uralla-
‘superior, supervisor’
- Language
- Cuneiform Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 3252
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Luwian in Hittite transmission
uralla-
‘superior, supervisor’1.1.1Transmission
The two attestations of this lexeme can both be found in NS copies of the Old Hittite palace chronicle.
[E.R.]
1.1.2Forms
| acc. sg. | LÚu-ra-al-la-a(n)(=) | KBo 3.34 ii 23 | (CTH 8, NS) |
| LÚu-ra-la-a[n(=)] | KBo 3.36 ii 26’ | (CTH 8, NS) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.
[E.R.]
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The attestation LÚu-ra-al-la-a=š-ša-ma-an at KBo 3.34 ii 23 features the assimilation of final -n to the following sibilant of the possessive pronoun, as typical for linguistically old texts.
[E.R.]
1.1.4Meaning
The relevant context runs as follows: (21)m!iš-pu-da-aš-i-na-ra-an lugal-uš da-a-aš (22)mšu-up-pí-u-ma-an mma-ra-aš-ša-an-na ugula 1 li LÚ.MEŠkuš₇ e-šer a-pu-u-na (23)LÚu-ra-al-la-aš-ša-ma-an i-e-et iš-pa-an-ti la-aḫ-ḫé-mu-uš ḫu-es-ke-ez-zi (24)ta (no space) wa-aš-ta-uš ú-e-mi-er “The king took Išpudaš-Inara, (and) Šuppiuman and Marašša. They (i.e. the latter) were supervisors of the Thousand of Chariot-fighters, but him (i.e. the former) he made their LÚuralla-. He (i.e. Šuppiuman) runs (regular) control-marches. And they found cases of misconduct” (see also Dardano 1997a:50f. and 104f., Soysal 1989b:13 and 85; different Gilan 2015:122f., Klinger 2001b:63f.).
Since Laroche 1958:188, who interpreted the lexeme as “nom de métier se rapportant à l´entraînement des chevaux”, it has been translated as ‘horse-trainer’ (HW:420, Kronasser 1966a:173, HHw:187, Ünal 2007a:763, EDHIL:926, HEG U-Z:91) or, more generally, as ‘trainer’ (Pecchioli Daddi 1982a:118, Beal 1992a:537f., Dardano 1997a:149, Klinger 2001b:64 with n. 23a). However, the change in Išpudaš-Inara’s career that made him a trainer happened only after the episode described above. In his time as LÚuralla-, his main role was to supervise Šuppiuman and Marašša and to control their work or loyalty. Accordingly, ‘superior, supervisor, inspector’ is more appropriate for the passage (thus already Soysal 1989b:85 and, as an alternative to ‘trainer’, Beal 1992a:537f.; more generally Yakubovich 2013b:161: ‘a mid-ranking military official’). This range of meanings can be further narrowed down, because the obvious base of the stem is ura/i- ‘great’ and hence most easily compatible with ‘superior’.Outdated Hardy 1941a:192.
[E.R.]
1.1.5Stem
The acc. sg. in -an shows that the Hittite word is an a-stem, while the borrowed Luwian stem can belong either to the classes of non-mutated a-stems (in -alla- c.) or mutated stems (in -alla/i- c.). Its lexical base could be the reconstructed Luwian noun *ura- c. ‘greatness’ derived from the adjective ura/i- (or without the intermediate step Yakubovich 2013b:161; entirely different HEG U-Z:91 “wohl nur zufällig anklingend”).
[E.R.]
1.1.6Derivatives
1.1.7Origin
The combination of Luw. ura/i- ‘great’ and the suffix -alla- borrowed from Luwian clearly points to a Luwian origin of the noun, although this has so far only been recognized by Yakubovich 2013b:161. The occurrence of the Luwian title of a functionary in an OH text does not pose a problem, but rather fits into general picture drawn by Yakubovich 2010d:227-239 regarding the Luwian superstrate in the Old Hittite Empire.
[E.R.]
For the lemma head see CLuw. ura/i-.