/zalla-/, za/i-lá/í-tax
‘to raid (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 2742
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/zalla-/, za/i-lá/í-tax
‘to raid (?)’1.1.1Transmission
This verb is attested only once in one of the inscriptions from Tabal, dating to the mid-8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. pret. ind. act. | /zallaTa/ | za/i-lá/í-tax | TOPADA, §11 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this verb is tentative, because it is attested only once in HLuw. and does not have any exact cognates in the other Anatolian languages. Still, it is assumed to belong to the word family around /zallalla(/i)-/ ‘cart’, which is related to CLuw. zalla- movement, speed’ (see Weeden 2010b:51, also cf. CLL:275). While not visible from the spelling itself, it can be said with certainty that the form attested in TOPADA, §11 must be a 3sg., because the chain of clitics at the beginning of the clause contains the subject 3sg. pronoun /=as/. The HLuw. writing system is, however, not capable of specifying the quality of the dental in the ending, hence the use of the cover symbol /T/. Likewise uncertain is the quality of the stem vowel, and the phonological shape could instead be /zalliTa/.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning assigned to the present lemma is to be understood as tentative. In TOPADA, §11, the clause occurs in a historical passage, listing some successful military actions by an opponent the author of the inscription later defeated. The clause a-wa/i-sa6 2-sú za/i-lá/í-tax, approx. /a=wa=as ...-su zallaTa/, therefore describes an action by the opponent that has a strongly negative impact on the author. Weeden 2010b:51 suggests ‘to gallop’, which is marginally possible, but largely unsatisfactory for the lack of denoting any negative impact expected from the context. A meaning such as ‘to raid’ is therefore more likely.
The verb itself is intransitive (or used intransitively in this instance), because the clause contains the overt subject pronoun /=as/ in the chain of clitics, which is a hallmark of intransitivity in HLuw. (see e.g. Yakubovich 2015b:6.4).
[AH.B.] [I.Y.]
1.1.5Stem
From a single attestation, it cannot be determined to which inflection class the present verb belongs. Weeden 2010b:51 suggests a denominative verb based on the HLuw. unattested equivalent to CLuw. zalla-, which is possible within a number of Luwian verbal stem classes, i.e. /-a-(ti)/, /-a-(di)/, and /-a-(i)/; see Sasseville 2021a.
[AH.B.]