āḫḫuwāḫḫuwa-

The verb is attested only once in a Hittite ritual fragment heavily interspersed with Luwianisms.

[E.R.]

part. acc. sg. c.

a-aḫ-ḫu-wa-a-aḫ-ḫu-wa-a-mi-in

KUB 35.145 iii 10’

(CTH 767, NS)

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

No informed proposal for the meaning of Luwian āḫḫuwāḫḫuwāma/i- has been offered so far (DLL:23, Beckman 1983a:194, CLL:5, Ünal 2007a:9, HHw:11, Bachvarova 2013a:149f.; speculative and now outdated Carruba 1969b:72 and Carruba 1976a:143 trying to connect Hitt. eku-/aku-^(mi) ‘to drink’).

The contextual evidence reveals that the state of being āḫḫuwāḫḫuwāma/i- is one of being constrained by magic binding, a state that the item concerned would not normally be in:

^(8’)... ⸢da⸣-ga-an-zi-⸢pa-an⸣ gi-nu-wa-an-ta-an a-⸢uš-du⸣ ^(9’)[ ... ]x gi-nu-⸢uš⸣-ša-ri-ia-an-ta-an a-uš-du ^(10’)[da-ga-an-z]i^?-pa-an a-aḫ-ḫu-wa-a-aḫ-ḫu-wa-a-aḫ-ḫu-wa-a-mi-in a-uš-du ^(11’)[            ]x du-un-du-ma-mi-in a-uš-du “Let him see the earth split, let him see the [           ] kneeling, let him see the [ear]th^? (in an) āḫḫuwāḫḫuwāma/i- (state), let him see the [           ] (in a) dundumama/i- (state)” (KUB 35.145 rev. 10’f.).

For dundumama/i- an interpretation ‘enclosed in a dunduman-’ is proposed here (see under Lemma), comparable to giš-ruandan ‘pegged’ and patalḫandan ‘fettered’ in the parallel text KUB 44.4 + KBo 13.241 rev. 32’. A similar metaphor is therefore likely to be used in āḫḫuwāḫḫuwāma/i-.

Obviously, Luw. āḫḫuwāḫḫuwā- represents a derivative of *āḫḫuwā- with full reduplication (DLL:23, Starke 1990a:509f., CLL:5, HED A, E, I:266), probably with an intensifying force. The reconstructed verbal stem *āḫḫuwā- is also assumed to be the base of aḫḫuwattar/-t(ta)n-, denoting a piece of ornament sown onto a linen cloth and placed into a chest (Starke 1990a:509f., CLL:5; connection already seen by Otten 1976a:92). In a further step, one can reconstruct a nominal stem *āḫḫuwa- underlying the denominative verb *āḫḫuwā-^(ti)?. Finally, a polar -wa(/i)- adjective built from *ārḫ-/irḫ- (assimilated to *āḫḫ-/iḫḫ-) ‘boundary’ would confirm to the attested structure (cf. ēr(ḫū)wa- ‘(the) interior (of a circle), own’).

The combined contextual information about the two cognate lexemes āḫḫuwāḫḫuwā- and aḫḫuwattar/-t(ta)n-, as well as the semantics of their putative root and derivational history is best compatible with a meaning ‘encircling’. If correct, the paradigmatic split and semantic divergence of the parallel formations of *ārḫwa- and ēr(ḫū)wa- consisted in the semantic focus on the outer line for *ārḫwa-, the encircling ring, whereas *irḫ- was semantically narrowed to the space inside the encircling ring, i.e. the interior. Accordingly, āḫḫuwāḫḫuwā- must mean something like ‘to encircle, to constrain with a ring (?)’, and the participle describes the earth, which is magically bound and constrained with a ring.

[E.R.]

The participial form in -amma/i- leaves open several options to classify the stem, but on account of the assumed derivational chain *āḫḫuwa- ‘belonging to the encircled space’ → factitive verb *aḫḫuwa-^(ti)? ‘to encircle (?)’ → abstract noun aḫḫuwattar/-t(ta)n- ‘ring (?)’ and reduplicated verb āḫḫuwāḫḫuwa-^(ti)? ‘to encircle, to constrain with a ring’, a denominative formation in -a-^(ti) seems the likeliest possibility.

[E.R.]

On account of the participial suffix -amma/i- and the Luwian background of the context, there is no doubt about the Luwian origin of the lexeme (recognized in DLL:25, Otten 1976a:92, Carruba 1969b:72 and Carruba 1976a:143, Starke 1990a:509f., HW 2nd ed. A:594, CLL:5, HED A, E, I:266, Ünal 2007a:9).

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. *irḫ(i)-.