/lara-(i)/, la+ra/i-
‘to enhance, bless (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 1918
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/lara-(i)/, la+ra/i-
‘to enhance, bless (?)’1.1.1Transmission
The HLuw. corpus currently holds five attestations of this verb. Most originate from Tabal in the centre of the HLuw. area, and two more occurrences locate further to the east in Commagene and Maraş. Insofar as the inscriptions can be furnished with a dating, they date to the 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pres. act. | /laraya/ | la+ra/i-x-ia | MALPINAR, §10 (Commagene) |
| 3sg. pret. act. | /laratta/ | (LOQUI)la+ra/i+a-ta | MARAŞ 6, l. 1 (Maraş) |
| la+ra/i-ta | SULTANHAN, §6 (Tabal) | ||
| la-tà-ta | AKSARAY, §1 (Tabal) | ||
| 3pl. pret. act. | /laranta/ | la+ra/i-ta | BULGARMADEN, §4 (Tabal) |
The attestation at MALPINAR, §10 occurs on a very badly abraded portion of this rock inscription, and it remains unclear what sign occurs between the stem and the ending in 〈la+ra/i-x-ia〉, although 〈a〉 would be likely. Depending on how exactly the signs are arranged, it is possible that there is space for more than one, and Hawkins 2000a:343 hypothesises that the form may in fact be an instance of the causative /larnu(wa)-(i)/ ‘to make prosper’. However, there seem to be no other attestations of a 3sg. pres. act. ending in /-aya/ instead of the more common /-ai/ for verbs in /-nu(wa)-/ (cf. Sasseville 2021a:464).
In MARAŞ 6, l. 1, the word is attested in a very fragmentary inscription, resulting in Hawkins 2000a:278f. not connecting it to the present lexeme in the first place. Regarding the spelling of this form, see the remarks on the related form /laranu(wa)-(i)/ ‘to make prosper’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is quite certain, and it is seen to be at least as root cognate with Hittite lazzai-/lazzi(ya)- ‘good, right’ (HED L:68, 73). That its shape in HLuw. is quite evident is due not least to the minor spelling variation visible in the attested forms, providing valuable insight into its phonological make-up. Thus, the use of the sign 〈tà〉 (*41) at AKSARAY, §1 in place of 〈ra/i〉 (*439) as in all other attestations reveals that the consonant is voiced and in an intervocalic environment (cf. Rieken 2008b:638). The phonological interpretation of the various verbal endings is secure due to their frequency.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning ‘to enhance, prosper; to flourish’ was first proposed by Hawkins & Morpurgo Davies 1978a:105. However, if the evidence from MARAŞ 6, l. 1 does indeed belong to the present lexeme, its use of a logographic determinative should be taken into account. The choice of the logogram LOQUI (sign *22) for this strongly points to the verb belonging to the semantic field of speaking (and writing), as that constitutes the usual area of application for the logogram. At the same time, any suggested meaning from the field of speaking must match the syntactic requirement of transitivity, as most contexts involve a direct object, suggesting a meaning such as ‘to bless’. Hawkins & Morpurgo Davies 1978a:105 observe that in three out of five passages the verb is preceded by the preverb ARHA /ahha/ ‘back, away’, although its precise semantic contribution remains unclear.
Oettinger 2007a:260 emphasises that /lara-/ is not likely to be in any way related to HLuw. /latra-/ ‘to extend’, see under lemma.
[AH.B.] [I.Y.]
1.1.5Stem
The verb features a stem in /-a-(i)/ and belongs to the ḫi-conjugation, as evidenced by its 3sg. pres. act. ending /-aya/, which is an Iron Age variant of earlier /-ai/, cf. Sasseville 2021a:342. However, it should be borne in mind that this stem assigment rests on the form attested in MALPINAR, whose reading is slightly doubtful, see the discussion under forms. Alternatively, the verb could be a factitive in /-a-(ti)/.
[AH.B.]