/salissa-(i)/, LIS-la/i/u-sa-
‘to confront, to become prosecutor (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 2176
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/salissa-(i)/, LIS-la/i/u-sa-
‘to confront, to become prosecutor (?)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested 13 times in inscriptions from the Amuq, Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar and İzmir, dating from the 13th to the 8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. impv. act. | /salissattu/ | LIS-la/i/u-sa-tú | ARSUZ 1, §25 (Amuq) |
| KARKAMIŠ A31+, § 15 (Karkamiš) | |||
| LIS-sa-tú | KARKAMIŠ A27u, l.1 (Karkamiš) | ||
| LIS-[...-t]ú | ARSUZ 2, §25 (Amuq) | ||
| 3pl. impv. act. | /salissantu/ | (LIS)sa-la/i/u-sa-tú | KARKAMIŠ A14b, §4 (Karkamiš) |
| LIS-la/i/u-sa-tú | KARKAMIŠ A11b+c, §25 (Karkamiš) | ||
| ALEPPO 2, §21 (Tell Ahmar) | |||
| LIS-la/i/u-sa-tu | KARKAMIŠ A4a, §13 (Karkamiš) | ||
| LIS-˹li˺-sa-tú | KARAKUYU/KARABEL, §1 (İzmir) | ||
| LIS-la/i/u | KÖRKÜN, §9 (Karkamiš) | ||
| LIS | KARKAMIŠ A18h, §5 (Karkamiš) | ||
| YUNUS, §4 (Karkamiš) | |||
| 3sg./pl.? impv. act. | /salissa(n)tu/ | LIS-la/i/u-sá-tú | KARKAMIŠ A27ff1, l.1 (Karkamiš) |
[A.P.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this word is provisional, as is much of the rest of the word family. If the attestation 〈(LIS)sa-la/i/u-sa-tú〉 at KARKAMIŠ A14b, §4 does indeed represent a fully syllabic spelling with a preceding determinative, the interpretation as /salissa-/ or /sallissa-/ is the most fitting. Alternative interpretations are possible, and Sasseville 2021a:495f., for instance, considers it a partly logographic spelling with the root hidden behind LIS (sign *24). However, further evidence is needed to decide the matter; in the meantime, see the discussion at HLuw. /sal(i)-/ ‘opponent, prosecutor’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The general meaning of this word has long been clear, since the word occurs in the apodoses of a number of curse formulae, but scholars still debate the precise denotation, since the similar verb /salizza-(i)/ may or may not have the same meaning. Hawkins 2000a:104, 418 proposes ‘to litigate’ and following him, Dinçol, Dinçol, Hawkins, Peker & Öztan 2015a:68 note that the verb takes an indirect dative object. Based on the morphology of the word, Sasseville 2021a:496 suggests the meaning ‘to become prosecutor’, cf. the discussion of the stem below. A typical context is e.g. ARSUZ 1, §25: CAELUM-pa-wa/i-tú-tá TERRA-kwa/i+ra/i-sa-ha LIS-la/i/u-sa-tú, approx. /tippas=ba=wa=du=tta taskwaris=ha salissantu/, meaning ‘May Heaven and Earth be(come) prosecutors against him’ (cf. Dinçol, Dinçol, Hawkins, Peker & Öztan 2015a:65).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The verb is a formation in /-ssa-(i)/, and Sasseville 2021a:495f. considers an unattested denominative in /-i-(ti)/ to be the derivational basis.Note that Sasseville 2021a’s conception of the phonological shape differs from the view taken here. The suffix /-ssa-(i)/ can be used to build ingressives, of which the present word is assumed to be an example, see Yakubovich 2015b:6.5.
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head see HLuw. /sal(i)-/.