aḫarriyant- (or aḫurriyant-)

Three attestations of the lexeme are found in a single text, a MS liver oracle report.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The form aḫa/urriyanza describes a property of the nipašuri- and the keldi-, two parts of the liver relevant for oracle reports. It occurs in a syntactic position parallel to the participle anšanza ‘smeared’: ⁽³⁴⁾... ke-el-ti-iš a-ḫa/ur-ri-an-za ⁽³⁵⁾u-ur-ki-iš úr-ni-ir-ni-iš zag-az a-⸢an-ša⸣-an-za “the keldi is aḫa/urriyant-; the (parasite) track and the ‘finger’ are smeared on the right” (cf. Beckman, Bryce & Cline 2011a:224f.). Therefore, it is not unlikely that aḫa/urriyanza is a participle as well, although an adjective in -ant- cannot be excluded. Its meaning remains fully opaque (HEG A-K:4, CLL:4, Schuol 1994a:290, HW 2nd ed. A:46, Ünal 2007a:8, HHw:11, Beckman, Bryce & Cline 2011a: 224f.).Outdated Laroche 1970b:135, see under Origin.

[E.R.]

Obviously, aḫa/urriyant- is a participle or nominal form in -ant-. While Schuol 1994a:290 starts from a verb *aḫa/urriye/a- as the base of both aḫa/urriyant- and an instrument noun aḫa/urriyal- n., Melchert (in CLL:4) envisages a denominative -ant- formation derived from an adjective *aḫa/urriya-, the base also of the noun aḫa/urriyala (see under Lemma). A decision between the two options seems impossible.

[E.R.]

Laroche 1970b:135 suggests that the oracle term originates in Hurr. aḫ(ar)ri ‘incense’, but this is rightly rejected in HW 2nd ed. A:46 and Schuol 1994a:290 on semantic grounds. A Hurrian origin, although not excluded for an oracle term, is also less likely in view of the existence of a word family (see under aḫa/urra- as well as aḫa/urriyala and variants). Since the base aḫa/urra- is clearly attested in Luwian, a Luwian provenance is best assumed also for its derivatives. It must, however, be stated that the word structure (with a disyllabic root *aḫa/urr-?) does not look typically Luwian.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. aḫa/urra-.