/lusi-(ti)/, (OCCIDENS)la/i/u-i-si-
‘to disappear’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1297
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/lusi-(ti)/, (OCCIDENS)la/i/u-i-si-
‘to disappear’1.1.1Transmission
The two attestations of this lexeme originate from the same text, viz. one of the Assur letters, which is dated to the late 8th century BCE and whose geographical origin remains unclear.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. act. | /lusitti/ | (OCCIDENS)la/i/u-i-si-ti-i | ASSUR letter f+g, §51 |
| 3sg. pret. act. | /lusitta/ | (OCCIDENS)la/i/u-si-ta | ASSUR letter f+g, §45 |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Because of the use of sign *445 〈la/i/u〉, assigning a specific vowel quality to the root syllable of this lexeme has been a matter of debate. Lehrman 1998a:182 debated reading the two attestations in ASSUR letter f+g /lasi-/ or /lisi-/. In contrast to that, Hawkins 2000a:553 tentatively opts for /lusi-/. Sasseville 2021a:135 n. 173 adduces the Lycian adjective lusalija ‘destructive’ as a root cognate, providing support for Hawkins’ reading.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Lehrman 1998a:182 speculated if a meaning such as ‘to opt out’ could be a possibility, and Hawkins 2000a:553 comes to a somewhat similar conclusion, suggesting ‘to absent oneself; to escape, flee’. Within in the contexts in ASSUR letter f+g §45 and §51, the meaning of the verb becomes reasonably clear, because §45 is followed a few clauses down by the statement that the writer and his group have no bread because: á-pi-ha-wa/i+ra/i-ta hara/i-na-wa/i+ra/i-sa (“PANIS.SCUTELLA”)tu-ni-ka-ra+a-sa ARHA-a (OCCIDENS)la/i/u-si-ta, approx. /appi=ha=wa=di=tta harranawaris tunikkallas ahha lusitta/, ‘And the baker of Harran has absented himself’. In §51, the writer implores the addressee to prevent the baker from absconding again in case he is caught: wa/i-[ri+i]-ia-sa-ta ni-i ARHA-i (OCCIDENS)la/i/u-i-si-ti-i, i.e. /wa=di=as=tta ni ahha lusitti/, ‘May he not disappear (again)’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The verb has a stem in /-i-(ti)/, cf. Sasseville 2021a:135 for the stem class.
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head see HLuw. */lus-/.