wallant(i)-

The lexeme is limited to a single attestation in a lexical list (NS).

[E.R.]

Without context, no syntactic information is available on which to decide whether the word is a noun or an adjective, only the inflection as a common gender nom. sg. is clear.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – The sign AN erroneously features a simple, unbroken horizontal wedge. For the reading, see Otten & von Soden 1968a:40 n. 1.

[E.R.]

The term is surrounded by Hittite and Akkadian lexemes that are incomplete and/or ill-understood, with the exception of Hitt. alwanzatar ‘sorcery’ (ibid. i 9’). The idea ofScheucher 2012a:460f. that wallant(i)- can be linked to Luw. walant(i)- ‘dead’ faces the problem of divergent spellings (with geminate -ll- against regular singleton -l- in walant(i)-). Therefore, the only possible solution offered so far is byStarke 1990a:452, i.e. an otherwise unattested antonym of ()niwallant(i)- ‘good-for-nothing’. This is accepted or at least considered in CLL:250, HED N:101, Scheucher 2012a:460f. and HEG U-Z:260f. However, it must be stressed that the interpretation rests solely on etymological grounds.

[E.R.]

Irrespective of meaning and etymology, it is obvious that the word ends in the suffix -ant(i)- with an i-mutated nom. sg. c.

[E.R.]

1. niwallant(i)-

The i-mutated nom. sg. c. -iš attached to an -ant- suffix speaks for a Luwian origin. Likewise, the etymology-based interpretation as an antonym of Luw. ni-wallant(i)- ‘good-for-nothing’ with the Luwian privative prefix ni- ‘un-’, if correct, would lend further support to the assumption of a Luwian borrowing in Hittite. Accordingly, the word is listed as Luwian in CLL:250, HED N:101 (“Luwoid”), Tischler 2008a:125 (neutral report in HEG U-Z:260f., not mentioned in Melchert 2005a and van den Hout 2006a).

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. *wall-.