/is(a)u-/

This lexeme is a hapax legomenon, attested once in a letter from Assur, which dates to the late 8^th century BCE.

[AH.B.]

Long attributed to the paradigm of the HLuw. verb /i(ya)ssa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to buy’, the present lexeme recently received a new interpretation by Sasseville 2021a:193f. On both morphological and contextual grounds, Sasseville links HLuw. /isau-/ to Hittite išuwan- ‘salt’ (Prechel 2019a) and assigns to it a meaning such as ‘to ruin’ vel sim.

[AH.B.]

The verb shows the strange allomorph /-(a)u-/, for which see Sasseville 2021a:190f.

[AH.B.]

The lexeme is found only on obscure fragments, which cannot be classified yet. Melchert (CLL:96) lists išumma as a potential Luwian word, but calls this claim into question at the same time. Sasseville 2021a:193 takes the fragment KUB 35.155, on which išumma is attested, as genuine Luwian and brings further evidence for the Luwian existence of a stem /is(a)u-/.

[D.S.]

Checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv). For the reading of KUB 35.129, 5’, see Starke 1985b:414.

[D.S.]

The meaning of išumma and iš[u- cannot be determined, because both occur in fragmentary contexts. Sasseville 2021a:193f. assigns them to the same paradigm as that of HLuw. i-sa-u-ta, which must have a negative meaning on contextual grounds. He suggests ‘to ruin, go bad’ and calls attention to the Hittite word išuwan- ‘salt’ (Prechel 2019a), which can be used to cleanse animals and dispose of their impurities.

[D.S.]

The word išumma can be best interpreted as a participle in -mma/i-, although an abstract noun in -man-/-mn- (or assimilated (-mm-)) should not be excluded (for which see Starke 1990a:243f.).

[D.S.]

For a possible cognate in Hitt. išuwan- ‘salt’, see under Meaning. No etymology has been suggested for Hitt. išuwan-, even when it was thought to mean ‘garbage (?)’ (HEG I-K:439f., HED E-I:486f.).

[D.S.]