/annant(ar)ra/i-/

This lexeme is attested three times in two inscriptions from Tell Ahmar and Tabal, dating to the late 10^th or early 9^th century BCE and the mid- or late 8^th century BCE.

[A.P.]

nom. sg.	/annant(ar)ris/	á-na-tara/i-sá-´	KULULU lead strip 1, §4.15
dat./loc. sg.	/annant(ar)ri/	INFRA-ta+ra/i	TELL AHMAR 5, §9
		á-na-tara/i	KULULU lead strip 1, §7.38

[A.P.]

The phonological interpretation of the word is provisional. Its spelling leaves room for interpretation and is not mitigated by evidence from CLuw. Clearly based on the adverb /annan/ ‘under’, it is generally assumed that the final /n/ of the base is also present in /annant(ar)ra/i-/, because HLuw. regularly omits pre-consonantal /n/ at least in spelling (see Melchert 2003b:182). As for the remainder of the stem, this may be /-tra/i-/ or /-tarra/i-/, since the spelling permits either reading. Considering that the comparable formation /appara/i-/ ‘lesser’ probably only involves the suffix /-ra/i-/, the option /-tra/i-/ appears the more likely interpretation for the present lexeme; see the discussion of the stem below.

Notably, the KULULU lead strip 1 evidence twice records the word in fully syllabic spelling instead of using INFRA (*57) and, moreover, makes use of 〈á〉 (sign *19).The use of this sign has caused much and recurring debate among scholars, see e.g. Kloekhorst 2004a, Kloekhorst 2006a, Melchert 2010a, Poetto 2010a, Simon 2010b, Weeden 2011a, and Simon 2013a. The reason for this remains unknown.

[AH.B.]

The semantic interpretation was offered by Hawkins & Morpurgo Davies 1979a:390 in the context of KULULU lead strip 1. In that text, the word appears to be the antonym of /sarla/i-/ ‘upper’, modifying the town name Tuna to ‘Lower Tuna’ as opposed to ‘Upper Tuna’. The separate context in TELL AHMAR 5, §9 runs: za-a-pa-wa/i-ta DEUS-ni-na wa/i+ra/i-li-zi FLUMEN-pi-i INFRA-ta+ra/i (LONGUS)ia+ra/i-ta, approx. /zan=ba=wa=tta massanin warallinzi habi annantari/, meaning ‘(But when my father died,) the relatives extended this god to the lower river’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:232).

[AH.B.]

The word derives from the adverb /annan/ ‘under’ (see Hawkins 1987a:144), providing an inflecting adjective that can serve as a nominal modifier. The shape of the suffix is not entirely clear and depends on which of the phonological interpretations will eventually turn out to be valid. The suffix may either be /-tarra/i-/ or /-ra/i-/, for the latter cf. HLuw. /appara/i-/ ‘lesser’ from /appa/ ‘back, again’ (Melchert 2003b:196), with the /t/ resulting from epenthesis caused by the combination of /n+r/ at the morpheme boundary. Like all adjectives, the word is assumed to show i-mutation throughout its paradigm, but the vocalic underspecification of the signs 〈+ra/i〉 and 〈tara/i〉 prevent a secure identification.

[AH.B.]

For the lemma head, see HLuw. /annan/.