walwayalla/i-

This word is attested only twice in the NS court deposition regarding Ukkura.

[A.B.]

dat./loc. sg.	wa-al-wa-ia-al-li	KUB 13.35+ obv. i 20	(CTH 293, NS)
gen. sg.	wa-al-wa-ia-al-⸢la⸣-aš	KUB 13.35+KUB 23.80 obv. i 24	(CTH 293, NS)

The attestations follow Laroche 1959a:106, CLL:254, HEG U–Z:279, EDHIL:953f. (cf. Rosenkranz 1950a:192, Ünal 2007a:784, Ünal 2016a:581, van den Hout 2006a:246). The transliterations have been checked against the photos of the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

Laroche 1959a:106 cautiously assumed a nom. sg. for line 24, but the context shows that it is a genitive (cf. under Meaning).

Kronasser 1966a:247 and Ünal 2007a:784 (cf. Ünal 2016a:581) alternatively consider that the form in line 20 is a nom.-acc. sg. or pl. n. However, since anda ‘into’ appears in the context, a dat./loc. is more probable (cf. under Meaning).

[A.B.]

The Luwian glossaries of Laroche 1959a:106 and CLL:254 do not indicate a meaning for this word. HEG U–Z:279 assumes a technical term in court, “Verleumdung, (falsche) Anschuldigung” (cf. Tischler 2008a:218, Tischler 2016a:419, Kronasser 1966a:213 “Verleumdung”, Güterbock 1955a:67 ‘Anwürfe’), similarly EDHIL:953f. suggests ‘evil gossip’ (?), Ünal 2007a:784 (cf. Ünal 2016a:581) additionally indicates the meanings: ‘charges’ (cf. CHD P:31), and ‘lion-like’; “Verleumdung, Anwurf”.

Werner 1967b:16, assuming a figurative meaning for walwayalla, suggests meanings like “Qualifikationsakten, Beschwerdebuch, Kerbholz” (or sim.). According to the context of the court deposition, Ukkura assumed that someone had been accusing/framing (and thus threatening?) him, and that this had an impact on his reputation.

The context of KUB 13.35+KUB 23.80 obv. i 9–24 shows the following (the transliteration is based on the photos of the Mainzer Fotoarchiv and the hand copies, furthermore the transliterations and translations of Güterbock 1955a:67, Werner 1967b:4f., EDHIL:953, HEG U–Z:279 and CHD P:31 and 142f. have been taken into account):

⁽¹⁸⁾nu-wa ku-it-ma-an i-na kur UR[U]ka-ra-an-du-ni-ia-aš pa-a-un [...] ⁽¹⁹⁾ku-it-ma-an-wa egir-pa ú-wa-nu-un nu-wa-kán egir-az ⁽²⁰⁾wa-al-wa-ia-al-li an-⸢da⸣ ú-ul ku-iš-ki pí-eš-ši-iš-ki-it ⁽²¹⁾nu-wa a-pé-ez inim-az ⸢gùb⸣-li-iš-šu-un ⁽²²⁾ma-a-an-ma-wa iš-tu ⸢kur⸣ URUka-ra-an-du-ni-ia-aš-ma ku-wa-pí ⁽²³⁾egir-pa ú-wa-nu-un nu-⸢wa⸣-mu LÚpa-ra-a-ú^!-wa-an-da-an-na u-i-e-er ⁽²⁴⁾inim wa-al-wa-ia-al-⸢la⸣-aš-ma-wa-kán nam-ma egir-an kat-ta pa-it

⁽¹⁸⁾When I went to the land of Babylon […], ^(19–20)until I came back, did not someone keep throwing/pushing from behind in[to] the walwayalla? ⁽²¹⁾But from this issue I became le[ft] (i.e. ill-fated). ^(22–23)When at some time I came back from the la[nd] of Babylon, they sent me and a supervisor (or: to supervision). ⁽²⁴⁾But the issue of walwayal[l]a went down back/behind again.

Lorenz & Rieken 2007a:473f. admit that it is difficult to indicate a precise meaning for this word. They suggest to either translate the whole sequence egir-az walwayalla anda peššiya as “hinterrücks in Verleumdung bringen” or that (with Werner 1967b:4, similarly Güterbock 1955a:67) the phrase egir-az (…) anda peššiya has the aforementioned meaning ‘to throw behind the back = to slander’ and walwayalla/i- is the object of slander, hence something like ‘defraud’ (or sim.).

With regard to its morphology, walwayalla/i- could probably be connected to CLuwian walwa/i- ‘lion’ (cf. under Origin for the morphological details) with the meaning ‘lion-like’ as considered by Ünal 2007a:784. Since it is substantivized, it would be a place or thing connected to threat (or sim.), but since we are most probably dealing with a figure of speech, the precise meaning of this word remains unclear.

[A.B.]

The Glossenkeilwort walwayalla/i- is usually assumed to be of Luwian origin, it appears in the Luwian glossaries of Laroche 1959a:106 and CLL:254 as well as in the lists of Luwianisms of Melchert 2005a:452 and van den Hout 2006a:246 (cf. also Tischler 2008a:218).

EDHIL:954 considers a foreign (Luwian?) origin because of the gloss marker (cf. similarly Lorenz & Rieken 2007a:473). HEG U–Z:279 considers the possibility that the gloss marker refers to the status of walwayalla/i- as a technical term, but although its use does not constitute proof of a word´s Luwian origin, cf. Schwartz 1938a:75, 78 and Melchert 2005a:445), the vast majority of words provided with this marker are in fact of Luwian origin.

With regard to the stem formation of walwayalla/i-HEG U–Z:279 gives two alternatives: either a deverbal noun with a suffix “-la-” (referring to Kronasser 1966a:173, 213 [not 1962 as in HEG U–Z:279]), but such a suffix does not exist synchronically, or more probably a Luwian derivative in -alla/i- (referring to Kronasser 1966a:247). Also, Lorenz & Rieken 2007a:473 plausibly assume a derivative with the Luwian suffix -alla/i- (cf. Melchert 2003b:195) of a substantivized form *walwaya- of an adjective *walwaya/i-, it probably shows the suffix -iya- (cf. Melchert 2003b:197). The base of this word could be a Luwian noun walwa/i- that is only attested as part of names and derivatives (cf. Laroche 1959a:106). However, CLL:254 points out that a connection to walwayalla/i- remains obscure, presumably due to the unclear meaning of the Glossenkeilwort.

Hence, although the base and accordingly the precise semantics of walwayalla/i- remain unclear, a Luwian origin is very probable due to its morphology and it is thus considered a Luwian loan or foreign word in Hittite.

[A.B.]