/mawasu/, 4-su
‘four times’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- adv
- ID
- 1436
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/mawasu/, 4-su
‘four times’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is a hapax legomenon, attested once in an inscription from Karkamiš, which dates to the end of the 9th or the early 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| indecl. | /mawasu?/ | “4”-su-u | KARKAMIŠ A6, §19 |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme rests on the identification of the number sign 〈4〉 (four vertical lines) with the phonological form /mawa(/i)-/, which is not attested in syllabic spelling in HLuw., but can be found as 〈ma-a-u-wa-〉 in CLuw. a handful of times. The interpretation of the lexeme in HLuw. can hence be seen as reasonably certain, although it is marginally possible that the form should be interpreted as /mawisu/ instead of /mawasu/, because either is possible. As the only part spelt syllabically, the interpretation of /-su/ is certain for being well-known from other numerals in the HLuw. corpus, e.g. /2-su/ ‘twice’ and /tarrisu/ ‘thrice’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Despite a somewhat unclear context in KARKAMIŠ A6, the meaning of this lexeme can be regarded as assured because of its clear morphology. The suffix /-su/ is used with other numerals, which occur in more easily comprehensible contexts and therefore show the semantic interpretation as ‘x times’ to be correct (cf. Starke 1990a:54).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The suffix /-su/ is attached to the stem of the ordinal number. While the spelling of the present lexeme does not allow to say anything about the shape of said stem, it can be hypothesised on the basis of the spelling found with /tarrisu/ ‘thrice’ that the stem equals the root.
[AH.B.]
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction
The marker /-su/ in /mawasu/ originates in the Proto-Indo-European locative plural ending, for which see PLuw. *trisu under Reconstruction.
[D.S.]
For the lemma head see CLuw. māwa(/i-).