*kéu̯p-/kup-´

The Luwian root verb kup-^(ti) (also the base of Hitt. (or hittiticized?) ?kupiškezzi?, Oettinger 1979a:204, Sasseville 2021a:265f.; place of attestation is missing; may not exist) can be reconstructed as PAnat. *kéu̯p-/kup-´ ‘to desire, plot (out of desire)’ (with lenition)If the Lycian and Lydian cognates belong here, the original labial consonant must be *p, despite Sasseville 2021a:546 who left it at *b^(h). > *kéu̯b- (and monophthongization) > /kub-/. The lenis status of the labial consonant can be drawn from the derivatives, for which see below.Phonologically outdated Oettinger 1979a:204 and HED K:255, who did not realize that lenition could occur after an accented diphthong. Furthermore, the derivatives of the Luwian word family reveal a formation in *-i̯e/o- (Sasseville 2021a:265f.), which is not attested, but can be posited as *kéu̯p-(i)i̯e/o-, with subsequent lenition, or *kup-i̯é/ó-, with analogical lenition from the root verb. An etymological connection with PIE *keu̯p- or *keu̯b- has been maintained in Melchert 1987a:190 (referring to HEG K:638f. with further literature), Mottausch 2011a:78, but Puhvel (HED K:257) is against the connection with *keu̯b- on semantics grounds.

The Lycian B potential cognates, e.g. kupri-^(ti) ‘to love, choose’ (< *kup-ro- + -i̯é/ó-)For a Celtic cognate of the adjectival ro-stem, see Prosper & Medrano Duque 2022a:24f. and under the PIE lemma below., if they belong to the same root, do not show lenition, which means that there was no analogical spread from the strong stem of the root verb in Lycian. The same can be posited for Lydian iškupto-. Unifying all these data under one Proto-Anatolian root, a connection with PIE *keu̯p- becomes the only viable option.

[D.S.]

Based on the evidence cited above, it is difficult to establish the precise meaning of the root *keu̯p- in PIE. What is clear is that it referred to an intense feeling or emotion, probably ‘desire’ compare Massetti 2016a:44: “to experience a strong feeling(/desire)”, from which all other attested meanings may be derived (negative desire > fury in Indic, wistful desire > grief in Germanic, desire > plot (out of desire) in Anatolian with the original meaning ‘desire’ still extant in Lycian B kupri-^(ti) ‘to love, choose’). Since many words that designate emotions go back to roots with a more tangible meaning (e.g., Lat. amāre ‘love’ < *h₂emh₃- ‘seize’, Gk. ἔραμαι ‘I love’ < *h₁erh₂- ‘divide’, Gk. ἵμερος ‘longing’ < *seh₂i̯- ‘bind’; see Weiss 1998a), it is possible that Lith. kùpti (-sta, -o) ‘to curdle, ferment, turn sour’, Latv. kupt, kùpu, -u ‘to curdle, ferment’, kupât, -ãju ‘to curdle’, kupuôt, -uõju ‘to froth, seethe’ (see ALEW I:630) belong to this root, too, and that its basic meaning was something like ‘to be agitated’ (cf. Vedic kopáyati ‘moves, shakes, agitates’, Toch. A kāp^ā- ‘well up, be greedy’, and LIV²:359 s.v. *keu̯p- “(innerlich) beben”, ‘to shake (inside)’ [though without the Baltic and Tocharian material]). It is tempting to also connect OCS kypěti ‘to boil, seethe’, Lith. kūpė́ti ‘to boil over’, though the long vowel makes this virtually impossible (see LIV²:374 s.v. *ku̯eh₁p- ‘sieden’ instead). With or without the Balto-Slavic evidence, as evidenced by Anatolian the root already had a meaning ‘to desire (vel sim.)’ in PIE.

The most recent discussions of the root *keu̯p- and its various verbal and nominal stem formations are the highly informative accounts by Massetti 2016a:44–46 and by Prosper & Medrano Duque 2022a:24–31. The best attested derivative is the *-ro-adjective *kup-ró- ‘desirable’, attested in Lat. dea Cupra, Umbr. cubrar matrer, Sabin. ciprus ‘good’, in the second member MIr. -chobur ‘desiring’ of MIr. mil-chobur ‘bear’ < *‘desiring honey’ (etc.), and perhaps in Gk. Κύπρος f. ‘Cyprus’ (quasi ‘beloved [island]’) and Κύπρις, -ιδος ‘Cypris (a name of Aphrodite)’ (if ‘beloved one’; see Massetti 2016a), as well as indirectly by virtue of the denominal verbs Lycian B kupri-^(ti) ‘to love, choose’ and OIr. ad·cobra ‘desires, wishes’ (and ON hjúfra ‘to wail, weep’?).

