/sas(a)-/, (“SIGILLUM”)sa-sa-
‘seal’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, n.
- ID
- 3506
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/sas(a)-/, (“SIGILLUM”)sa-sa-
‘seal’1.1.1Transmission
The eleven attestations of this lexeme are mainly found on bullae, whose origin is clear only in some cases. Those that can be assigned a place of origin stem from Commagene, Karkamiš, and Tabal. The dating of the seals is equally difficult, although some are from the 9th and 8th centuries BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. sg. | /sasan=za/ | (“SIGILLUM”)sa-sa-za | GELB seal c, l. 1 |
| (“SCALPRUM.SIGILLUM”)sa-s[a]-za-a | KULULU 2, §7 (Tabal) | ||
| SIGILLUM-za | GELB seal a | ||
| SIGILLUM-z〈a?〉 | GELB seal b | ||
| SIGILLUM!-zi | KARKAMIŠ N Seal, §1 (Karkamiš) | ||
| SIGILLUM | GELB seal c, l. 3 | ||
| DÜLÜK BABA TEPESİ, 2§4 (Commagene) | |||
| NINEVEH bulla 1, 2, 3 | |||
| KHORSABAD bullae |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is fairly secure for its transparent spelling. Still, the imprecisions of the HLuw. writing system leave the quality of the medial sibilant underspecified, although already Gelb 1949a:70f. points towards the likely etymological connection with Hittite šāi-/ši(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to press, seal; to shoot’ (see CHD Š:15-21 for more semantic details), since followed by other scholars, cf. e.g. Laroche 1958c:260-262. The shape of the neuter particle /=sa, =za/ provides evidence for the word ending in /-n/ (see e.g. Melchert 2003b:182f.).
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The denotation assigned to this lemma was first suggested by Gelb 1949a in his in-depth study of GELB seal c and the spellings found on it.Note that his interpretation of the phonetic values of some signs is in line with – and thus hampered by – the state of early research into HLuw. at the time. Ever since then, scholars have followed his interpretation, which has been borne out by data discovered subsequently.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The noun represents a reduplication of the root that also underlies Hittite šāi-/ši(ya)-(ḫi) ‘to press, seal; to shoot’, an etymological link already established by Gelb 1949a:70f.; a suitable derivational base has so far gone undiscovered in HLuw. The attested forms are all nom./acc.sg. and thus provide evidence for the neuter gender of the word. Starke 1990a:238 considers an n-stem likely, i.e. /sasan-/, but mentions that for a lack of other case forms attested, the lexeme may well be an a-stem instead, i.e. /sas(a)-/, whose nom./acc. sg. would look identical to the n-stem; the latter view expressed by Starke is followed here.
Outdated is the tentatively proposed connection of /sas(a)-/ ‘seal’ with the verb /sas(s)a-(i)/ ‘to release’ (Hawkins 1979a:159 n. 51, later followed by Starke 1990a:238), because it was based on an earlier now moot interpretation of the verb, for whose new analysis see Melchert 1989b:32-37.
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head, see HLuw. */siya-(i)/, */sasa-(i)/.