hãta-

This lexeme is found in a grave inscription.

[D.S.]

acc. sg.

hãtã

TL 84.3 (Sura)

This noun is a priori to be separated from the noun hãtahe (thus also DLL:22, Neumann 2007a:90f., contra Meriggi 1936b:279 and Hajnal 1994a:144).

[D.S.]

Whereas it is contextually clear that hãtã refers back to the grave owner who is to be laid into the grave after his death, opinions differ as to its exact meaning. The meaning ‘self, one’s own person/body’ has been a longstanding suggestion in the literature (Meriggi 1929a:438), maintained by Hajnal 1994a:144 and Neumann 2007a:91. However, Melchert (DLL:22) points out that hãtã in the sentence does not refer to the subject of the sentence, but rather to the owner mentioned in the previous sentence, so that a reflexive sense like atra-/atla- ‘self’ does not work syntactically. Instead, he suggests a derivation from ha-^(di) ‘to release, lay out’ (as in aladeha-^(di)), with participle -nt(i)- followed by a substantivization in -a- c. with the meaning ‘deceased’. This hypothesis has more merit, but cannot be considered absolutely assured. The plain meaning ‘owner’ is also suggested by Schürr 2016d:161, who further considers a connection with hn͂tawã, but the meaning is just a mere guess and lacks an etymological approach. No semantics are assigned here until further evidence has surfaced.

[D.S.]

The noun is an a-stem, but its derivational history depends on its etymology. For a suggestion by Melchert, see under Meaning.

[D.S.]