*77-
‘to pledge, give in marriage’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 3136
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
*77-
‘to pledge, give in marriage’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested four times in letters found in Assur and an inscription from Karkamiš, all dating to the 8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| 2sg. pres. act. | /…/ | *77-ti-sa | ASSUR letter e, §30 (Assur) |
| ASSUR letter f+g, §52 (Assur) | |||
| 1sg. pret. act. | /…/ | *77-ha-´ | ASSUR letter f+g, §16 (Assur) |
| *77-ha | TİLSEVET (alias EKİNVEREN), §3 (Karkamiš) |
[A.P.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological form of this verb is unknown, because only the verbal endings are ever spelt syllabically in the attestations. Moreover, the pictorial shape of the logogram *77 has so far defied identification; Hawkins 2000a:549 tentatively suggests a “downward-pointing hand with crossed fingers”, which is possible, but it could just as well resemble two different hands interlocked by one finger each. The sign is unique to this verb and its reduplicated derivative *77.*77- ‘to keep promising (?)’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Even though the phonology of the verb as a whole and the pictography of *77 still remain unclear, the denotation of the verb is discernible with some certainty from its contexts of attestation. It occurs twice in passages in the ASSUR letters that strongly suggest a betrothal, e.g. ASSUR letter e, §30: INFANS-ni-ha-wa/i-mu tu-wa/i-na CUM-ni *77-ti-sa, approx. /niwarannin=ha=wa=mu tuwin anni …-tis/, meaning ‘You will pledge your child to me, (whom no-one shall know before)’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:536). The other two attestations show the verb used in a different context, yet they too suggest a meaning ‘to pledge, promise’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
While the phonology of the stem is unclear, the ending of the 2sg. pres. act. in /-tis/ suggests that the verb either belongs to the root verbs with mi-endings or to one of the classes that use ḫi-endings, see Sasseville 2021a:373.
[AH.B.]