lulummi

This word is found in a song attributed here to the Palaic language. In the previous literature, it was attributed to Luwian, with lulummi (KUB 35.153) regarded as a Luvoid participle (Starke 1979a:255 n. 40, Weitenberg 1984a:167, HED L:117).

[D.S.]

Checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).

[D.S.]

After the recognition of a Palaic song preserved on three different fragments by D. Sasseville, it became clear that lulummi no longer needed to be analyzed as a participle in -mma/i- (or here Pal. -mma-), but could be instead interpretated as a verb in the 1sg. pres. act. in -mi. This is supported by the reflexive pronoun =mi of the 1^st person singular, with which it occurs each time; cf. ]⸢a^?⸣=mi-i=a-an-ta lu-l[u-um-mi (KBo 49.84, 3’), a]=mi=ia-a=t-ta lu-lu-um-m[i] (KUB 35.153, 5’)In the latter example, the word lulummi closes both the sentence and the paragraph, supporting an interpretation as a finite verb. Using the etymological connection with lūlu(t)- ‘growth, prosperity, welfare’, the Palaic sentence can be translated as follows: “I am growing” or “I fare well”.

[D.S.]

The geminate -mm- in lulummi could be attributed to either of the two following factors: the first one would be to assume a sporadic gemination of the -mm- as occasionally attested in Hittite, e.g. aniyammi ‘I treat’ (KBo 31.6 iii 10), tiya=mmu ‘bind me’ (KBo 3.40 obv. 13’-14’, CTH 16). The second option would be to assume assimilation of the cluster *-dm- to -mm-, i.e. *lulud- + -mi. The latter is more attractive from the etymological perspective. For the assimilation of *-dm- > -mm- in Hittite (and by extension Palaic) vs. its retention in Luwian, cf. Hitt. kammarš- vs. CLuw. katmarši-^(ti) ‘to shit’ (PIE *g̑^hed- ‘to shit’, Skt. hadati, gr. χέζω, Rieken 1999a:363 with further literature).

[D.S.]