/tanissa-⁽ⁱ⁾/, ta-ni-sà-

This lexeme is attested twice in inscriptions from Karkamiš and Tabal, dating maximally from the late 9^th to the late 8^th century BCE.

[A.P.]

part. nom. sg. c.	/tanissammis/	(DEUS.AVIS)ta-ni-sà-mi-i-sa	KARKAMIŠ A6, §1 (Karkamiš)
		LITUUS+AVIS	SUVASA C (Tabal)

Hawkins 2000a:95 interprets the spelling of KARKAMIŠ A6, §1 in a different way, viz. 〈DEUS.AVIS-ta-ni-sà-mi-i-sa〉. An etymological link with the large word family around /ta-/ ‘to stand’ renders the interpretation favoured here more likely, cf. the discussions of the meaning and stem below.

[A.P.] [AH.B.]

The phonological interpretation of this word appears clear, since it is attested in fully syllabic spelling in KARKAMIŠ A6, §1, and its morphology is at least partly transparent, cf. the discussion of the stem below. The word is most closely related to the noun /tani(ya)-/ ‘holding, stead’, whose spelling likewise involves the use of different logograms as determinatives, i.e. either DEUS.AVIS or LITUUS.AVIS, facilitating the attribution of the SUVASA C occurrence to the present lexeme.

[AH.B.]

The meaning is assigned first and foremost on an etymological basis, i.e. the probable link with the verb /ta-/ ‘to stand’ and its family within Luwian and connections to other Anatolian languages, e.g. Hittite taninu-^(mi) ‘to install, settle’ (see EDHIL:827f.). The semantic interpretation is borne out by the contexts of attestation. In the building inscription KARKAMIŠ A6, §1 runs: EGO-wa/i-mi-i ^Ii-a+ra/i-ri+i-i-sa IUSTITIA-ni-sa (DEUS.AVIS)ta-ni-sà-mi-i-sa LITUUS+ta-sa-pa-CERVUS-wa/i-ti-i-sa CAPUT-ti-i-sá (“OCCIDENS”)i-pa-ma-ti-i (DEUS.ORIENS)ki-sà-ta-ma-ti-i PRAE-ia AUDIRE+MI-ma-ti-mi-i-sa DEUS-na-ti-i (LITUUS)á-za-mi-sa ˹CAPUT^?˺-ti-i-sa, approx. /ammu=wa=mi Yarraris tarrawannis tanissammis taspa=ruwantis …-ttis ibamadi kistamadi pariya tummantimmis massanadi azzammis …-ttis/, meaning ‘I (am) Yarrari, the loyal, installing (?) man of (the gods) Tessub (and) Runtiya, the man heard of from the west and the east, beloved by the gods’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:124). The author therefore highlights the fact that it was he who installed the mentioned deities in the building.

[AH.B.]

The verb represents a member of the class in /-ssa-⁽ⁱ⁾/, a suffix that often marks the stem as imperfective, see Sasseville 2021a:488-490. As such, its derivational basis is likely also a verb, */tani-^(ti)/, but the HLuw. corpus currently holds no evidence for it, although the Hittite causative verb taninu-^(mi) ‘to install, settle’ derives from the same stem, cf. EDHIL:828. Ultimately, the verb could belong to the family around /ta-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to stand’.

[AH.B.]

For the lemma head see HLuw. /tanid-/.