hata-

This lexeme is attested in the inscription of the inscribed pillar of Xanthos, dated contextually to shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE and stylistically to around 400 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.) as well as in a funerary grave inscription with a long biography of Ikuwe, which can be dated to the reign of Alexander the Great.

[D.S.]

acc. sg.	hatã	TL 44b.12 (Xanthos)
	hatu	TL 29.4 (Tlos)
	[h]atu	TL 29.7 (Tlos)

This lexeme was recognized as a noun by Gusmani 1963a:285 and further specified by Melchert (DLL:22) as an action noun in -ta- c. built on the verb ha-^(di) ‘to release’. Schürr 2007b:122 takes it likewise as a noun but leaves its semantics open. Sasseville 2021a:52f. notes that hata- is used each time as the object of the verb ẽnẽ sm͂ma-^(ti), which, on contextual grounds, should mean ‘to pledge oneself’ or ‘to commit oneself’. Following the etymological connection by Melchert, hata- should mean approximately ‘that which is released, releasing’, and sm͂ma-^(ti) literally means ‘to make a binding’. Therefore, Sasseville expects the whole phrase ẽnẽ sm͂ma-^(ti) hatã to mean literally ‘to make a binding statement’ (or perhaps even ‘to sign a contract’, if hata- can mean ‘contract’) and rephrases it with ‘to pledge oneself’. This semantic approach is adopted here tentatively.

[D.S.]

The verbal abstract noun hata- is a formation in -ta- c. derived from the verb ha-^(di) ‘to release’ or its parallel formation ha-^(ti) ‘id.’.

[D.S.]