/wariyamalla^?/, (BONUS)wa/i+ra/i-ia-ma-la

The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is somewhat tentative, because it is not entirely clear whether it belongs to an existing word family in HLuw., and if so, which one it is: /warriya-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to help’, or far less probably /walliya-^(ti)/ ‘to rise’, or */waliya-/, as a cognate of CLuw. waliya-⁽ⁱ⁾ whose meaning has so far remained opaque It is possible that CLuw. waliya-⁽ⁱ⁾ denotes a positive action that can be taken by a deity (thus apparently KUB 35.68, 15’), but all three contexts of attestation are so severely fragmented that even this much cannot be proved. (cf. Sasseville 2021a:411 and under lemma CLuw. waliya-⁽ⁱ⁾), or an otherwise in HLuw. unconnected */wariya-/ as suggested by Neumann 1973a:247 and furnished with a putative meaning of ‘to pacify; to be peaceful’. Neumann 1973a:247 sees it as a possible cognate to the Hittite medio-passive verb warš- ‘to soothe’, but this is phonologically difficult, as Luwian would be expected to keep the medial cluster /rs/ intact, cf. the many CLuw. words containing that combination. The widespread HLuw. phenomenon of rhotacism means that the suggested bases */waliya-/ and */wariya-/ could actually represent one and the same verb, cf. Melchert 2003b:179-182.

The syllabically spelt parts of the HLuw. forms hint at a link with /warriya-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to help’, which seems semantically unlikely; or */wariya-/ otherwise unattested in HLuw. But the consistent use of the logogram BONUS (*165) actually suggests connecting it with /walliya-^(ti)/ ‘to rise’ instead. However, for the latter connection to be valid, the lateral in the stem would have had to be simplified from /ll/ to /l/ so as to be eligible for undergoing intervocalic rhotacism to /r/ (geminate /ll/ is not susceptible to rhotacism), and this is quite unlikely, cf. the extensive discussion of the relevant material in Sasseville 2021e.

Alternatively, the CLuw. verb waliya-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘(unknown)’ could suggest the existence of a putative HLuw. verb */waliya-/, whose spelling might also involve the logogram BONUS, because use of this logogram is not limited to /walliya-^(ti)/ ‘to rise’. Rather, it occurs with a number of other lexemes besides (albeit not /warriya-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to help’) and can also represent the syllabic value 〈wà/ì〉. The attested form could therefore represent /wariyamalla/ or /waliyamalla/ vel sim.

[AH.B.]