/usnu(wa)-(i)?/, u-sa-nú-wa/i-
‘to bless; to benefit’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1834
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/usnu(wa)-(i)?/, u-sa-nú-wa/i-
‘to bless; to benefit’1.1.1Transmission
Mainly attested in Cilicia and only once in Tabal, this lexeme occurs seven times in the HLuw. corpus. The evidence from the Karatepe bilingual dates to the early 7th century BCE, while the other two texts are slightly older, dating to the 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 1sg. pret. act. | /usnuwahha?/ | u-sa4-nú-wa/i-ha | KULULU 4, §10 (Tabal) |
| /usnuhha?/ | u-sa-nú-há | KARATEPE 1 Hu., §14 (Cilicia) | |
| 3sg. impv. act. | /usnuwattu?/ | u-sa-nú-wa/i-tu-u | KARATEPE 1 Hu., §49 (Cilicia) |
| [u-sa-nu]-wá/í-tú-u | KARATEPE 1 Ho., §49 (Cilicia) | ||
| part. nom. sg. c. | /usnuwammis?/ | (BONUS)u-sa-nú-wá/í-mí-sá | KARATEPE 1 Ho., §51 (Cilicia) |
| u-sa-nú-wa/i-mi-sá | KARATEPE 1 Hu., §51 (Cilicia) | ||
| ger. | /usnumina?/ | (BONUS)u-sa-nu-mi-na | ÇINEKÖY, §11 (Cilicia) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is reasonably secure, as both the root and the suffix are well-known from other formations in HLuw, see already the form cited by Gusmani 1965b:77. Yet, due to a lack of secure direct cognates in other Anatolian languages (see the uncertain CLuw. uš?nussant-), some degree of uncertainty remains, and it is possible, though not very likely, that its shape is /usanu(wa)-/ instead.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Since the lexeme is attested in the Karatepe bilingual inscription, its interpretation in KARATEPE 1, §49 was aided by its Phoenician equivalent brk ‘to bless’, and from there extrapolated to the other occurrences, cf. Hawkins 2000a:60. The first interpretation of KARATEPE 1 Hu., §14 by Bossert 1949a:103 went awry, because he connected the verb /usnuwa-/ to a putative /usa-/ ‘to build’. His subsequent reanalysis for §49 and §51 in Bossert 1953a:309, 318 linked it to the GKW uša-, then interpreted as ‘fertility?’. However, the interpretation faced some difficulties, as /usnu(wa)-/ translates different Phoenician words in different context. It corresponds to a phrase involving Phoenician nʿm ‘good, well’ in ÇINEKÖY, §11 (see Tekoğlu & Lemaire 2000a:990) and also in KARATEPE 1 Hu., §14, but to Phoenician brk ‘to bless’ in §49. Because of these discrepancies, Yakubovich 2016b:478 (building on Yakubovich 2002a:199) suggests to accept also the meaning ‘to benefit’ in the context of support directed upwards a hierarchy. In KULULU 4, §10, the verb is used in a figura etymologica: wa/i-ta á-mi-zi-i DOMINUS-ni-zi wa/i-su u-sa4-nú-wa/i-ha, i.e. /wa=tta aminzi nanninzi wasu usnuwahha/ ‘I benefited my masters well.’ In this clause, the verb is modified by the adverb /wasu/ ‘well’, a root cognate, but because of the obvious allomorphy /was(s)- ~ us-/, the etymological kinship may have been at least partly opaque to speakers at the time (cf. Yakubovich 2016b:479).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
This verb is a formation with the well-attested suffix /-nu(wa)-(i)/, usually with causative function (cf. e.g. Hawkins 2000a:60, 523). The derivational base can be either the zero-grade root variant of the verb /wass-/ ‘to be dear’ (thus tentatively suggested by Weitenberg 1984a:395 and 414 n. 145), or the adjective */wasu-/ ‘good’ (only present as adverb /wasu/ ‘well’ in HLuw.). Sasseville 2021a:475 advocates for the latter on grounds of a link between u-stems and verbs in /-nu(wa)-(i)/, but the available data supporting this is scanty.
[AH.B.]