*mói̯h1-/mih1-´(i)
‘to grow’
- Language
- Proto-Anatolian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1628
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
*/miya-(i)/
‘to grow’1.1.1Derivatives
1.2 Cuneiform Luwian
mai-/miya-(i)
‘to grow’1.2.1Transmission
The verb is found in a song called “the song of growth” sung by the chanter of the Palaic god Ziparwa during the ritual for the disappearing deity. This song, previously thought to be Palaic, has now been re-interpreted as an archaic Luwian dialect by Sasseville 2021a:368-371, comparable to the one of the town of Ištanuwa.
[D.S.]
1.2.2Forms
| 3sg. impv. act. | ma-i-ú | KUB 32.16, 2’ | (CTH 752, OS) |
| KUB 32.16, 7’ | (CTH 752, OS) | ||
| KUB 32.16, 9’ | (CTH 752, OS) | ||
| KUB 32.18 iv 9’ | (CTH 752, MS) | ||
| KUB 32.18 iv 11’ | (CTH 752, MS) | ||
| KUB 32.18 iv 13’ | (CTH 752, MS) | ||
| KUB 32.18 iv 15’ | (CTH 752, MS) | ||
| KUB 32.18 iv 17’ | (CTH 752, MS) | ||
| [m]a-⸢i⸣-ú | KUB 32.16, 11’ | (CTH 752, OS) |
1.2.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).
[D.S.]
1.2.4Meaning
The interpretation of the verb maiu as an imperative form and a cognate of Hitt. māi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to grow’ was suggested by Kammenhuber 1959a:60 (though she considered a Hattic origin more likely) and Melchert 1994a:214 on the basis that the language of the text was Palaic. In a more detailed analysis, Sasseville 2021a:369 argues on phonological and morphological grounds that the song in question is actually composed in Luwian. The retention of the strong stem mai- in the singular is comparable to the situation in the Luwian dialect of Ištanuwa, e.g. paiu ‘he must give’. The semantics of maiu ‘it must grow’, adduced via an etymological comparison with Hittite (cf. Hitt. māu ‘it must grow’), are also contextually supported, since the verb is used as a near-synonym to zizzaru ‘it must prosper’ and the subject is that which does not grow (see Sasseville 2021a:370f.).
[D.S.]
1.2.5Stem
On the stem formation, see Sasseville 2021a:407.
[D.S.]
1.2.6Compounds
1.2.7Derivatives
1.3 Lycian A
*mije-(ti)
‘to grow’1.3.1Transmission
Neumann 2007a:214f. sees in Lycian personal names ending in -me/i- (also in Greek Transmission) the root verb corresponding to Hitt. māi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to grow’. This is extremely unlikely, since the the participial ending, which looks exactly like -me/i-, is a much better candidate for most of the names; cf. Trbbẽnime/i- (PN) (← Lyc. B trbbẽni-(ti)). Nevertheless, since the semantics cannot be proven within personal names, it is better to ignore them for etymological purposes.
[D.S.]
1.3.2Derivatives
1.4 Palaic
*mai-/miya-(i)
‘to grow’1.4.1Derivatives
1.5 Hittite
māi-/mi(ya)-(ḫi)
‘to grow’1.5.1Literature / Comments
CHD L-N:113-115.
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘to grow’
Eichner 1973a:59f. and Oettinger 1979a:471 associate the root of Hitt. māi-/mi(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to grow’ to the one of Latin mītis ‘mild’ and reconstructs the Proto-Anatolian root *mei̯h1/3-. As a root verb of the ḫi-conjugation, it yields exactly what is expected from such a root structure, i.e. *mói̯h1/3-/mih1/3-´ > Hitt. māi-/mi(ya)-(ḫi). Jasanoff 2003a:94 opens the possibility of seeing an original metathesis between the root final laryngeal and a suffixal glide, i.e. *meh1/3-i̯- (similarly Melchert 1984a:46), which is not necessary. Sasseville 2021a:429-438 argues that the verbal stem class of Anatolian verbs corresponding to Hitt. -āi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) must have its origin in roots ending in *-i̯h1, which would imply a root *mei̯h1-. Differently, Kloekhorst (EDHIL:541f.) and Yakubovich 2010e distance themselves from the previous etymology on weak semantic grounds, arguing for a root of the shape *meh2-. However, from an inner-Anatolian morphological perspective, a root ending with *-Vh2 would not have been transferred to the stem class addressed above, but would have stayed a regular verb of the ḫi-conjugation; cf. PAnat. *stóh2-/sth2-´ > CLuw. tā-(i) (not **tāi-/ti(ya)-(̯i)). Therefore, their alternative etymologies must be rejected. Cf. also PAnat. *moi̯h1eh2-nt- c. ‘the young man’. Finally, the most regular way to reconstruct the verb is the Proto-Anatolian pre-form *mói̯h1-/mih1-´(i) ‘to grow’. For the root *mei̯h1- ‘soft’, see under lemma.
[D.S.]