/unun/, u-nu-
‘now’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- adv
- ID
- 1790
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/unun/, u-nu-
‘now’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested seven times in letters found in Assur, dating to the late 8th century BCE; the letters are thought to originate elsewhere.
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| indecl. | /unun/ | u-nu(=) | ASSUR letter a, §4 (Assur) |
| u-nu(=) | ASSUR letter a, §10 (Assur) | ||
| u-nu-i(=) | ASSUR letter b, §4 (Assur) | ||
| u-nu(=) | ASSUR letter d, §6 (Assur) | ||
| u-nu(=) | ASSUR letter e, §12 (Assur) | ||
| u-nu(=) | ASSUR letter f+g, §10 (Assur) | ||
| u-nu(=) | ASSUR letter f+g, §22 (Assur) |
All attestations in the ASSUR letters are followed by a clitic chain whose first member is either 〈-ha〉 /=ha/ ‘and’ or 〈-pa〉 /=ba/ ‘but’.
The meaning of the additional 〈-i〉 at ASSUR letter b, §4, is not clear.
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this word is reasonably certain, because it is cognate with CLuw. nanun ‘now’. More cognates are present throughout the Anatolian branch, e.g. Pal. nu and Hittite kinun ‘now’ and the highly frequent Hittite clausal linker nu (cf. HED N:340f.).
Since /unun/ is invariably followed by a consonant-initial clitic (/=ha/ ‘and’ or /=ba/ ‘but’), its word-final /n/ is omitted in writing, cf. Melchert 2003b:182.
Outdated is Carruba 1969b:55f., who assumed a reversed writing order or, alternatively, a prosthetic vowel to explain the existence of the initial /u-/; cf. the discussion of the stem below.
[AH.B.] [A.P.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning was first implicitly assigned by Bossert 1951b:128, who translated it as ‘at once’ (“sofort”), which Carruba 1969b:54-56 changed to ‘now’ (“nun”). The word is exclusively attested clause-initially and currently only in the ASSUR letters. It never occurs at the very start of the letters, but further down in the text, appearing to mark a change in the discourse with a turn to the present. This can be observed e.g. in ASSUR letter b, §4: u-nu-i-pa-wa/i-mu 1-ti-na za-na (“LOQUI”)ma-ra+a-ti-na CUM-ni i-zi-ia-a, approx. /unun=ba=wa=mu hantin zan marattin anni izziya/, meaning ‘(… As for me, I am well.) Now, fulfil for me first this request: …’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:534, Waal 2016a:3). After the introductory greetings, the conversation turns to the matter at hand, in this case the first request, marked by /unun/.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
An adverb, the word is indeclinable. While undoubtedly cognate with CLuw. nanun ‘now’, Hittite kinun ‘now’ etc., it is likely composed of the element /u-/ ‘hither’ and */nun/ ‘now’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:542 and pace Carruba 1969b:55).
[AH.B.]