/nu(wa)tt(i)-/, 9-ti-
‘ninth’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 2070
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/nu(wa)tt(i)-/, 9-ti-
‘ninth’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme occurs three times within the same inscription from Tabal, dating to the late 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
|
nom. sg. c. |
/nu(wa)ttis/ |
9-ti-sa |
|
|
adv. |
/nu(wa)tta/ |
9-ta |
|
In HİSARCIK 1, §3, the numeral is followed by a string of clitics: 〈-ha-wa/i-ti˹-i?˺〉, i.e. /=ha=wa=di/ ‘and for him(self)’ with the quotative particle /=wa/ intervening.
[AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation is provisional, because the attested spelling reveals only minimal information, and the phonology of the remainder of the word family, i.e. 9-u- ‘nine’ and /nuwi(ya)-/ ‘ninth part’, is likewise tentative. However, the suggested shape is the most straightforward based on the phonology and the morphology of the word, cf. the discussion of the stem below. It is possible, though entirely hypothetical until further evidence is found, that /nuwatt(i)-/ may sometimes be shortened to /nutt(i)-/, as the sequence /uwa/ is sporadically subjected to word-medial syncope (cf. e.g. Melchert 2003b:183).
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Hawkins 2000a:484 suggests analysing the form /nuwattis/ as attested in HİSARCIK 1, §3 as an ordinal, modified by the following possessive adjective /ussassis/ ‘of the year, annual’.
The two instances of /nuwatta/ attested in HİSARCIK 1, §2 and §4, have been assumed to represent multiplicatives, i.e. ‘nine times’, cf. Morpurgo Davies & Hawkins 1987a:277 and more explicitly Hawkins 2000a:484. However, while possible in the contexts, a multiplicative meaning is rather unlikely for /nu(wa)tta/, because multiplicatives are formed with the suffix /-su/ (originally a loc. pl., i.e. ‘in twos/threes/fours’ etc.) in Luwian and its cognates in the Anatolian languages, cf. e.g. HLuw. 2-su ‘twice, two times’ (the phonological interpretation of the numeral ‘two’ has so far remained hidden), HLuw. /tarrisu/ ´three times, thrice´, HLuw. /mawasu/ ‘four times’, and there is no reason to assume that the numeral ‘nine’ departs from this pattern. Therefore, a different interpretation of the present lexeme is called for. The relevant clause in HİSARCIK 1, §2 runs: a-wa/i-mi MONS-ti-na ha+ra/i-ha+ra/i-na 9-ta (CAPRA)i+ra/i-wa/i-ti-i á-ha, approx. /a=wa=mi wattin harharin nuwatta irwadi aha/, probably meaning ‘I celebrated Mount Harhari on/in the ninth with a gazelle’, with the ordinal likely referring to the time of year or month the sacrifice was executed. The entire context of HİSARCIK 1, §§2-4 would therefore translate as ‘ I celebrated Mount Harhari on/in the ninth (month or day?) with a gazelle, and as the ninth of the year comes, I x-ed you on/in the ninth (month or day?) with a gazelle’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
Provided the phonological interpretation is correct, the ordinal appears to be derived from the base number 9-u- ‘nine’ with the suffix /-aT(i)-/, which forms common gender nouns. The form /nu(wa)tta/, whose two occurrences are here attributed to the paradigm of /nu(wa)tt(i)-/, is tentatively analysed as an adverb derived from the noun.
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head see Luw. 9-un-.