kišta-

This lexeme is found in the Palaic ritual text for the disappearing deity.

[D.S.]

nom./acc. sg. n.(?)	ki-iš-ta-a(n?)	KBo 30.39 iii 11	(CTH 752, OS or MS)
nom./acc. sg. n.	ki-iš-ta-a-am(=)	KBo 30.39 iii 11	(CTH 752, OS or MS)
	ki-iš-ta-a-am(=)	KBo 30.39 iii 12	(CTH 752, OS or MS)
	ki-iš-ta-a-am(=)	KBo 30.39 iii 13	(CTH 752, OS or MS)

Kammenhuber 1959a:29 (likewise Yakubovich 2005c:117) analyzes the chain ki-iš-ta-a-am-mu as kištām=mu and interprets kištām as an assimilated form of a participle in -ant- in the nominative/accusative singular, i.e. *kištān, due to the following enclitic pronoun =mu ‘me’. The word ki-iš-ta-am(=) was also interpreted as an imperative in the second person singular (Melchert 1984b:29, differently Melchert 1994a:226) or plural (Carruba 1970a:59). While the former does not account for the double spelling of the -mm-, the latter cannot be upheld in face of the verb ta-ḫa-a-mu-ut preceding ki-iš-ta-a-mu-ut. Since the word-final sequence -nt is preserved in Palaic, the neuter singular of a participial should be -an-ta /-ant/. Therefore, kišta- must be taken as a thematic adjective.

[D.S.]

Checked against the photographs of the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).

[D.S.]

Kammenhuber 1959a:29 equates kišta- with the Hittite verb kišta- ‘to perish, be extinguished’ (likewise Melchert 1984b:29, Yakubovich 2005c:117). In the Hittite passage preceding the Palaic speech, beer and wine are poured over wood and stones, which were probably hot. To describe the action, the Hittite verb kišnuške/a- ‘to extinguish’ is used (KBo 30.39 + KUB 35.164 iii 10/7´), which is related to Hitt. kišta- ‘(MP) to be extinguished’. Therefore, the semantic assignment of Pal. kišta- as ‘extinguished’ is supported; cf. Pal. kišta-⁽ⁱ⁾.

[D.S.]

Pal. kišta- can be taken as a formation in -ta- derived from the root kiš- ‘to extinguish’, or as an adjective in -a- derived from the extended root kišt-.

[D.S.]

For the lemma head see Pal. kišta-⁽ⁱ⁾.