šarḫuntalla/i-

The sole attestation of the lexeme occurs in a trilingual lexical list.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The lexeme translates Akk. alpu in a lexical list. While the Akkadian word itself poses problems regarding its interpretation (see CHD Š:257 for the interpretations of alpu), most scholars now accept a meaning ‘false, criminal, a criminal’. Further, šarḫuntalli- is assumed to be based on the same root šarḫ- as šarḫiye/a-^(mi), which is (erroneously) understood as ‘attacking, posing a threat, to treat in the manner of a lion, to press, oppress, to maul’ vel sim. (see under Lemma šarḫiye/a-). The attempt to square these two pieces of information led to the common translation ‘rapacious’ and/or ‘attacking, posing a threat’ (Otten apud HW:454, Neumann 1971a:262, Oettinger 1979a:289, HHw:145, Ünal 2007a:610, EDHIL:733, HEG Š:892f., CHD Š:257; HED SA:166).

Differently, Berman 1972a:131 (contra Otten & von Soden 1968a:10, 13) relates šarḫuntalli- to šarḫuwant- ‘belly, womb, fetus’ and suggests ‘voracious’ (cf. also Güterbock & Civil 1985a:103).

With šarḫiye/a- interpreted here as ‘to eviscerate, gut’ (sea under Lemma), the connections with the verb as well as šarḫuwant- ‘belly, womb, fetus’ can be easily reconciled. Consequently, šarḫuntalli- must mean ‘eviscerating, predatory, raptorial’ vel sim. (from ‘related to the guts’), which translates Akk. alpu ‘false, criminal, a criminal’ accurately enough.

[E.R.]

Obviously, šarḫuntalli- (Luw. šarḫuntalla/i-) forms a derivative of šarḫuwant- ‘belly, womb, fetus’ by means of the relational -alla/i- suffix.

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The lexeme šarḫuntalli- attested in Hittite context has so far passed as a genuinely Hittite word. However, the derivation with the Luw. -alla/i- suffix from a base that is now known to be Luwian as well points to a Luwian borrowing into Hittite.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. šarḫadu.