/irnila-/, i+ra/i-ní-la-
‘(unknown)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, gender unknown
- ID
- 1634
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/irnila-/, i+ra/i-ní-la-
‘(unknown)’1.1.1Transmission
This hapax is attested in a single inscription from Commagene, dating to the early 8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| dat. sg. | /irnila/ | [i+ra/i]-ní-la-a | ADIYAMAN 1, §1 (Commagene) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of the present lexeme remains tentative for lack of cognates outside HLuw. Its derivative /irnilizza-/ ‘(unknown)’, occurring in the same text, provides sufficient evidence to read /irnila-/ despite the fact that its only attestation in ADIYAMAN 1, §1 is partially broken off. However, the spelling of the word leaves some room for interpretation, and other possible forms are /iran(n)ila-/ and /irin(n)ila-/.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of the word has so far eluded scholars, cf. Hawkins 2000a:345. It occurs in but a single inscription once as a noun and twice more in an adjectival derivation, /irnilizza-/, whose meaning is likewise unclear. The context in ADIYAMAN 1, §§1-3 runs: [… (DEUS)TONITR]US-[s]a [i+ra/i]-ní-la-a PRAE-i CRUS+RA/I a-wa/i za-na CAELUM-sa-si-na i+ra/i-ní-li-za-na [(DEUS)TONITRUS … ] za-pa-[wa/i] CAELUM i+ra/i-ní-li-za-na (DEUS)TONITRUS-na kwa/i-i-sa MALUS-la/i-ti ARHA+MALLEUS, approx. /… Tarhunzas irnila pari … a=wa zan tippasassin irnilizzan … zan=ba=… tippasassin irnilizzan Tarhunzan kwis attuwaladi ahha wallai/, translating as ‘(The Storm-god) Tarhunza stood before the irnila-. This celestial [Tarhunza] of irnila- … But (he) who smashes this celestial Tarhunza of irnila- with evil, …’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:345). Clearly a dedicatory inscription, the text continues with the remainder of the curse formula. The fact that the first preserved clause of the inscription mentions the Storm-god Tarhunza to be standing in front of the /irnila-/ suggests that it may denote a concrete object, but this cannot be proven.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
With its meaning and etymology unclear, the morphological structure of the present word is opaque. It does not appear to undergo i-mutation, because a dat./loc. sg. form in /-a/ is the hallmark of unmutated a-stems (cf. e.g. Yakubovich 2015b:6.2).
[AH.B.]