/niya-/, DOMINUS-ia-

This lexeme is attested nine times as a simplex, its attestations dating from the Empire period to the late 8^th century BCE, across almost all regions where the script was used. The high frequency in the local corpora of Karkamiš and Malatya is due to the genre of the relevant inscriptions.

Another 37 attestations occur in various compounds, see the discussion of the stem below.

[A.P.]

The table gives a selection of forms, to show the spelling variants besides the geographic and temporal spread in the different attested forms; fragmentary and uncertain attestations are excluded. For the frequent use of the sign in compounds, see the discussion of the stem below.

KARKAMIŠ A26f, §3 may feature an attestation of an acc. sg. with 〈DOMINUS-[x^?]-na〉, /niyan/. However, because of the unclear sign in the middle, it cannot be stated with certainty whether the attested form belongs to the present lexeme or instead to /nann(i)-/ ‘master’, which relies on the same logogram.

[A.P.] [AH.B.]

The general meaning of the logogram DOMINUS and the word as ‘lord’ has been clear from very early on, see Jensen 1894a:300 and the compilation by Laroche 1960c:209f. More recently, Giusfredi 2010b:126-130 provided an overview illustrating the different contexts /niya-/ is used in,Conflating it with the attestations for /nann(i)-/, however. coming to the conclusion that it denotes anyone of higher status, be that politically or in business terms. KARKAMIŠ A2+3, §19b serves well to illustrate this: ma-pa-wa/i-sa REGIO-ni-ia-si DOMINUS-ia-sa, approx. /man=ba=wa=as wattaniyasi niyas/, a part of a curse formula, which translates as ‘(Whether he is a king), or whether he is the lord of a country’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:110).

[AH.B.]

The word is a common gender noun, and although only two slots from the paradigm are attested, they show that the noun is an a-stem and not subject to i-mutation. If the etymological connection with /niyazza-/ ‘to pass on’ and related words proves to be correct, the word may also be connected to Hittite nai-/ne(ya)-^(ḫi) ‘to lead, send; to turn’ (cf. HEG N:254). In that case, it would likely be derived from the weak stem of the root; the strong stem of the root may be attested in the HLuw. verb /na-/.

The word is also used as second member in a number of compounds: DOMUS+DOMINUS /parna-niyas/ ‘lord of the house’ (KARKAMIŠ A30h, §4), REGIO.DOMINUS-sa /wattani-niyas/ ‘country-lord’ (KARKAMIŠ A23, §1), and FLUMEN.DOMINUS-ia-sa /haba-niyas/ ‘river-lord’ (MALPINAR, §19). However, it is not always evident from the spelling whether or not a given string of signs should be interpreted as a compound or as two separate words. Thus the attestation 〈|REGIO |DOMINUS-sa〉 in KARKAMIŠ A2+3 §14b shows a word-divider being used between the two signs,Hawkins 2000a:109 omits it in his transliteration, but it is clearly visible on the photograph. which is otherwise uncommon.

[AH.B.] [A.P.]

1. REGIO.DOMINUS

2. FLUMEN.DOMINUS

3. DOMUS+DOMINUS

4. FLUMEN.REGIO.DOMINUS

1. /niyai(ya)-/

For the lemma head see HLuw. *niya-.