/kurtinn(i)-/, (“X”)ku+ra/i-ti-ni-
‘(unknown)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 2774
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/kurtinn(i)-/, (“X”)ku+ra/i-ti-ni-
‘(unknown)’1.1.1Transmission
This hapax is attested in a single inscription from Commagene, dating to the mid-8th century BCE.
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| acc. sg. | /kurtinnin/ | (“X”)ku+ra/i-˹ti?˺-ni-na | MALPINAR, §3 (Commagene) |
At MALPINAR, §3, the unknown determinative may be the logogram DEUS (sign *360), but additional evidence is needed.
[A.P.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
While the word seems to be attested in fully syllabic spelling, the assigned phonological interpretation is tentative. Not yet securely connected to any cognates in the other Anatolian languages, the word may have a different shape, because the imprecise nature of the HLuw. writing system permits alternative interpretations such as /kur(r)aTinn(i)-/ and /kur(r)iTinn(i)-/. However, one may consider a cognate link to the verb HLuw. /kwar-(ti)/ ‘to cut’, in which case the shape /kurtinn(i)-/ would be the most likely one, but cf. the discussions below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Appearing once in a fragmented part of an inscription, the meaning of this word has so far escaped scholars, cf. Hawkins 2000a:343. It occurs after the introductory clauses of a dedicatory inscription in a badly fragmented passage, in which the author seems to recount in detail the good he did his king. /kurtinn(i)-/ can hence be assumed to denote something positive, but it remains unclear what precisely it could be. MALPINAR, §3 reads: “X”-x-pa-wa/i [...] (-)za-a (“X”)ku+ra/i-˹ti?˺-ni-na PONERE-wa/i-˹ha?˺, approx. /…=ba=wa …za kurtinnin tuwahha/, perhaps translating as ‘I put the kurtinni- …’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:341). If the word should indeed be related to /kwar-(ti)/ ‘to cut’, its morphology would suggest a meaning such as ‘cutlet, little slice’, but this seems a strange choice of words for the context and thus remains strongly hypothetical until further textual evidence can verify it.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
If the word should have an etymological link to /kwar-(ti)/ ‘to cut’, it may reflect a diminutive in /-ann(i)-/ derived from the relational adjective */kurti(ya)-/ of an unattested deverbal noun */kurt(i)-/ vel sim. (cf. Melchert 2003b:197).
[AH.B.]