/mam(m)ud-/, ma-mu-
‘company’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, n.
- ID
- 3315
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/mam(m)ud-/, ma-mu-
‘company’1.1.1Transmission
This noun is attested twice in one of the letters found in Assur, but likely originating from elsewhere; the text is dated to the late 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. sg. | /mam(m)u=sa/ | ma-mu-sa | ASSUR letter f+g, §1 |
| dat./loc. sg. | /mam(m)udi/ | ma-mu-ti | ASSUR letter f+g, §1 |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation was first suggested in this form by Hawkins 2000a:549 and is reasonably certain. The orthographic renditions of the word in HLuw. leave some leeway, such as that the medial nasal may be a singleton /m/ or geminate /mm/, and a lack of cognates in the other Anatolian languages means that their more precise writing systems cannot help to clarify the matter. Based on the possible origin of the word, for which see the discussions below, a geminate would be more likely.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The assigned meaning was first suggested by Hawkins 2000a:549, based purely on the contexts of attestation. Both attestations of this lexeme occur within the same clause in ASSUR letter f+g, §1: á-sa5-za i-ia-mi ma-mu-ti-ha ta-ka-sa-la-sa-wa/i-i ma-mu-sa-ha (“LOQUI”)ha-ti-i-ti, approx. /assazza Iyami mam(m)udi=ha Taksallas=wa mam(m)u=sa=ha haditti/, translating as ‘Say to Iyami and company (that) Taksalla and company says: …’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:536).
The noun may possibly constitute a loan from Akkadian mamma ‘somebody’ that has been integrated into Luwian, see the discussion of the stem below. Its use can be compared to the modern day “& Co.” in business circles, and the academic version “et al.”, the latter of which is likewise based on a pronoun (Latin alius ‘other’). The semantic interpretation is therefore both contextually as well as etymologically supported.
Outdated is the suggestion by Weitenberg 1984a:299, that the lexeme constitutes a personal name.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The lexeme may perhaps be based on the Akkadian indefinite pronoun mamma (mammu, mam) ‘somebody’ and derived with the suffix /-d-/, a frequently used way of integrating a loanword as a neuter gender noun into HLuw. morphology, cf. Yakubovich 2015b:6.2. Its attestations show that the noun conforms to the usual pattern seen in neuters ending in stops: in the nom./acc. sg., the originally word-final /-d/ was lost, before the neuter particle /=sa, za/ was attached, whereas the /-d/ was maintained throughout the rest of the paradigm (see Melchert 2003b:182).
[AH.B.]
1.1.6Origin
The word may perhaps be derived from a borrowing from Akkadian, viz. the indefinite pronoun mamma (mammu, mam) ‘somebody’ (CAD M1:195), doubted by Weeden (pers. comm.), who points to problems of chronology.
[AH.B.]