/sassa-⁽ⁱ⁾/

Attested four times, this verb can be found in inscriptions from Commagene, Tabal, and Karkamiš. The texts date to around 800 BCE and into the early 8^th century BCE.

[AH.B.]

2sg. impv. act.	/sas(s)a/	sà-sa	KIRŞEHİR lead strip, §11 (Tabal)
3sg. impv. act.	/sas(s)attu/	(“*69”)sa-sa-tu	MALPINAR, §28 (Commagene)
3pl. impv. act.	/sas(s)antu/	(“*69”)sa-sa-tu-u	MALPINAR, §5 (Commagene)
1sg. pret. act.	/sas(s)ahha/	sa-sa-ha	KARKAMIŠ A15b, §16 (Karkamiš)

[AH.B.]

Like its derivational base /sa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to release’, the meaning of the present verb remained largely unclear for a considerable time,See e.g. the remarks on the difficult interpretation of KARKAMIŠ A15b, §16 by Hawkins 1979a:159 n. 51. but was eventually assigned the present interpretation by Melchert 1989b:32-37 in his treatment of HLuw. /sa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ and /sasa-/ together with the CLuw. cognates šā-⁽ⁱ⁾ and šašša-; his analysis has since been followed by other scholars, cf. e.g. Hawkins 2000a:132. At times combined with a preverb, /sas(s)a-/ can take on different denotations, and for /anta sas(s)a-/ in KARKAMIŠ A15b, §16, Hawkins 2000a:132 suggests ‘to admit (someone to something)’, whereas /pari sas(s)a-/ in MALPINAR, §5 is assumed to mean ‘to go forth; to present’ (Hawkins 2000a:343).

Taking into account the fact that the present verb is most likely the reduplicated version of /sa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to release’ (though a formation in /-ssa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ should not be excluded), Oshiro 1995b:299 cautiously considers an intensified meaning, a variation of the more broadly defined iterative semantics assumed for reduplications. This is echoed by Dempsey 2015a:235, who assumes it to imply repetitiveness, but also notes (p. 276) that it is difficult to make out any definite semantic difference based on the attestations available at this point.

[AH.B.]

The verb is commonly regarded as a reduplicated form of the simplex root verb /sa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to release’, see e.g. Dempsey 2015a:276 and Sasseville 2021a:357f. Like its base verb, it inflects according to the ḫi-conjugation. Any semantic difference to the simplex verb will likely remain difficult to determine until further evidence has been found. Contrary to the communis opinio on this form, Lehrman 1998a:163 analyses CLuw. šašša- ‘to release’ (and by extension probably also HLuw. /sas(s)a-/) in a different way, proposing that it constitutes an iterative (now: imperfective) in -šša-⁽ⁱ⁾ to the derivational base šā-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to release’. This is technically possible, as stems in /-ssa-/ also show ḫi-conjugation endings, and at least the HLuw. writing system does not provide enough detail for distinguishing any possible differences between a reduplicated /sa-/ and one suffixed with /-ssa-/. However, even the more informative CLuw. writing system is of no help in this case, since the geminate medial in šašša- may simply mirror the quality of the initial sibilant, because even cuneiform does not use geminate spelling word-initially. Since both types of derivation, i.e. reduplication and suffixation with /-ssa-/, are well-represented in HLuw., only further evidence will likely serve to elucidate the issue.

[AH.B.]

This lexeme is a hapax in Cuneiform Luwian, occurring in the festival for the Storm-god and the Sun-goddess of Arinna, mentioning the ašušatalla-men.

[O.B.]

2sg. impv. act.

ša-aš-ša

KUB 35.133 iii 17

(CTH 665, LNS)

The form is construed with the preverb *āppanda (EGIR-anda).

[O.B.]

The form has been checked against the photograph in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).

[O.B.]

Melchert 1989b:33f. convincingly compares the syntagm EGIR-anda šašša to the use of Hitt. appan tarn(a)-^(ḫi) ‘to grant’. He translates the passage a=anz=ata ^dU-anz(a) pipišša a=anz=ada EGIR-anda šašša as ‘give them to us, oh Storm-god, grant them to us (in perpetuity)’. The verb šaššā-⁽ⁱ⁾ is thus understood to be the reduplicated, and consequently imperfective, version of the base verb šā-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to release’, although a formation in -šša-⁽ⁱ⁾ cannot be excluded either (thus Melchert 1994a:79). The semantic analysis is now consensual in the literature; see e.g. Sasseville 2021a:357.

The older equation with Hitt. šeš-^(mi) ‘to sleep’ and consequent translation of CLuw. šašša-⁽ⁱ⁾ as ‘to sleep’ (Laroche 1959a:87, Oettinger 1979a:386) is contextually excluded (see above) and thus outdated.

[O.B.]

On the basis of the flexion of base verb šā-⁽ⁱ⁾ and the HLuw. cognate /sas(s)a-⁽ⁱ⁾/ (cf. Sasseville 2021a:357), this lexeme is most likely a ḫi-conjugating verb, although the attestation in the 2sg. impv. is uninformative in this respect. For the verbal morphology, see under Meaning.

[O.B.]

For the derivational base, see CLuw. šā-⁽ⁱ⁾.