kālu(t)t(i)-
‘circle (of gods)’
- Language
- Cuneiform Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 3123
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Luwian in Hittite transmission
kālu(t)t(i)-
‘circle (of gods)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme occurs in various Hittite texts, predominantly of religious genres such as festival instructions and deity lists.
[O.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom. sg. | ka-lu-ti-iš | KBo 20.52, 6´ | (CTH 664, MS?) |
| acc. sg. | ka-a-lu-ti-in | KBo 35.168 iv 7´ | (CTH 712, NS) |
| ka-lu-ú-ti-in | KBo 13.245 rev. 19´ | (CTH 613, NS) | |
| ka-lu-ti-in | KBo 20.119 iv 4´ | (CTH 786, MS?) | |
| ka-lu-ti-en | KUB 8.62 i 21´ | (CTH 341, NS) | |
| ka-lu-te-en-n(=) | KUB 10.92 v 24 | (CTH 706, LNS) | |
| gen. sg. | ga-lu-da-aš | KUB 8.62 i 20´ | (CTH 341, NS) |
| ka-˹lu˺-ta-aš | KUB 22.49 rev. 5´ | (CTH 582, NS) | |
| gen. sg. (Hitt.) | [k]a-lu-ut-ti-ia-aš | KBo 33.145 + KBo 33.171 rev. 8´/9´ | (CTH 500, MS?) |
| dat./loc. sg. | ka-lu-ti | KBo 14.142 i 18 | (CTH 698, LNS) |
| dat./loc. sg. (Hitt.) | ka-lu-ti-ia | KBo 14.142 i 11 | (CTH 698, LNS) |
| acc. pl. (Hitt.) | ka-lu-ti-uš | KUB 27.1 iv 10 | (CTH 712, NS) |
Only a representative selection of attestations are given in the table above. See HW 2nd ed. K:48f. and HED K:34 for further attestations.
Note the fortis -tt- in the genitive form [k]a-lu-ut-ti-aš. This fortis consonant also surfaces in some derived lexemes (see Derivatives).
[O.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
All forms have been checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).
[O.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
For the meaning of Luw. kālu(t)t(i)-, see Laroche 1959a:54, Oettinger 1979a:494, CLL:99, HEG A-K:470, HED K:34, Carruba 2000c:60 and HW 2nd ed. K:48f. The basic meaning of the word is ‘circle’, but it is mainly used to refer to a group of gods (as in the sense of German ‘Kreis’).
[O.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The attestations of this lexeme show Hittite non-ablauting i-stem inflection. Presupposing that the word is borrowed from Luwian into Hittite (see Origin), it may reasonably be assumed that the word is an i-mutating stem in Luwian, and is therefore given as such here.
[O.B.]
1.1.6Derivatives
1.1.7Origin
A Luwian origin of this word is supported by the suffix conglomerate *-u-ti-, indicative of Luwian nouns (cf. e.g. CLuw. arūt(i)- ‘wing’). See also Laroche 1959a:54, Oettinger 1979a:494, CLL:99, Carruba 2000c:60, Melchert 2005a:449 and Melchert apud Sasseville 2021a:225 n. 15.
[O.B.]
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction
Based on the semantics, it seems hardly possible to keep kālu(t)t(i)- ‘circle (of gods)’ separate from the root kwal- ‘to turn’ (see PAnat. *ku̯el-); thus DCL:s.v., who points out that an o-grade of the root is necessary to account for the delabialization. On the other hand, the word 
kuwaluti- appears to have preserved the labial element despite the same morphological formation (and thus same ablaut grade in the root). Since the two lexemes have different meanings, it is possible that the labio-velar in kuwaluti- was restored in analogy to the other lexemes of the same root, whereas kālu(t)t(i)- was quickly separated from the word family, whence analogy did not apply. A similar phenomenon occurs with the root *h3er- ‘to arise’ with its outcomes ar- next to ḫar-. The etymological dictionaries (HEG I-K:471f., HED K:34f.) on the other hand assume for kālu(t)t(i)- a different Indo-European etymology, i.e. with Greek κλώθω ‘to spin’; but cf. EDG:720 “Pre-Greek”, which remains phonologically unconvincing.
[D.S.]