*serh3- (*sr̥h3-i̯é/ó-)
‘to gut, eviscerate’
- Language
- Proto-Anatolian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 3046
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Cuneiform Luwian
šarḫadu
‘to activate/empty the womb (vel sim.)’1.1.1Transmission
The sole attestation of the verb is found in a ritual from the Tauriša tradition.
[E.R.]
1.1.2Forms
| 3sg. impv. act. | šar-ḫa-du | KUB 35.102 iv 3 | (CTH 766, MS) |
For šar-ḫa-mi-in-⸢zi⸣ at KBo 13.260 iii 8’, commonly taken as a participial form of šarḫadu, see under the Lemma šarḫam(i)-.
[E.R.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.
[E.R.]
1.1.4Meaning
So far, scholars have refrained from translating the verb (DLL:86, CLL:189), even when they saw a relationship with the problematic Hittite verb šarḫiye/a- (HHw:144, HEG Š:888, CHD Š:252, Starke 1990a:393 with n. 1416). One of the problems that stood in the way of a semantic interpretation was the misguided assumption that [ap]āš ‘that’, the subject of šarḫadu, refers to the child. However, the passage ibid. ii 11’f. without a mention of the child in the preceding context strongly suggests that apā- ‘that’ refers instead to the mother. This is very likely the case in iii 1-3, too, not least because in both ii 11’f. and iii 1-3, the child is called zā- dumu-ann(i)- ‘this child’, i.e. with proximal deixis demonstrative. Cf. (1)[i-ia-]an-du-ku-wa za-aš-ši-in [dumu-an-na-aš-ši-in an-ni-in] (2)[wa-ra-]al-li-in ú-wa-ta-a[n-du ...?] (3)[a-pa]-a-aš šar-ḫa-du a-pa-a-aš [...] “They sh[all] go (and) bring this child’s own mother! [...?] Let her activate/empty her womb, let her [...]!” (KUB 35.102 iii 1-3). The translation suggested here starts from the assumed genetic connection of šar-ḫa-du with CLuw. šarḫuwant(i)- ‘womb, belly’ and Hitt. šarḫiye/a- ‘to eviscerate, gut’ and its occurrence in the context of birth (thus slightly modifying CHD Š:252 ‘to maul (?)’, with references). Thus, the mother is supposed to act in some way with regard to her womb, which leads to the lifting of the child and his separation from the umbilical cord, hence the proposal ‘to activate one’s womb’, which is more concrete and closer to šarḫiye/a- ‘to gut, eviscerate’, though focusing on a different aspect.
[E.R.]
1.1.5Stem
Melchert (CLL:189) posits as the stem a cautious šarḫ(a)-. In principle, with only the 3sg. impv. act. šar-ḫa-du attested, both a root verb šarḫ-(ti) and a denominative verb šarḫā(i)-(di) come into question, but the assumed meaning makes the latter, a derivative from an a-stem noun *šarḫa- ‘womb, belly, innards, fetus’ vel sim., more attractive.
[E.R.]
1.1.6Derivatives
1.2 Lycian B
*zrqq-
‘to gut, eviscerate’1.2.1Derivatives
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘to gut, eviscerate’
The Hittite verb šarḫiye/a-(mi) (see also 
šarḫiye/a-) has been convincingly connected to Greek ῥώομαι ‘move with speed/violence (vel sim.)’ (Oettinger 1979a:289f. and EDHIL:732f. both with different references; cf. Beekes 2010a:1297). Whereas Oettinger keeps the root with a *h2, Zehnder (LIV²:535), Hoffmann 2000a:180 and Kloekhorst (EDHIL:732f.) posits rightly a *h3, i.e. *serh3-, which better fits the Greek verb. Concerning Indo-Iranian, Nikolaev 2021b:191 adds Ved. sīrā́- ‘assailant’ < *sr̥h3-léh2-. A root verb of the mi-conjugation *sérh3-/sr̥h3-´ cannot be reconstructed with certainty, since CLuw. šarḫadu could be a denominative verb instead (see below). However, a deradical verb in *-i̯e/o- can be assumed based on Hitt. šarḫiye/a-(mi) and “Luw.” šarḫiye/a- (*sr̥h3-i̯é/ó-) and (with u-extension) Lyc. B zrqqi-(ti) (*sr̥h3-u-i̯é/ó-).
Semantically, the new findings adduced in this dictionary with the Luwian data speak for an original meaning ‘to gut, eviscerate’, which has evolved in war contexts to a violent behaviour done to enemies or lands unwilling to pay tribute (see under šarḫiye/a- and Lyc. B zrqqi-(ti)); for the connection with CLuw. šarḫuwant(i)- ‘womb, belly’ and the Greek etymology, see under lemma. Consequently, if one wishes to retain the Indo-European etymology, the same semantic development must also be posited for the prehistory of Greek and Vedic. For a summary of the literature, see HEG S:888f.
[D.S.]