/hwihwissa-(i)/, hwa/i-hwa/i-sà-
‘to run (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 2103
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/hwihwissa-(i)/, hwa/i-hwa/i-sà-
‘to run’1.1.1Transmission
The four attestations of this verb can be found on inscriptions from Karkamiš and Tell Ahmar, all of which date to the late 10th or early 9th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pret. med. | /huhhassattasi/ | hu-ha-sà-ta-si | TELL AHMAR 6, §7 (Tell Ahmar) |
| TELL AHMAR 6, §19 (Tell Ahmar) | |||
| 3pl. pret. med. | /hwihwissantasi/ | (PES2)hwa/i-hwa/i-sà-ta-si | KARKAMIŠ A12, §2 (Karkamiš) |
| (PES2)hwa/i-hwa/i-sà-tá-si | KARKAMIŠ A11b+c, §8 (Karkamiš) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
For the present lexeme, the interpretation of its phonological form can be regarded as moderately certain. Not only is it attested four times in syllabic spelling, it also constitutes a transparent formation within the word family around /hwiya-(i)/ ‘to run’, yet the forms /hwihwissa-/ vs. /huhassa-/ attest to a non-trivial stem allomorphy (contra Hawkins 2006a:21f.), see discussion of stem below. The word family around /hwiya-(i)/ ‘to walk, run’ is well-represented within both the HLuw. as well as the CLuw. corpus and also has cognates in other Anatolian languages besides, but likewise uncertain is the quality of the vowel in the second syllable; Sasseville 2021a:492f. suggests the reading followed here, see discussion of stem below for further supporting evidence.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The precise functional difference between /hwiya-(i)/ ‘to walk, run’, /hwihwiya-(i)/ ‘to run’ (possibly with habitual semantics) and the present lexeme is not clear. Like /hwiya-(i)/ and /hwihwiya-(i)/, it is an intransitive verb, but in contrast to both, all attested forms of /hwihwissa-(i)/ are medio-passives, not actives. Yet it still appears in similar phrasings describing divine favour, e.g. TELL AHMAR 6, §7 with PRAE-pa-wa/i-mu za-a-sa EXERCITUS.LA/I/U-na-si-sa (DEUS)TONITRUS-sa hu-ha-sà-ta-si ‘But before me ran the storm-god of the army.’ Comparing the various deverbal formations in /-ssa-/, Sasseville 2021a:492f. does not see grounds for assigning a definitive functional meaning to the suffix. Because the present verb is used in what appear to be military contexts, it is quite possible that it denotes a more specific mode of motion, e.g. ‘to march’, but more attestations are needed to assess the semantics more fully.
Outdated is Laroche 1958b:195f., who misinterpreted the form (PES2)wa/i-sà-i-ta, /wis(a)i-(di)/ ‘to emerge’ (KARKAMIŠ A12, §3), and erroneously attributed it to the present verb.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The present lexeme is a verb in /-ssa-(i)/, derived from the reduplicated verb /hwihwiya-(i)/ ‘to run’ (possibly with habitual semantics), which in turn is based on the simplex /hwiya-(i)/ ‘to run’. Sasseville 2021a:492f. posits the original form as */hwihwiya-ssa-/, which was subsequently contracted to */hwihwissa-(i)/. Regarding the further stem allomorphy visible in the attested forms, Sasseville 2021a:492f. (with further literature) proposes to explain /huhhassattasi/ by phonological change from */hwihwiya-ssa-/ with contraction of /-wy-/ to */huhwassa-/ and contextual loss of the labial glide to /huhassa-/. This hypothesis is supported by earlier finds regarding the use of 〈sà〉 (*104) over any of the other SA signs by Rieken 2010b:656f. She remarks on the unexpected appearance of said sign in the present lexeme as attested in TELL AHMAR 6, because it appears there after /a/ rather than after /i/ or /u/ or before /k/, all three of which can condition it. However, when considering /huhassa-/ an outcome of contraction and simplification from /hwihwissa-/, 〈sà〉 is revealed as the graphemic realisation of an allophone whose conditioning factors have since vanished.
A different interpretation is offered by Dempsey 2015a:262, who attributes the stem allomorphy already to the simplex instead of a later development within the derived lexeme.
[AH.B.]
For the derivational base, see HLuw. /hwihwiya-(i)/.