warpašši(ya)-

The lexeme occurs twice, once in a NS oracle letter and once in a MS text classified as a cult inventory.

[E.R.]

nom. sg. c.	wa-ar-pa-ši-i-iš	KUB 12.36 + KUB 60.9 i 9	(CTH 527, MS)
		KUB 30.37 i 7	(CTH 527, MS)
nom./acc. sg. n.	wa-ar-pa-aš-ši-ia-an-za	KBo 43.62, 5’, 6’	(CTH 581, NS)

The assignment of the form cited from KBo 43.62, 5’, 6’, is owed to Melchert pers. comm.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

In both instances, warpašši(ya)- is used as an epithet, at KUB 12.36 + KUB 60.9 i 9 for ^GIŠDÍLIM (a flat bowl), whereas at KBo 43.62, 5’, 6’, it modifies SISKUR ‘ritual’. The name of the ritual is not helpful. In contrast, the translation of ^GIŠDÍLIM wa-ar-pa-ši-i-iš as ‘washbasin’ offered in Laroche 1954c:48, Berman 1972a:228, Hazenbos 2003a:142f., Ünal 2007a:790, EDHIL:965, HHw:196, HEG U-Z:344, 350f.) is obviously based on an assumed relationship with the root warp- ‘to bathe, wash’ and its semantic attractiveness in view of the head noun ^GIŠDÍLIM (a flat bowl). While a bowl that is equipped with a lid and encloses items is equally possible (derived from warp(i)- ‘enclosure, cover, lid’), a “military bowl” (related to HLuw. /warp(i)-/ ‘tool, weapon’) is less likely. What makes the first solution, ‘washbasin’, superior to the others is the additional mention of 20 ^URUDUwaršiniš ‘20 water vessels’ immediately following the 8 ^GIŠDÍLIM warpašši(ya)-. Therefore, the meaning warpašši(ya)- is presumably linked to washing.

[E.R.]

The plene spelling -īš in the final syllable points to a stem in -i(ya)- (Rieken 2017a), as does the form in -iyanza. The noun underlying the derivative is very likely a substantivization of a relational adjective *warpašša/i- built on an abstract noun *warpa- ‘washing’ (Kronasser 1966a:228, HEG U-Z:351; skeptical Berman 1972a:153).

[E.R.]

Only Melchert (pers. comm.) lists warpaššianza as Luwian. Elsewhere, the Luwian origin revealed by the -ašša/i- and the -i(ya)- suffixes is not noticed.

[E.R.]