/mashunalla/i-/, (“DEUS”)ma-sa-hu-na-li-
‘of prosperity (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1754
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/mashunalla/i-/, (“DEUS”)ma-sa-hu-na-li-
‘of prosperity (?)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested twice in an inscription from Karkamiš, dating to the late 8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom. sg. | /mashunallis/ | (“DEUS”)ma-sa-h[u]-na-li | ADANA 1, §6 (Karkamiš) |
| dat./loc. sg. | /mashunalli/ | (“DEUS”)ma-sa-hu-na-li | ADANA 1, §2 (Karkamiš) |
The transliteration of the logographic determinative DEUS follows Hawkins, Tosun & Akdoğan 2013a:2. An alternative transliteration as MÁ (sign *362) is considered by Yakubovich 2017e:s.v., and the identification is difficult. Rarely attested, the sign 〈má〉 looks very similar to DEUS with both signs consisting of an oval shape with vertical markings inside. In KARATEPE 1 (Ho.), § 24, it does have (as shown in Laroche 1960c:190) three internal bars, not two as the ADANA attestations. Also, the inscription in ADANA 1 is slightly abraded in places, which can result in the two signs becoming indistinguishable. Finally, it is possible and probable that *362 is, in fact, a variant of DEUS (*360), and that its value /ma/ is derived from that word, i.e. /massan(i)-/ ‘god’, by acrophonic principle.
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this word is reasonably clear. For one, it has an inner-HLuw. cognate in the verb /mashani-(ti)/ ‘to make grow’ and its morphological structure is quite transparent; cf. the discussion of the stem below. For another, the word is further related to CLuw. mašḫāḫit- ‘growth, prospering’ (Starke 1990a:167f.) and Hittite māi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to grow’ (see already Starke 1979a:258f. incl. n. 55).
Preceding a divine epithet (see Meaning below), a determinative DEUS is convincing, but a phonetic determinative, i.e. reading it as 〈MÁ〉, before a full phonetic would be highly unusal (no parallel comes to mind). In the present case, it would not serve to indicate the reading of the word, because the following syllabic sign ma is unambiguous with only this one reading. It is also not likely to be connected with the few attested suspensions writings (MONS.TU; LABARNA.LA), which are all early and do not include any other phonetic element, leaving only the first syllable as a hint added after the logogram.
[AH.B.] [A.P.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning is assigned to the word based on both its etymological connection with /mashani-(ti)/ ‘to make grow/prosper (?)’ and CLuw. mašḫāḫit- ‘favor (?), prosperity (?)’ (Starke 1990a:167f. ‘growth (?)’) and Hittite māi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to grow’ (Starke 1979a:258f. incl. n. 55). The word occurs twice in the same inscription and within the same context. In ADANA 1, §2, the clause runs: wa/i-mu za-ti (“DEUS”)ma-sa-hu-na-li (DEUS)TONITRUS-hu-ti PRAE? a+ra/i-wa/i-ta, approx. /wa=mu zatti mashunalli Tarhunti parran? arawatta/, ‘He (scil. my lord) set me free before this Tarhunza of Prosperity’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The word represents an adjective in /-alla/i-/, one of the older suffixes used to create adjectives of appurtenance and no longer productive (cf. Bauer 2014a:163f.). It is built on the otherwise unattested derivational base noun */mashuna-/, itself derived from */masha-/, which also provided the basis for the verb /mashani-(ti)/ ‘to make grow’ as well as CLuw. mašḫāḫit- (Starke 1990a:167f.).
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head, see Luw. */masha-/.