ulātar/n-
‘thicket’
- Language
- Palaic
- Grammar
- subst, n.
- ID
- 2493
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Palaic
ulātar/n-
‘thicket’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is found on a Palaic tablet containing scenes of the myth on the disappearance of the god Telipinu.
[D.S.]
1.1.2Forms
| loc. sg. | ú-la-a-an-na | KUB 32.18 i 2’ | (CTH 752, OS or MS) |
| ú-la-a-an-na | KUB 32.18 i 14’ | (CTH 752, OS or MS) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).
[D.S.]
1.1.4Meaning
Melchert 1984b:38f. equates Palaic ulātar/n- with Hitt. marmara-, which is the last place Telipinu hides before a plant grows over him. In the Palaic version, the locative ulānna denotes the place, where the god hides (line 2) and where he is found (line 14) (Carruba 1972a:5, 10, Melchert 1984b ibid., HEG U:33f.). While the exact meaning of Hitt. marmara- ‘thicket’ or ‘moor’ is debated (cf. CHD L-N:192), Melchert argues convincingly that Pal. ulātar/n- means ‘thicket’ on etymological grounds. He connects it with the Hittite verb ulā(i)-(mi) ‘to draw close to, unite with’. The related fientive verb, i.e. ulešš-(mi) is used in the same passage of the myth, i.e. ú-li-iš-ta ‘he hid himself’ (KUB 17.10+ i 13’).
[D.S.]
1.1.5Stem
Melchert 1984b:39 suggests a stem in -ātar/-ānn-.
[D.S.]
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction
Based on the Palaic abstract noun ulātar and the Hittite denominative ulā(i)-(mi), an abstract noun in *-eh2 can be reconstructed for Proto-Anatolian as the derivational basis of both formations; i.e. *ul-éh2- → *ul-éh2t-r̥/n- > Pal. ulātar/n-, *ul-éh2- → *ul-éh2-i̯e/o- > Hitt. ulā(i)-(mi). Thus, Hittite had both a denominative in -ā(i)-(mi) and a fientive in -ešš-(mi), i.e. ulešš-(mi) (EDHIL:913). Pace Kloekhorst (ibid.), in comparison with Palaic, the verb ulā(i)-(mi) is not likely to be a New Hittite innovation; cf. HEG U-Z:33-35.
The divine name DUliliyantigeš, the tenth deity of the Palaic pantheon, and CLuw. DUliliyašši show in their bases the related word *ulili- matching Hitt. ulili- (gender unknown) ‘green, plant growth’ and further connected to HLuw. /walilid-/. In this case, an i-stem can be reconstructed beside the stem in *-eh2-, i.e. *ul-i- → (with inner-reduplication caused by the semantics) uli-li- (Kronasser 1962c:122). The Luwian cognate simply turned the i-stem into a dental stem, although the apparent full-grade of the root is surprising (unless it stands for /wlilid-/). For an overview of etymological proposals, see HEG U:39.
[D.S.]