The Luwian root verb kup-^(ti) ‘to desire, plot (out of desire)’ does not have a match outside of Anatolian where different denominal verbal stems are prevalent (e.g., OIr. ad·cobra ‘desires, wishes’, Toch. B kāw^ā- ‘desire, crave’, Toch. A kāp^ā-, Lat. cupiō cf. Prosper & Medrano Duque 2022a:27f., etc.).

[S.H.]

Vedic kopáyati ‘moves, shakes, agitates’ (RV), Sanskrit (epic) kupyati ‘is excited, agitated, boils with rage, is angry’, kopa- m. ‘fury, passion, wrath, anger’.Cf., e.g., LIV²:359 s.v. *keu̯p-, EWAia I 402f. s.v. KOP, Werba 1997a:340f.

Gk. Κύπρος f. ‘Cyprus’ (if ‘beloved [sc. island]’), Κύπρις, -ιδος ‘Cypris (a name of Aphrodite)’ (if ‘beloved one’).Cf. Massetti 2016a:42–46 on Κύπρις.

Lat. cupiō, cupere, cupīuī, cupītum ‘desire, long for’ (Naev.+), cupidus ‘having a strong desire, eager, anxious; greedy; ambitious; wanton’ (Pl.+), cupīdō, -inis f. or m. ‘passionate desire, lust, greed; Cupid’ (Pl.+), acc.pl. cuppēs ‘delicacies’cf. Nussbaum apud Prosper & Medrano Duque 2022a:28, cuppēs, -ēdis ‘gluttonous’ (Pl.+), cuppēdia, -ōrum n. pl. ‘delicacies’ (Pl.+), cuppēdo ‘desire; gourmanderie’ (Varro+), dea Cupra (name of a goddess worshipped at Cupra in Picenum, perhaps identifiable with the Bona Dea), Umbr. cubrar matrer ‘Mother Cupra’, Sabin. ciprus ‘good’ (acc. to Varro L. 5.159), SPicen. kuprí, qupíríh adv. ‘?’.Cf., e.g., LIV²:359 s.v. *keu̯p-, WH I:312 s.v. cupiō, 312f. s.v. cuppēs, Untermann 2000a:405f. s.v. cubrar, EDLIL:155 s.v. cupiō, Prosper & Medrano Duque 2022a:27f., and Nussbaum 2014c:305 on cuppēs etc.

OIr. ad·cobra ‘desires, wishes’, accobor n. ‘desire, wish; greed; lust’ (*ad-kupro-), MIr. mil-chobur ‘bear’ < *‘desiring honey’ (cf. mil ‘honey’), PN Ól-chobar (cf. ól ‘drinking (alcohol)’), Con-chobar (cf. cú, gen. sg. con ‘dog’).Cf., e.g., EDPC:25 s.v. *ad-kubro-, Prosper & Medrano Duque 2022a:24–27 (with more evidence from Continental Celtic).

PGmc. *heufana- ‘to wail, lament, grieve’ (Goth. hiufan, OE hēofan, OHG hiofan, hioban), OE hēof, hēaf ‘grief, sorrow’, ON hjúfra ‘to wail, weep’.Cf., e.g., LIV²:359 s.v. *keu̯p-, Seebold 1970a:256 s.v. *heuf-a-, de Vries 1977a:233 s.v. hjúfra

Toch. B kāw^ā- ‘desire, crave’, kāwo, obl. kāwa ‘desire’; Toch. A kāp^ā- ‘well up, be greedy’ (but only if the verb is denominal and based on an *-eh₂-stem with schwebeablaut, viz. *ku̯opeh₂- > Proto-Toch. *kæpā- whence (with ā-umlaut) Toch. B kāwo).Cf., e.g., Malzahn 2010a:562f., Adams 2013a: s.v. kāp-.