/ni/
‘or’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- conj
- ID
- 3157
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/ni/
‘or’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested 6 times in inscriptions from Tabal, Karkamiš, Commagene and Cilicia, dating maximally from the late 9th to the early 7th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| indecl. | /ni/ | ni-i | KULULU 5, §7a (Tabal) |
| KULULU 5, §7e (Tabal) | |||
| MALPINAR, §21 (Commagene) | |||
| ní | KARATEPE 1 (Hu.), §71 (Cilicia) | ||
| NEG3-i | KARKAMIŠ A6, §27 (Karkamiš) | ||
| NEG3 | KARKAMIŠ A6, §28 (Karkamiš) |
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Since the spelling of this particle is identical to that of the prohibitive negation /ni/, it is generally assumed to have the same phonological shape, cf. the discussion of the stem below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
Even though the particle is graphemically indistinguishable from the prohibitive negation /ni/, there are some contexts in the HLuw. texts that mandate an interpretation as a disjunctive. This is usually the case in contexts listing different possibilities, the first of which is often introduced with one or more clause(s) beginning with /niba/ ‘or’ and often also followed by such clauses. A case in point is the long passage in the KARATEPE 1 bilingual introducing the curse formula intended to protect the installation from harm, starting at §59 and ending with §73. Among the list of possible infractions, many of which are introduced with /niba/, KARATEPE 1 (Hu.), §71 runs: ní-wa/i-ta (“COR”)á-la/i/u-na-ma-ti a-ta AEDIFICARE.MI-ri+i-i, approx. /ni=wa=tta alunnammadi anta tamari/, translating as ‘Or he builds into (it) from lust’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:57). At least one context uses /ni/ ‘or’ without a preceding /niba/, viz. KARKAMIŠ A6, §§27-28, cf. also the remarks by Stefanini 1979a:609f. and Hawkins 2000a:127.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The particle is morphologically identical with the prohibitive negation /ni/, from which it derives. The Anatolian languages partly follow individual paths for the development of disjunctives, showing that these were newly developed or remodelled at the time, see Hawkins & Morpurgo Davies 2010a:119-121 for an assessment and Morpurgo Davies 2011a:210-212.
[AH.B.]