*tór-to-

This lexeme is found in an inscription that has not been dated accurately.

[D.S.]

No meaning has been suggested for the word tartas, which occurs in a fragmentary context. From an Anatolian perspective, it surely equates to Palaic tarta- ‘spoken, curse’. Therefore, the root would be tar- ‘to speak’ (cf. the Hittite suppletive verb tē-/tar-^(mi) ‘to speak’). However, this view cannot be proven at this point and must remain hypothetical.

[D.S.]

This lexeme is found in Palaic incantations pertaining to the festival for the Palaic pantheon.

[D.S.]

nom. sg. c.	tar-ta-š(=)	KBo 19.152 + KBo 27.77 ii 13’	(CTH 751, MS)
acc. sg. c.	ta-ar-ta-an	KUB 35.165 rev. 9’	(CTH 751, OS or MS)
stem form	tar-ta(=kat)	KUB 35.164 iii 11’	(CTH 752, OS or MS)
nom./acc. pl. n.	[…-]x(-)tar-ta	KUB 35.163 iii 19’	(CTH 753, NS)

The sequence kat in tar-ta-kat is here taken as an enclitic demonstrative pronoun (following Melchert 1984b:28-30); see Pal. ka-. For the diverging view that -k- in -kat represent a separate morpheme and -at the instrumental ending cf. Starke 1990a:71-74, 72 n. 165, Eichner 2010a:51-53.

The assignment of […-]x(-)tar-ta to this lexeme is not assured. Since the context is fragmentary, the grammatical interpretation is also tentative. Likewise, the segmentation of tar-ta-ša-a-a[t-(ta^?) … ] (KBo 19.152 + KBo 27.77 ii 13’) must be considered tentative due to the fragmentary nature of the context (Carruba 1970a:73). One could read a genitival adjective in -aša- instead.

[D.S.]

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

[D.S.]

The word tartan in KUB 35.165 rev. 9’ agrees in number and case with the word lālan ‘tongue, gossip’ and together, they represent the evil thing that the god is supposed to destroy. Carruba 1972a:22 and n. 23 compares tarta- to the Hittite verbal root tar- ‘to speak’ and Luw. tatariyamman- ‘curse’ and suggests for Pal. tarta- the meaning either ‘spoken’ or ‘curse’. Melchert 1984b:35 follows Carruba 1972a’s comparison and also leaves the possibility open, whether Pal. tarta- is an adjective modifying lālan or a substantive in asyndetic relation with it (the latter is preferred by Furlan 2007a:294). Both are possible, however, based on the deverbal suffix -ta- (< PIE *-to-) an adjective is assumed by default, i.e. lālan tartan ‘the uttered (evil) gossip’. Therefore, in KUB 35.164 iii 11’, tar-ta=kat must be substantivized, i.e. ‘this uttered (evil) thing’. Since it is not certain that the pejorative meaning ‘curse’ has taken completely over the semantics of tarta-, we will leave it at its default morphematic meaning, i.e. dar- ‘to speak, utter’ → tarta- ‘spoken, uttered’; cf. Melchert 1994a:191, 221 translating tarta- as ‘curse’.

[D.S.]