/maratta-/, mara/i-ta-
‘order, request’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Class
- Derivative
- Grammar
- subst, neuter
- Certainty
- high
- ID
- 228
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/maratta-/, mara/i-ta-, LOQUI
‘order, request’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is well attested across the Iron Age period. Its earliest attestation is found in BOYBEYPINARI 2 dated to the reign of Suppiluliuma (either second half of the 9th century or late 9th-early 8th century BCE, cf. Simon 2014e:248-252).
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. sg. | /marattan=za/ | LOQUI[-x]-ta-zá | KARKAMIŠ A27ff. frag. 2 (Maraş) |
| nom./acc. pl. | /maratta/ | (“LOQUI”)mara/i-ta | KARKAMIŠ A31+frag. A30b1-3, §14 (Karkamiš) |
| (LOQUI)mara/i-tá | MALPINAR, §18 (Commagene) | ||
| mara/i-ta | ANKARA, §6 (Miscellaneous),CEKKE, §23 (Karkmiš), KARKAMIŠ A25b, §2 (Karkamiš), BOYBEYPINARI 2, §15 (Commagene) | ||
| ˹mara/i˺-ta | ANCOZ 2, 1.1 (Commagene) | ||
| mara/i-tá-’ | KARKAMIŠ A29f frag. 1, I.2 (Maraş) | ||
| *461-tá | EMİRGAZİ 1A, §10 (Emirgazi) |
The lexical and grammatical assignment of LOQUI[-x]-ta-zá (KARKAMIŠ A27ff. frag. 2) is dubious.
[D.S.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
For the reading of the sign L.462+ra/i as <mara/i-> see Hawkins 2004a:363-367.
[D.S.]
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Based on the spelling, we cannot know whether this lexeme is to be read as /marta-/ or /maratta-/, but see Reconstruction. Blažek 2003-2004a:8-10 argues that the sign L.462+ra/i <mara/i-> is to be phonologically interpreted as /bra/, which is expected as a secondary development in some cases. However, the occurrence of this development cannot yet be proven for all of them. His etymological connection between HLuw. /maratta-/ n. and CLuw. paratta- n., which he uses as evidence, cannot be accepted on semantic grounds.
[D.S.]
1.1.4Meaning ‘order, request’
Based on the logogram LOQUI, it is assumed that /maratta-/ n. is a word of speaking. As the earlier phonetic reading of the sign L.462 was <pá>, Melchert 1988a:36f. compared †pá-ra/i-ta with the word (“LOQUI”)ma-ra+a-ti-na ‘request, order’. He equated them and, therefore, expressed doubts regarding the phonetic reading of L.462, suggesting <max> instead. Since the reading of L.462 has now been proven by means of independent evidence and generally accepted (see Hawkins 2004a), it is no longer doubted that the lexeme /maratta-/ n. and the word (“LOQUI”)ma-ra+a-ti-na are related.
This lexeme is mostly attested in curse formulas that warn the potential offender not to erase the “maratta”. In one instance (KARKAMIŠ A31+ §14), “maratta” is the direct object of the verb AUDIRE+MI-ti- ‘to hear, listen’. Hawkins 2000a:143 suggests that /maratta-/ n. means ‘word’ or ‘curse’, which is followed by Payne 2012a:81 and Giusfredi 2010b:258. On the other hand, Melchert 1988a:36f. proposes the meaning ‘request, order’, which is more persuasive for the two following reasons. First, the “maratta”-clauses come after a series of commands or prohibitions; cf. MALPINAR, BOYBEYPINARI 2, KARKAMIŠ A31+, CEKKE. Second, the sentence §14 in KARKAMIŠ A31+ can be better understood with the meaning ‘request’, as the author’s warning would mean “whoever does not heed these requests …” instead of “whoever does not hear these words”.
[D.S.]
1.1.5Stem
The word /maratta/ was taken by Melchert 1988a:37 to be the collective form of (“LOQUI”)ma-ra+a-ti-na. This is complicated by the presence of a neuter singular LOQUI[-x]-ta-zá (KARKAMIŠ A27ff. frag. 2), although the lexical and grammatical assignment of this instance is not certain. Doubts regarding Melchert’s analysis were already expressed by Hawkins (apud Melchert 1988a:37 n. 13) based on the attestation of “LOQUI”-tà-zà-´. However, this argument is no longer valid on account of the new reading of the sign <tà> /da/ (Rieken 2008b), which indicates a different suffix. Until further evidence, the lexeme /maratta-/ is taken as a neuter noun.
[D.S.]
1.1.6Derivatives
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction
The lexeme /maratta-/ n. ‘order, request’ is best interpreted as a derivative in /-atta-/ n. of the verbal stem */mar-/. Based on the Hieroglyphic Luwian spelling, one cannot know whether it is to be read as /marta-/ or /maratta-/. The former possibility would represent a substantivized reflex of a Proto-Indo-European verbal adjective in *-tó- with zero-grade of the root, i.e. *mr̥-tó- ‘that which is ordered’ → ‘order, request’, which would be an archaism. The latter is made more likely by the fact that the deverbal suffix /-atta-/ n. (< *-é/ó-to- (n.)), which build verbal abstract nouns, is productive in Luwian, whence it is here posited.
[D.S.]
For the derivational base see */mar-(ti)/.