ḫuitta-

Being a hapax, ḫuitta- occurs only once a ritual against the illness of a child (NS)

[E.R.]

acc. sg.

ḫu-id-da-an

KBo 13.260 ii 24

(CTH 766, NS)

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

CLuw. ḫuitta- is cited infrequently in the literature. While HHw:s.v. does not offer any translation, Melchert (CLL: 83) considers ‘running (ability)’ (with question mark).

The incantation of the ritual shows several sentences with parallel structure: ⁽²⁴⁾az-⸢zu⸣-wa-an-za-wa ḫu-id-da-an ⁽²⁵⁾⸢pí-ia⸣-an-du ḫa-at-ta-ia-an-za-wa ⁽²⁶⁾⸢ḫa-at⸣-ta pí-ia-an-du
⁽²⁷⁾ma-an-na-u-wa-an-za-pa ma-an-nu pí-ia-an-du “Let them give ḫ. to the swift, let them give violence to the violent, let them give fertility to the fertile” (KBo 13.260 ii 24-27). For a critical discussion of whether azzuwa- really means ‘horse’, see under Lemma (with references). More recently, Rieken (forthcoming) suggests that azzuwa/i- (<< *h₁oḱu- ‘quick, fast’) is a substantivized adjective ‘the swift, quick, fast’, which, admittedly, is no less an etymological interpretation than that of azzuwa- as ‘horse’. However, parallel to ḫattai(ya)- ‘(those) related to violence’ and mannawa(/i)- ‘(those) related to fertility’, it would refer to a desired quality. If correct, Melchert’s semantic proposal ‘running (ability)’, which must have been based on similar considerations, fits the context excellently. It finds confirmation in the likely derivational relationship of ḫuitta- with the remodeled verb ḫui(ya)-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to run’ (for a putative syncope from *ḫuiyatta-, see CLL:83).

[E.R.]

The lack of i-mutation in the acc. sg. form combined with the abstract meaning points to an action noun suffix -tta- c. (or -tt(a)- n-., see Starke 1990a:458 n. 1666, 585)

[E.R.]

For the lemma head, see CLuw. ḫuiya-⁽ⁱ⁾.