/arud(i)-/

This lexeme is attested four times in three different letters, which were found in Assur but are likely to have originated elsewhere. All relevant texts are dated to the late 8^th century BCE.

[AH.B.]

nom. sg.	/arudis/	(“ALA”)a-ru-ti-sá	ASSUR letter f+g, §41 (Assur)
acc. sg.	/arudin/	(“ALA”)a-ru-ti-na	ASSUR letter c, §9 (Assur)
			ASSUR letter f+g, §43 (Assur)
acc. pl.	/arudinzi/	(“ALA”)a-ru-ti-zi	ASSUR letter a, §11 (Assur)

The meaning suggested for this lexeme can be taken as certain. All its attestations originate from the ASSUR letters, which are commercial in nature and usually contain the verb /harwanni-^(ti)/ ‘to dispatch’ in the same context as /arud(i)-/ alongside tradable commodities, indicating that /arud(i)-/ denotes a container or measuring unit or both due to standardised sizing. The word was first very tentatively linked to CLuw. arūt(i)- ‘wing’ by Hawkins 1980d:133, who was hesitant because he perceived the meaning ‘wing’ as difficult to reconcile with what the HLuw. word denotes. However, the issue was further elucidated by Melchert 1988b:224f. who adduced the parallel of Hittite pattar ‘wing’ and ^(GI/GIŠ)pattar ‘basket’ to account for the polysemy and the semantic shift involved linking CLuw. arūt(i)- ‘wing’ and HLuw. /arud(i)-/ ‘basket’, with the consistent use of the logogram ALA (*78) in the spelling providing a further piece of evidence.

[AH.B.]

This lexeme is likely an action noun in /-ud(i)-/ (the lenited version of /-utt(i)-/), which is cognate with Hittite -uzzi- (Melchert 1988b:224f. and Melchert 2003b:188).For the Hittite suffix -uzzi-, see Hoffner & Melchert 2008a:61. In contrast to its CLuw. cognate arūt(i)- ‘wing’ with its common gender singular and collective (see Starke 1990a:26, 29 and Melchert 1993g:32), the HLuw. lexeme is evidently perceived as a count noun with its regular common gender plural formation.

[AH.B.]

This lexeme is attested on two tablets: one ritual (CTH 433) and one spell against disease (CTH 765).

[O.B.]

nom./acc. coll.	a-ru-ta	KBo 20.107 ii 23	(CTH 433, MS?)
		KBo 34.46 iii 32	(CTH 433, MS?)
	[a]-ru-ta	KBo 23.51 i 18	(CTH 433, MS?)
abl./instr.	a-ru-ta-ti	KBo 12.100 obv. 9	(CTH 765, LNS)
		KBo 12.100 rev. 5’	(CTH 765, LNS)
	˹a-ru-ú˺-da-ti	KBo 12.100 rev. 1’	(CTH 765, LNS)

Starke 1986a:160 analyzes the form a-ru-ta as a dual, but according to Melchert (CLL:32) the form is collective.

[O.B.]

All forms have been checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).

[O.B.]

The context on KBo 20.107 ii 23 suggests that arūt(i)- denotes a body-part of a bird: the collective form aruta occurs in the accusative of respect along with ^UZUGAB^ḪI.A ‘chests’ qualifying MUŠEN^ḪI.A ‘birds’ (Starke 1986a:160f.). Furthermore, arutati on KBo 12.100 rev. 5 is preceded by TI₈^{MUŠEN.ḪI.A}-zi ‘eagles’, although the rest of the line, roughly half the length of the tablet, is broken off. Specifying the body-part in question as ‘wing’ finds support in the HLuw. cognate /arud(i)-/ ‘basket’ always occurring with the determinative sign ALA (*78), which depicts a wing (cf. Hawkins 1980d:133). For the semantic plausibility in connecting the CLuw. and HLuw. words, cf. the polysemy of Hitt. pattar-/pattan- ‘wing; basket’ (Melchert 1988b:225). The remarkable congruence of contextual and comparative evidence renders a meaning ‘wing’ for CLuw. arūt(i)- most likely (thus also CLL:32, Starke 1990a:29).

[O.B.]

The HLuw. cognate confirms that arūt(i)- is an i-mutating common gender noun. According Melchert 1988b:133, Luw. arūt(i)- is an action noun in *-u-ti to a verbal base *ar- ‘to fit’ (cf. Hitt. āra- ‘what is fitting’), thus sharing its stem formant with Hitt. nouns in -uzzi- (see Hoffner & Melchert 2008a:61). It could also be a derivation in -t(i)- from aru- ‘high’.

[O.B.]

The Luwian provenance of the lexeme is confirmed by the abl./instr. form arutati with the decidedly Luwian ending -ati. Note also that the header of KBo 12.100 states that the incantation is to be read in Luwian.

[O.B.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. aru-.