uwanīt(a)i-^(di)

The word occurs in an incantation spoken in a NS ritual text of the Kuwattalla tradition.

[E.R.]

part. nom./acc. sg. n.

NA₄u-wa-ni-i-ta-im-ma-an

KUB 35.70 ii 17

(CTH 762, NS)

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – For the reading of NA₄ as determinative, see CLL:255 (modifying Starke 1985b:184).

[E.R.]

The context of ^NA₄uwanītaimma/i- is clearly an incantation based on the analogy with the stone objects listed in line ii 15f. The tapāru and other evils mentioned in the lacuna are supposed to turn to stone and thus become ineffective: ^NA₄u-wa-ni-i-ta-im-ma-an a-aš-du ta-pa-a-⸢ru⸣ [ “Let it be petrified, the tapāru, [”. This interpretation as a participle ‘petrified’ was first suggested in DLL:106 (followed in Meriggi 1967b:12f., CLL:255, HEG U-Z:282, Hawkins 2000a:494). It became plausible only after Melchert’s reading of NA₄ as a determinative instead of a subject (see under Graphic Features); therefore still without translation Otten 1953a:71, Starke 1990a:187; unlikely HHw:s.v. ‘made into a stele’).

[E.R.]

From the formal point of view, ^NA₄uwanītaimma/i- can be analyzed as a -mma/i- participle of a verb in -(a)i- (a direct denominal formation in -aimma/i- with possessive function is less likely). In either case the base would be wanī(t)- ‘stone block, stele’ (DLL:106, Starke 1990a:187f., CLL:255, HHw:s.v., HEG U-Z:282). However, the context of the spell against the evils suggests the result of a process and, consequently, a participle.

[E.R.]

For the derivational base see CLuw. *wanī(t)-.