wattaru-

The lexeme is found widely in a variety of religious texts, such as festivals, rituals, invocations, sacrificial lists, myths, but also twice in the more mundane, administrational context of a land deed. The attestations begin in the Old Hittite period and continue until New Hittite times. The forms cited are but a representative sample.

[E.R.]

At KBo 40.34, 5’, in the context of IŠTU 7 watru, i.e. after an Akkadographic case classifier and a number, wa-at-ru has to be analyzed as a stem form. One should also compare the possible cognate PÚ-tar at KUB 4.3 iii 6’.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – Bo 4647 is cited in Neu 1980b:180. – The divergent spelling with   °C-Ca-ru(-), °C-Car-ú-, °C-Car-wa- (less frequently °C-Car-ru-), for the sequence of -CaRU/-CaRW- is a familiar phenomenon; cf. e.g. *išḫarw(a)- ‘blood-stained’, ḫattalu- ‘bolt, lock’, and taru- ‘wood’ and their derivatives. – The omission of -aš at KUB 17.6 iv 9 and its duplicate KBo 3.7 iv 12’ is probably due to a dictation error prompted by the following šer with initial š-. – The reading wa-at-tar-ru (Bo 90/751 rev. 42) in HEG U-Z:447 is a typographic mistake. – The stem underlying in PÚ-tar at KUB 4.3 obv. 6b is unclear (cf. Starke 1990a:524, CHD Š:78), but an emendation to PÚ-tar-⟨ru⟩ ‘spring, well’ (HW² A:62) is unnecessary.

[E.R.]

The interpretation as ‘spring, well’ goes back to Forrer 1938a:179f. and is confirmed by the duplicate texts KBo 3.7 iv 12, KUB 17.6 iv 9 (wa-tar-wa⟨-aš⟩) and KUB 12.66 iv 15 (PÚ-i). It is now deeply entrenched in Hittite studies (see HW:250, Kronasser 1966a:252, Weitenberg 1984a:194-196, EDHIL:989, HEG U-Z:445-449, Ünal 2007a:797).

[E.R.]

As commonly agreed, wattaru- belongs to the class of neuter u-stems (see under Meaning for references). The u-suffix is either added to a base ending in -r- or it substituted a thematic vowel -a- (for the latter process, cf. Rieken 2013b building on Nussbaum 1998a:527).

[E.R.]

1. wattarwiza-
2. ^URUWattarwa- (Forrer 1938a:179f., del Monte & Tischler 1978a:481f., HEG U-Z:448)
3. ^URUWattarušna- (Forrer 1938a:179f., del Monte & Tischler 1978a:481f., HEG U-Z:448)

While most scholars treat wattaru- as a Hittite word by default and without comment, Kimball 1999a:262 (followed in Rieken 2002a:101f., skeptical EDHIL:989) suggests a Luwian origin. Based on the specifically Luwian treatment of *-éD^(h)V- > -attV- according to Čop’s Law, she is able to derive the base of wattaru- ‘well, spring’, i.e. *wattar-, from inherited PIE *u̯édōr ‘water(s)’, which is highly attractive on account of its semantics. Contra Kloekhorst (EDHIL:989), the Old Hittite attestation of the word does not exclude a borrowing from Luwian (cf. Starke 1985b:30, Melchert 2005a:448, Yakubovich 2020a:227-239). The early loan would also explain the fact that wattaru- is neither thematized nor transferred to the common gender as would be expected with later borrowings. In consequence, the loan word hypothesis solves the phonological problem and does not face any serious obstacles. In EDHIL:898, Kloekhorst is forced to abstain from offering an etymology, while Oettinger 1986a:30 n. 48 suggests that the reflex of *-d- before -r- is a fortis -tt-, a claim that is rendered impossible by the contrasting development seen in Hitt. ēdri- n. ‘food’ (< *h₁éd-ri-). Further outdated attempts are listed in Weitenberg 1984a:195, HEG U-Z:449.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see *wattar/n-.