mimi-

The word is attested once in a NS copy of the OH Songs of Ištanuwa-.

[E.R.]

acc. sg.

mi-mi-en

KUB 25.39 i 27’

(CTH 773, NS)

Checked against the photograph in the Konkordanz. Between mi-mi-en and the following sequence of signs tu-u-wa-˹a˺, there is no space, but scholars seem to agree that tūwā is yet another imperative (‘place!’) and, therefore, an independent word (Starke 1985b:329, Sasseville 2021a:515, tentatively CLL:148).

[E.R.]

The word occurs in one of the incipits of the Ištanuwian songs: li-lu-u-wa ta-a-in mi-mi-en tu-u-wa-a li-lu-u-wa-a li-lu-u-wa i-ia-a na-an-na-a l[i- … ] (KUB 25.39 i 26’f.). Sasseville 2021a:515 translates the passage as ‘Pour the oil, mimin, place (it), pour (it), pour (it), iya (it), lead(?) (it) [ … ]’. The use of mimin as a direct object of tūwā ‘place!’ requires the referent to be a solid item. On the other hand, the co-occurrence with oil, which has a highly positive connotation, in a ritual context supports an interpretation as another pleasant foodstuff, such as the ubiquitous staples bread, mush, fruit or meat, all mentioned before in the immediately preceding context. This, taken together with the obvious reduplication of the root (either mV- or, with full reduplication, mi-), leads to the assumption submitted here that mimin belongs to the word family based on the root mi- ‘soft, gentle’ (seen in milušga/i-, mi(ya)ša-, and, more specifically, miu-miu-(t)- ‘(a bread type)’ with full reduplication of a derived adjective meaning ‘soft, gentle’ from the same root). This is supported further by the combination of taini(ya)- ‘oily’ and milušga/i- ‘gentle’ in the context of the ritual KBo 13.260 ii 28-33. Considering the reduplication and the probability of a Lallwort, a type of bread or mush seems most likely.

[E.R.]

The acc. sg. form is ambiguous. In principle, it could be a neuter or common gender form of an -i(ya)- stem or an acc. sg. c. mim(i)-. In terms of derivational structure, the latter implies a reduplicated root noun *mi-mi- that lost its root final -i- through i-mutation, and it is thus less attractive. The alternative, mimi(ya)-, also starts from *mi-mi-, but assumes a derivation with either the bare thematic vowel or the adjectival -i(ya)- suffix, both of which are productive suffixes. If adjectival in origin, the word has been substantivized (see under Meaning).

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. mī-.