kuwayanta-

The word is attested only once. It occurs in a NS letter.

[E.R.]

dat./loc. sg.

ku-wa-ia-an-ta

KUB 21.40, 9’

(CTH 209, NS)

The form is generally regarded as unclear because of the opaque context (DLL:58f., CLL:118, HW²:172), but on account of the postposition ḫandaš following kuwayanta, the latter must be interpreted as a dat./loc. sg.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.                     

[E.R.]

Although it is clear that the lexeme belongs to the word family of kuwaya-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to fear’, no meaning has been assigned in DLL:58f., CLL:118, Ünal 2007a:384, HEG A-K:686, HHw:s.v. Only Puhvel in HED K:301 presents an adjectival interpretation as ‘revered’ with a positive connotation.

The line as preserved within a series of complaints runs as follows: ^(9’)⸢am-mu-uk-ma⸣ ku-wa-ia-an-ta ḫa-an-da-aš UKU-ši [. Puhvel translates: “out of regard for my revered person.” Because of the individualizing suffix -a- (see below), a substantivization is probable, thus: “out of regard for me, a dignitary, the person.” However, also the negatively connotated meaning is not unlikely in the context of the remonstrances about the speaker’s own situation, ammuk then functioning as the subject: “I, however, on account of the coward^?, the person, [       -ed].”

The substantival translations as ‘dignitary^?’ or ‘coward^?’ are based on the derivational chain proposed here: from the verb kuwaya-⁽ⁱ⁾, a derivative in -nt(i)- meaning ‘feared, revered; fearing, having fear’ was formed and further derived with the individualizing suffix -a- to build a non-mutated stem kuwayanta-, meaning ‘the person who is feared, revered, fearing, having fear’, i.e. ‘dignitary (?)’ or ‘coward (?)’.

[E.R.]

As pointed out under Meaning, the stem belongs to the non-mutated -a- class, for which the dat./loc. sg. in -a is typical. The preceding suffix -ant- can be either a lexicalized participle, if built from a verb (kuwaya-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to fear’), or possessive -nt(i)- if attached to a noun (*kuwaya- ‘fear’).

[E.R.]

For the Luwian origin of the entire word family, see under the lemma of kuwayata-⁽ⁱ⁾.

[E.R.]