a case for the interpretation as /wazza-/, mainly on etymological and semantic grounds. However, until further evidence is found in the form of cognates in the other Anatolian languages with different writing systems, the shape /wazza-/, albeit more likely, is to be regarded as tentative.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The current meaning has been suggested by Yakubovich 2016a:85-87, but despite three attestations, it remains somewhat tentative. In two of its three attestations (KARKAMIŠ A11b+c, §7 and A12, §4), it occurs together with the same object noun (CURRUS)wa/i+ra/i-za-ni-ná, /warzanin/, which used to be regarded as meaning ‘chariot(ry)’ (Hawkins 2000a:103), but has now received a new interpretation as ‘(military) campaign’ (Yakubovich 2016a:83). The meaning proposed for the verb, ‘to lead’, fits those two contexts well, and is also very suitable for the remaining context from KARKAMIŠ A24a2+3, §6: ku-m]a-na a-sú+ra/i[(REGIO)]-wa/i-ni-[sá](URBS) REX-ti-i-sá i-la-pa-z<a>-na(URBS) (DEUS)TONITRUS-hu-z<a>-na ARHA (“PES2”)wa/i-za-tá, translating as ‘When the Assyrian king led (the storm-god) Tarhunt of Aleppo away’ and constituting a common topos, cf. Yakubovich 2016a:82.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The verb appears to be a stem in /-a-(ti)/, suggesting it to be a denominal factitive (see Sasseville 2021a:19-21), whose base word is not attested, although a formation in /-a-(i)/ cannot be excluded.
[AH.B.]
1.1.6Derivatives
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction
Without a Hittite or Palaic cognate, it is difficult to reconstruct the sound reflected by Luw. /z/ in /wazz-/. If Lyc. A wazzis- (military troop) belongs here, a Proto-Luwic root *waz- can be posited from which a pre-form *u̯ek̑- can be excluded, unless one assumes the presence of a suffix *-i̯e/o-, i.e. *u̯ek̑-i̯e/o-; cf. PAnat. *u̯ek̑-(i̯e/o-) ‘to wish, request’. Differently, one could posit a root with a different root-final consonantal, e.g. *u̯eg(h)- or *u̯eg̑(h). A root-initial *gu̯-, which yields Luwic *u̯-, is also possible. Since the semantics of the lexemes adduced here is not synchronically assured and the shape of their roots uncertain, it is preferable to not reconstruct or etymologize anything further.
[D.S.]