/hi(n)Tuna(/i)-/, (SCALPRUM)hi-tu-na-
‘(unknown)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 2370
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/hi(n)Tuna(/i)-/, (SCALPRUM)hi-tu-na-
‘(unknown)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested only once in an inscription from Aleppo, probably dating to the 11th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| abl./instr. | /hi(n)Tunadi?/ | (SCALPRUM)hi-tu-n[a-t]i | ALEPPO 7, §19 (Aleppo) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this word is provisional. The spelling can reflect /hittunadi/, /hidunadi/, or /hindunadi/, an imprecision that can only be tempered by cognate links. One possible origin is Babylonian ḫindu ‘(a metal object, usually of gold?)’, whose phonotactics fit perfectly within the HLuw. system and would point towards an interpretation as /hindunadi/, cf. the discussions below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning is suggested tentatively, not only because the HLuw. word is a hapax legomenon, but also because its sole attestation occurs in a badly broken and ill-understood context at ALEPPO 7, §19 that neither proves nor disproves it: ... ]-na (SCALPRUM)hi-tu-n[a-t]i (LIGNUM)hi-ti-tu,Contra Hawkins 2011b:48, it is assumed here that the signs following after 〈(LIGNUM)hi-ti-tu〉, i.e. 〈wa/i-tà[...]〉, mark the beginning of a new clause, likely with an initial-a-final just after the break, a possibility considered by Hawkins 2011b:51 himself. which may translate as ‘They/He shall hiTi- a […] with the hi(n)dunadi’. In in his editio princeps of the text, Hawkins 2011b:48-51 leaves the passage untranslated and merely points out that the logogram SCALPRUM (sign *268) usually accompanies objects made of stone including the weight measure noun /mana-/ ‘mina’, while LIGNUM (*382) is frequently found with wooden objects as well as words from the domain of authority, e.g. /tabari(ya)-(ti)/ ‘to rule’. Hawkins 2011b:51 also mentions the possibility that the present word may be etymologically related to the verb in the same clause, HLuw. /hiTi-/ ‘(unknown)’.
If the tentatively proposed link with Babylonian ḫindu ‘(a metal object, usually of gold?)’ should turn out to be correct, /hi(n)Tuna(/i)-/ could likewise denote a precious object fashioned from stone or metal.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
If the word should indeed be borrowed from Babylonian, it would be integrated into the HLuw. morphological system by suffixation probably with /-na-/ (cf. Melchert 2003b:197), which implies an a-stem, but requires more forms for verification. If, however, the word has a different origin, its morphological structure remains opaque for now.
[AH.B.]
1.1.6Origin
This word may perhaps be based on a borrowing from Babylonian ḫindu ‘(a metal object, usually of gold?)’, which itself appears to be a loanword from Hurrian, see CAD:194.
[AH.B.]