/isarulla-?/, BRACCHIUM-ru-la-
‘(an occupation)(?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 2044
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/isarulla-?/, BRACCHIUM-ru-la-
‘(an occupation)(?)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is possibly attested four times in inscriptions from Aleppo, Amuq, and Karkamiš with datings ranging from the 11th to the 8th centuries BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom. sg. | /isarullas?/ | BRACCHIUM-ru-la-sa | ALEPPO 7, §16 (Aleppo) |
| BRACCHIUM-la/i/u-sa | KARKAMIŠ A4a, §5 (Karkamiš) | ||
| acc. pl. c. | BRACCHIUM-la/i/u-zi | JISR EL HADID fragment 3, §c (Amuq) | |
| unclear | BRACCHIUM-la/i/u | CEKKE inscr. 2, §14 (Karkamiš) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation proposed for the present lexeme is to be understood as tentative. While the spelling suggests a link with the adjective 〈BRACCHIUM-ru-li〉 and 〈(“BRACCHIUM”)i-sa5+ra/i-wa/i-la[...]〉 /isarwil(i)-/ ‘right (hand)’, this cannot be proved without further data.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this lexeme remains in the dark, except for the fact that its morphological structure makes it a likely example of an action noun, probably denoting an occupation. In the mostly fragmentary ALEPPO 7, §16, it occurs in a passage that names other professions, but the clause is too fragmented to state with certainty that the present noun denotes one as well: …] BRACCHIUM-ru-la-sa (CRUS+CRUS)ku+ra/i-ku+ra/i-na […, with no translation attempted, since the other word in the clause is also unknown. The other attestations are no more informative regarding the semantics, if less fragmented. If /isarulla-/ is indeed cognate with the adjective /isarwil(i)-/ ‘right (hand)’, it may denote an occupation in the semantic sphere of facilitation, but this remains entirely speculative until further evidence is found.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
If the connection with /isarwil(i)-/ should prove correct, the present lexeme is derived from the same stem, i.e. */isaru-/, albeit with the action noun forming suffix /-alla-/, which does not undergo i-mutation, cf. Sasseville 2014-2015a:116f. The original form would probably have been */isaruwalla-/, but was subsequently syncopated to /isarulla-/.
[AH.B.]