/sas(a)da(/i)-/, (DOMUS)sa5-sa5-tà-
‘bed-chamber (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, gender unknown
- ID
- 1282
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/sas(a)da(/i)-/, (DOMUS)sa5-sa5-tà-
‘bed-chamber (?)’1.1.1Transmission
A hapax legomenon, this lexeme is attested once on the lion inscription from Aleppo, dating to the 11th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| abl./instr. | /sas(a)dadi/ | (DOMUS)sa5-sa5-tà-ti | ALEPPO 7, §2 (Aleppo) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of the present lexeme is not entirely clear due to the vagaries of the HLuw. writing system. In addition to that, the attestation occurs in a fragmented context, which is why the meaning and thereby the etymology are less than certain. Thus it cannot be stated with any certainty whether the second /a/ is purely graphic, although the possible etymological link with Hittite (TÚG)šašt(a)- ‘reclining; bedding, place for sleep’ (CHD Š:306-310) would suggest it. Alternatively, the meaning and thus the morphological structure of the HLuw. lexeme may be altogether different, see the discussion of the stem below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning ‘bed-chamber’ vel sim. for this lexeme was first suggested by Hawkins 2011b:49 on the basis of what seems a likely etymological connection, i.e. Hittite (TÚG)šašt(a)- ‘reclining; bedding, place for sleep’. However, the semantic assignment is to be taken with caution, as Hawkins himself notes, because the only attestation occurs in a highly fragmented inscription on the statue of a lion, where the clause ALEPPO 7, §2 runs: .... k]ar-ka-mi-sà-ti(UR[BS) ...? ] (DOMUS)sa5-sa5-tà-ti PRAE [...] pa-za-i(a)-ha, approx. /… Karkamisadi … sas(a)dadi pari pazzay(a)Ha/. The meaning of the clause-final verb is unknown; Hawkins very tentatively identifies it as a motion verb and translates ‘From the city Karkamiš from the bed-chamber (?) forth (to (?) …) I went’, but too little of the remaining text has survived to either support or contest this interpretation.
An alternative semantic interpretation is provided by Hawkins 2011b:49 himself, who wonders if it should instead be read /sasa(n)t-/, i.e. related to /sas(a)-/ ‘seal’, and connected with Hittite É KIŠIB (i.e. šiyannaš pēr) ‘seal-house, treasury’. While the use of the sign *327, which depicts a seal and can be read logographically as SIGILLUM or syllabically as 〈sa5〉, may indeed suggest such a connection, it should be noted that the word /sas(a)-/ ‘seal’ does not make use of that particular sign in cases of syllabic spelling and instead relies on 〈sa〉 (sign *415).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The analysis of the morphological structure of the present lexeme very much depends on the assigned meaning and possible etymological connections, which determine the interpretation of its phonological form. If the word indeed means ‘bed-chamber’ vel sim. and is therefore related to Hittite (TÚG)šašt(a)- ‘reclining; bedding, place for sleep’, a similar derivational history is likely. The Hittite word used to be a consonantal stem, which was later thematised (see Rieken 1999a:129-131). If, however, it should be found to be related to /sas(a)-/ ‘seal’, it may be derived from that noun with the suffix /-ad(i)-/, which creates secondary denominal nouns (cf. Yakubovich 2015b:6.2). Actually, the form suggest by Hawkins 2011b:49, /sasa(n)t-/, suggests he assumes a possible nt-participle, which is only feasible if the formation is quite old and lexicalised, as neither variety of Luwian uses /-nt-/ productively any longer. In either case, the result would likely be a common gender noun and have been subject to i-mutation, although proof for that remains out of grasp until further evidence surfaces.
[AH.B.]