tarmalla

The form tarmalla is attested once in the ritual for the Expansion of the Cult of the Deity of the Night (NS).

[E.R.]

nom./acc. pl.

GIŠtar-ma-al-la

KUB 29.4 i 30

(CTH 481, NS)

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – Contrary to Starke 1990a:305, spellings with geminate -ll- in instrument nouns in -al- are very rare (^GIŠniniyal-: ^GIŠniniyalli KUB 35.89, 20’; ^GIŠariyal-: insecure assignment of ariyalli at KUB 36.104 rev. 6’) and at least in one case attested in a word whose assignment to the stem class and Luwian origin are at best insecure (consistently ḫattall°, speaking clearly against *ḫattal-).

[E.R.]

^GIŠtarmalla occurs once in a ritual passage, where it is described how to set up a new image of a deity corresponding to the established endowment of the old image. The word itself, following a throne and a footstool, obviously designates a piece of furniture. Yet, Starke 1990a:312 (still followed in Rieken 1999a:448) claims that ^GIŠtarmalla means ‘hammer’ and is a Luwian instrument noun in -al-. In support of his new interpretation, he adduces a passage from the next paragraph (ibid. i 34-36) with the description of pounding two bronze pegs into the gate. However, it is clear that the items listed in the preceding paragraph are not the tools used for this action – which, in fact, is not the focus of that passage, but only part of the description of the arrangements. Therefore, Starke’s semantic analysis fails and, as a consequence, his derivational analysis is likewise inapplicable. Nothing speaks against an inner-Hittite derivation from Hitt. tarma- c. ‘nail, peg’ with the (Luwian or Luwianized) -alli- suffix (cf. Hitt. ḫaršanalli- n. ‘wreath’ ← Hitt. ḫaršar/n- ‘head’), whose regular nom./acc. pl. n. would be tarmalla.

[E.R.]

As claimed under Meaning, instead of a Luwian l-stem, a Hittite stem in -alli- (n.) is the most economical analysis (despite Starke 1990a:312).

[E.R.]

For the Hittite origin of the form, see under Meaning.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. tarm(i).