/huhahanna-/, AVUS.HANA-na-
‘ancestor’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian unclassified
- Grammar
- subst, common
- ID
- 1504
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/huhahanna-/, AVUS.HANA-na-
‘ancestor’1.1.1Transmission
This hapax legomenon is attested only once in an inscription from Boğazköy, dating to around 1200 BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| acc. pl. | /huhahannanzi/ | AVUS.HANA-na-z[a/i] | SÜDBURG, §10a (Boğazköy) |
Formally, it could be nominative plural, accusative plural or dative/locative plural. For an interpretation as accusative plural, see under Meaning.
[AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Despite just a single attestation whose spelling is largely logographic, the phonological interpretation of the present lexeme can be deemed certain. This assessment is based on the fact that the word belongs to the family around /huha-/ ‘grandfather’, whose phonological make-up is clear, as well as the existence of a cognate in Hittite ḫuḫḫa- ḫanna- (also: ḫanna- ḫuḫḫa-) ‘grandfather (and) grandmother’ (see HW2 Ḫ:142 and 636), which may in fact be a loan from or inspired by the Luwian expression, and Lyc. χuga χñna ‘grandfather (and) grandmother’ (Hawkins 1995a:41, also cf. already Bossert 1946a:144 and Kronasser 1956a:230).
Based on the spelling of the present lemma, Hawkins 1995a:41 proposed the rebus value 〈HANA〉 for the sign *506, stating that it is used to represent the sequences /han, hna, hana/ and derives from the noun */hanna-/ ‘grandmother’, which is not as such attested in HLuw., but found in personal names as well as in the other Anatolian languages.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The basic and most literal meaning proposed for the current lexeme remains ‘grandfathers (and) grandmothers’, but Hawkins 1995a:41 already comments that a more general ‘ancestors’ may be called for at least in some instances, just like in the case of Hittite ḫuḫḫa- ḫanna- (also: ḫanna- ḫuḫḫa-) ‘grandfather (and) grandmother’ (see HW2 Ḫ:142 and 636). The context of attestation for the present lemma in SÜDBURG, §10a-b is less than clear, however (following Melchert 2002a:142): pu-wa/i-ti AVUS.HANA-na-z[i/a] NEG-wa/i-tá kwa/i-ti-ha *507, approx. /puwadi huhahannanzi nawa=tta kwadi=ha …/, which may mean ‘Before, they did not honor the ancestors (?) in any way’ (for the historical repercussions involving the deeds of Muwattalli II, see Hawkins 1995a:23, 41f. and Melchert 2002a:142).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The noun is a compound consisting of /huha-/ ‘grandfather’ and /hanna-/ ‘grandmother’, a combination also found in Hittite (Melchert 2002a:142; cf. also Martínez Rodríguez 2019b:189 who considers them fixed phrases). Based on the attested form, the grammatical gender of the word does not becomes clear, but since it denotes human referents, the common gender is most likely. Nor can it be said whether or not the compound is subject to i-mutation, although further evidence may shed light on these matters.
[AH.B.]
For the first member of the compound, see HLuw. /huha-/, and for the second member, see HLuw. */hanna-/.