]kuwawālla-

This lexeme occurs two times in a Palaic incantation embedded in the same Hittite text as the Palaic myth of a disappearing god (CTH 752). It is attested on a Middle Script fragment. The Palaic character of this fragmentary incantation cannot be regarded as fully assured, but the status of the lexeme under discussion as Palaic is accepted in Melchert 1994a:207.

[I.Y.]

nom. sg. or pl.	(-)ku-wa-w]a-a-al-la-aš	KUB 35.164 iii 7’	(CTH 752, OS or MS)
	(-)k]u-wa-wa-a-al-la-aš	KUB 35.164 iii 8’	(CTH 752, OS or MS)

Both occurrences checked against the photograph of the Konkordanz.

[I.Y.]

The context of both occurrences is fragmentary, one can only hypothesize that ]kuwawālla- is located in the water (wa-at-ta-na). The synchronic comparison suggests a possibility that ]kuwawālla- is related to Pal. kuwa(w)- ‘bovine’, but this connection cannot be regarded as assured, in particular since we do not know whether the lexeme under discussion indeed begins with ku-.

[I.Y.]

Synchronically this is an a-stem, apparently characterized by the suffix -alla-, for which see the discussion under Origin.

[I.Y.]

If the etymology connection of the base posited above is correct, then the word may be considered Palaic. However, the presence of the suffix -alla- (< *-é-leh₂-), which is Luwic (Sasseville 2014-2015a), disturbs the picture, since it requires Čop’s law to have operated in Palaic, for which there is no evidence so far. To assume the borrowing of a Luwian suffix is another possibility, for which there are enough examples for Hittite, but this would be unparalleled so far for the Palaic language. Due to the fragmentary state of the passage KUB 35.164 iii 7’-13´ and the unsecurity regarding the actual language involved, none of the hypotheses regarding the lexeme ]kuwawālla- can be verified.

[D.S.]