/usnussa-(i)?/, u-sa-nu-sa-
‘to please, benefit’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1835
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/usnussa-(i)?/, u-sa-nu-sa-
‘to please, benefit’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme occurs twice in HLuw. inscriptions, once in Malatya and once in Tabal. Both texts date to the 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 1sg. pret. act. | /usnussahha?/ | u-sa-nu-sa-ha | ŞIRZI, §2 (Malatya) |
| u-sa-nu-sá-ha | BULGARMADEN, §8 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
While the phonological interpretation of this lexeme is largely clear for being comprised of morphemes well-known from other formations, its suggested shape relies mainly on that assumed for its derivational base /usnu(wa)-?/ ‘to bless; to benefit’ (cf. Gusmani 1965b:77). A marginally possible alternative interpretation would be /usanussa-/, unless the tentatively postulated CLuw. uš?nussant- can be corroborated with further data.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this verb is difficult to distinguish from that of its derivational base /usnu(wa)-(i)/ ‘to bless; to benefit’, cf. Hawkins 2000a:60 and Yakubovich 2016b:478. Thus, Sasseville 2021a:503f. points out that /usnussa-/ does not show a distributive meaning as opposed to its derivational base /usnu(wa)-(i)/, instead he suggests that the present lexeme has iterative function, which in both contexts of attestation may be framed as past habituality. In BULGARMADEN, §8, the verb is modified by the adverb /wasu/ ‘well’, similarly to /usnu(wa)-/: á-mi-ha-wa/i-ta-a DOMINUS-ni-na wa/i+ra/i-pa-la-wa/i-na-´ w[a/i-s]u-u u-sa-nu-sá-ha, i.e. /ammin=ha=wa=tta nannin Warpallawan wasu usnussahha/, which probably translates as ‘I would benefit my master Warpallawa.’ Just as with /usnu(wa)-/, it is not clear if the cognate status of /was(s)- ~ us-/ was transparent to speakers at the time and the phrase therefore represented an intentional figura etymologica (cf. Yakubovich 2016b:479).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The present lexeme belongs to the group of verbs in /-ssa-(i)/ and derives from the also attested verb /usnu(wa)-(i)/ ‘to bless; to benefit’, cf. Hawkins 2000a:60 and HEG W-Z:386.
[AH.B.]