/parira-(i)/, pa+ra/i-ra+a-
‘to become irrelevant (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 2731
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/parira-(i)/, pa+ra/i-ra+a-
‘to become irrelevant (?)’1.1.1Transmission
All four attestations of this lexeme date to the 8th century BCE. While three of them occur on the letters found in Assur, one is part of an inscription from Karkamiš.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 1sg. pres. ind. act. | /parirawi?/ | pa+ra/i-ra+a-wa/i | ASSUR letter c, §5 (Assur) |
| 3sg. pres. ind. act. | /pariraya?/ | (“COR”)pa+ra/i-ra+a-ia | ASSUR letter e, §12 (Assur) |
| 1sg. pret. ind. act. | /parirahha?/ | pa+ra/i-ra+a-ha | ASSUR letter a, §4 (Assur) |
| /parrahha?/ | pa+ra/i-há | KARKAMIŠ A5a, §3 (Karkamiš) |
The form found in KARKAMIŠ A5a, §3 is included here tentatively; Hawkins 2000a:182f. does not count it as belonging to the same paradigm.
[AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The spelling of the HLuw. verb permits more than one interpretation, and several scholars have put forward ideas. Thus, Melchert 2009c:336 interprets the spelling as /pra-/, linking it to Hittite and Palaic parāi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to appear, to come / go forth’ (similarly already Melchert 1989b:36 n. 20). Yakubovich 2016b:469 prefers to read it /parira-/ instead, which is followed here provisionally.
The attestations for this verb give evidence for syncope from /parira-/ to /parra-/, provided the reading in KARKAMIŠ A5a, §3 is correct.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this lexeme has seen some discussion among scholars, not least because it occurs mostly in the letters from Assur, which remain difficult to understand because their genre differs greatly from the rest of the HLuw. corpus. In the HLuw. corpus, /parira-(i)/ is consistently paired with the preverb ARHA ‘away, back’, which according to Melchert 2009c:336 n. 4 can be used to build antonyms. As for the meaning of the verb in combination with its preverb, Melchert 1989b:36 n. 20 suggests ‘to be missing, to miss, to lack’ and regards it as a possible development from an earlier more literal ‘to disappear’, taking into account the logographic determiner COR (*341) used in ASSUR letter 2 and connecting Hittite parāi ‘appears, comes / goes forth’ (as phrased in Melchert 2009c:336). Similarly, but based on different reasoning, Puhvel (HED Pa:111) translates it as ‘to be blown away, to vanish’, advocating a connection with Hittite parāi-/-i(ya)-(ḫi) ‘blown air, breath, breathing, blast’ (see Pal. parina-(i)). Hawkins 2000a:534-536, 542, on the other hand, translates the Assur letter passages as ‘to miss’ and does not attribute the KARKAMIŠ A5a context to the same verb. Despite the different cognate links drawn by scholars, nearly all meaning suggestions head in the same direction, and it appears in clauses such as á-pi-ha-wa/i-tu-u-ta ni-i-´ ARHA-a ma-nu-ha pa+ra/i-ra+a-wa/i ‘In return, I shall in no way become irrelevant to you’ vel sim. The verb clearly denotes an unfavourable status to be in, so far best described by ‘to disappear (figuratively), to become irrelevant’. The attestation in KARKAMIŠ A5a, §3 does not aid in the interpretation, because it is unclear in several respects.
The interpretation by Hawkins 1980b:115f. as ‘to ask, to request, to demand’ is outdated.
[AH.B.] [I.Y.]
1.1.5Stem
The attested forms show the verb to have a stem in /-a-/ and to belong to the ḫi-conjugation.
[AH.B.]