nawila-

The sole attestation of the lexeme in Cuneiform Luwian context is found in the incipit of a song from the Ištanuwa festival.

[E.R.]

nom./acc. pl. or coll.

na-wi5-la

KBo 4.11 rev. 57

(CTH 772, NS)

The form (in its reading na-al-la-ti) is interpreted as abl./instr. in -ati by Melchert (CLL:154). However, if the preceding word […]-x-na-du is the sentence final verb in the imperative, -ti can equally well be a reflexive pronoun, which would conform to the verb uwientar ‘they observe’ (cf. Hitt. -za au(š)- ‘to observe, look upon’). As a consequence, an analysis becomes more likely in which nawila as a neuter nom./acc. pl. is asyndetically coordinated with acc. mannun ‘fruit’.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – Reading against Starke 1985b:341 and CLL:154 (both na-al-la-ti).

[E.R.]

The context, though badly understood, suggests an interpretation of nawila- within the semantic field of fertility; cf. coordinated mannu- ‘the fertile, potent, manly condition (vel sim.)’ (ibid. 58) and ^dWarwalian ‘god of sowing/fertility’ (ibid. 59). This is confirmed by the meaning of the corresponding gloss wedge word nawilaš ‘youth, young animal’ (see below under Lemma), and may confidently be assumed also for the Ištanuwian lexeme in question.

[E.R.]

The plural nawila either belongs to a neuter a-stem or is a collective form of a mutating common gender stem. It is formed by means of the suffix -il(i)- from the derivational basis *nawa/i- ‘new’.

[E.R.]

As yet, the word occurs only on the NS bronze tablet containing a treaty of Tudḫaliya IV.

[E.R.]

gen. sg.

na-ú-i-la-aš

Bo 86/299 i 79

(CTH 106, NS)

There is general agreement about the interpretation of the form as a genitive syntactically depending on ^LÚ.MEŠUMMEDA. Otten 1988a:68 opts for a singular, CHD L-N:424 is undecided, while CLL:157 follows Neumann 1991c:298, interpreting nawilaš as a gen. pl.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The syntagma ^URUAyaraš ^LÚ.MEŠUMMEDA nawilaš ‘the Ayaran keepers of the n.’ is part of a list of occupational designations. As Otten 1988a:40 points out, the ^LÚ.MEŠUMMEDA are responsible in cult maintenance for the supply of fattened cattle and sheep. Accordingly, he considers another kind of domesticated animal, but then discards the idea in favor of an implausible loan hypothesis involving Hurr. naw- ‘pasture’ suggested by Erich Neu (thus also tentatively CHD L-N:424). However, Neumann 1991c:297f. is able to specify the type of animal in a convincing etymological connection of Luw. *nawa/i- with Hitt. newa- ‘new’ and reference to the Oscan ethnic term Núvlanúís (dat. pl.) ‘Nōleans’. The Luwian word *nawa/i- is derived with the suffix -il(i)- with a possible diminutive function, which results in a meaning ‘the little new one’, i.e. ‘youth, young animal’ (also attested as personal name ^fNawila-; see NH:128, no. 873, Neumann 1996a:2 n. 4, and Zehnder 2010a:232). The translation as ‘Ayaran keepers of young animals’ suits the context well and is adopted here (also accepted in CLL:157, HED N:79, HEG L-N: 296f.; still undecided Tischler 2008a:112, Ünal 2007a:477).

[E.R.]

The Hittite form in -aš based on a Luwian loan clearly represents an -a- stem. For the underlying Luwian lexeme, neuter nawil(a)- and common gender nawil(i)- or individualizing nawila- are possible.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see *nawa/i-.