wattann(i)-

So far, the word is attested twice, but only in a single Middle Hittite itinerary.

[E.R.]

nom. sg. c.	[wa-at-t]a-an-ni-iš	KBo 62.5, 14	(CTH 230, MS)
	wa-⸢at⸣-ta-an-⸢ni⸣-iš	KBo 62.5, 27	(CTH 230, MS)

Lorenz & Rieken 2007a:468 suggest the restoration [wa-at-t]a-an-ni-iš at KBo 62.5, 14 instead of [al-t]a-an-ni-iš on account of the available space at the beginning of the line.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

From the context of the itinerary, it is clear that wattann(i)- denotes a topographic feature: ⁽²⁵⁾ḫu-wa-ši-ia-wa-an-ti-i-ša ⁽²⁶⁾DUR₅ ḫu-ri-iš-ša ar-ma-i-mi-iš ⁽²⁷⁾wa-⸢at⸣-ta-an-⸢ni⸣-iš ḫu-wa-az-⸢za^?!⸣-ra-ni-iš “inside the ḫuwaši terrain: moist wetlands, a moon-shaped wattann(i)-, a ḫuwazzaran(i)-.” Lorenz & Rieken 2007a:468 and 478 (followed in HEG U-Z:424) analyzed the lexeme as the root noun *watt- ‘water’ derived with the diminutive suffix -ann(i)- and, accordingly, interpreted the lexeme as ‘small (spring) pond’. Gérard’s semantic elucidation of Luw. watt(i)- ‘mountain’ opens up a new option, i.e. to take wattann(i)- as ‘small hump, little hill’. The same economical argument applied to wattant(i)-, i.e. the attestation of the base watt(i)- ‘mountain’ as opposed to the need to reconstruct *watt- ‘water’, tips the scales in favor of ‘small hump, little hill’, but it must be stressed that the evidence is not entirely conclusive.

[E.R.]

CLuw. wattann(i)- is composed of the base watt(i)- ‘mountain (?)’ and the diminutive suffix -ann(i)-, see already Lorenz & Rieken 2007a:478.

[E.R.]

The root watt- with the semantics of ‘mountain’, so far only known from Luwian, leads to the assignment of wattann(i)- to this language (similarly Melchert, pers. comm.).

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. watt(i)-.