ilūwa
‘steps (?)’
- Language
- Cuneiform Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, neuter
- ID
- 1332
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Cuneiform Luwian
ilūwa
‘steps (?)’1.1.1Transmission
The word is found exclusively in the incipits of several connected strophes of a song recited in the Ištanuwa festival.
[E.R.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. pl. | GI[Ši-lu-u-wa] | KBo 30.180 iv 3’ | (CTH 773, NS) |
| i-lu-ú-w[a] | KBo 30.180 iv 7’ | (CTH 773, NS) | |
| GIŠi-lu-u-wa | KUB 35.136 iv 15’, iv 19’ | (CTH 773, NS) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.
[E.R.]
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Following Starke 1990a:540 n. 1992 (contra Laroche in DLL:45), GIŠilūwa must not be identified with GIŠḫīluwa (for further discussion and references, see under Lemma). Melchert (pers. comm.) assumes that a phonological difference is rendered by the two spellings Cu-ú-wa and Cu-u-wa (possibly /uwa/ and /owa/, respectively), since they alternate only rarely. The present lexeme is a case in point.
[E.R.]
1.1.4Meaning
The form ilūwa occurs repeatedly in the incipit of several subsequent strophes of song within the following context reconstructed from the fragmentary passages: zā=mmu GIŠilūwa arūwa zā=mmu GIŠḫīluwa arūwa zīla arūwa awiḫa ‘This i. of mine is high (lit. this i. is high for me), this ḫ. of mine is high. Subsequently, I came high.’ The order of the three clauses varies. For GIŠḫīluwa, it is argued that the word, determined by GIŠ, refers to either a plant that grows high, like a tree, or a wooden device that allows to ‘come high’. In the case of GIŠilūwa, the same applies in principle, but the latter alternative is preferred here, because it may be suggested that Hittite offers as a possible cognate (GIŠ)ilan- n. ‘stairs, steps, ladder’, sharing the same root *il-.
[E.R.]
1.1.5Stem
Like GIŠḫīluwa, GIŠiluwa can be the nom./acc. pl. of either a neuter u-stem GIŠilu- or a neuter a-stem GIŠiluw(a)- (cf. Weitenberg 1984a:291 on GIŠḫīluwa), although it is generally cited as a u-stem noun (Kronasser 1956a:89f., DLL:45, Starke 1990a:540 n. 1992, CLL:68).
[E.R.]
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘stairs (?)’
Concerning Hitt. GIŠilan- n. ‘stairs’, Rieken 1999a:407 suggests the association with a root *h1el- (Gk. ἐλαύνω ‘to drive’, Arm. եղանիմ /ełanim/ ‘I become’. For the Luwian word ilūwa with i-vocalism, one would need a lengthened e-grade, i.e. *h1ēl-. Though attractive, the inner-Anatolian etymology must be considered tentative until more assurance is recovered from the contexts. However, more evidence could be gained by comparing Lyc. B ilẽ(n)- n. ‘stairs (?)’. The neuter n-stem share by Hittite and Lycian B vis-à-vis the apparent u-stem in Luwian could point to different semantics, but this remains to be elucidated.
[D.S.]