kuppiš-

This lexeme is attested in the rituals of the Kuwattalla tradition.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – The restoration of the abl./instr. form follows Starke 1990a:111. – Melchert’s (DCL:s.v.) reading of kuppešni at KBo 67.87 obv. 4’ must be rejected in favor of šuppešni after collation of the photograph.

[E.R.]

Based on the contextual equation of Luw. ^GIŠkuppiš- with ^GIŠGÌR.GUB- ‘foot-stool’ at KUB 35.54 ii 21, Otten 1953a:42 n. 93 proposed that the word denotes a ‘foot-stool’. Later Starke 1990a:112 pointed out that the word’s meaning must be more general and is used also for other pieces of seating furniture, viz. bench. The translation soon entered the handbooks (DLL:57, HW:329, 385, HEG A-K:641, Starke 1990a:111f., CLL:110, Rieken 1999a:397, HED K:258, HHw:85, Yakubovich & Mouton 2023b:409, DCL:s.v.).

[E.R.]

The Luwian noun is now mostly classified as an s-stem (DLL:57, HW:329, 385, Starke 1990a:111f., CLL:110, HHw:85; but different HEG A-K:641 and HED K:258: a vocalic stem kuppišša-; Kronasser 1966a:321, for the alleged loss of r/n-stems in Luwian). Since, in Luwian, the prop vowel before a zero-grade s-suffix is assumed here to be -a-, the stem derives from *kuppi- (thus already by assumed by Güterbock 1957a:357 and HEG A-K:641, although for different and outdated reasons).

[E.R.]

Otten’s (Otten 1953a:43 n. 93, 110 n. 10) hypothesis of a borrowing from North-West Semitic has long been rejected (see Beckman 1983a:25 for the argument) and can be regarded as outdated. An etymological connection with kuwappāl- as proposed by Starke 1990a:317 is formally possible, though unprovable.

[E.R.]