/muwattalla/i-/

There are eleven attestations of this lexeme, and they are found across a wide territory, ranging from Tabal in southern Anatolia to Karkamiš in the east and Amuq in northern Syria. Temporally, attestations stretch from approximately the 11^th to the 8^th century BCE. It is also attested as a personal name.

[AH.B.]

nom. sg. c.	/muwattallis/	FORTIS	KARKAMIŠ A4b, 5§4 (Karkamiš)
			KARKAMIŠ N1, 5§4 (Karkamiš) (twice)
			KIZILDAĞ 2 (Tabal)
acc. sg. c.	/muwatallin/	(FORTIS)mu-wa/i-ta-li-na	KARKAMIŠ A1a, 4§26 (Karkamiš)
		FORTIS-wa/i-ta-li-na	ARSUZ 1, 5-6§18 (Amuq)
		FORTIS-li-na	ARSUZ 2, 5§18 (Amuq)
		[FORTI]S-wa/i--li-na	ARSUZ 2, 5-6§19 (Amuq)
		[mu-w]a/i-ta-li-na-´	SULTANHAN, 3§8 (Tabal)
		FORTIS[-li?]-i-na	TELL TAYINAT 1, 3-5 l. 4 (Amuq)
		FORTIS	KARKAMIŠ A4b, 5§4 (Karkamiš)
			KARKAMIŠ N1, 5§4 (Karkamiš)
abl./instr.	/muwattalladi/	(FORTIS)mu-[wa/i]-ta-˹la-ti˺	KARKAMIŠ A4b, 6§5 (Karkamiš)

This lexeme is not only used in Luwian, but also features in Hittite, albeit very likely borrowed from Luwian (Yakubovich 2010d:211 n. 7). Besides being used as a regular adjective, it is also employed as an epithet for the Storm-God in early HLuw. times, but this usage disappears in Iron Age times (Hutter-Braunsar 2015a: 215f.). Its meaning is therefore certain, further aided by the fact that it is a member of the word family around /muwa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to control, conquer’ and paired with the well-known adjective suffix /-alla/i-/.

[AH.B.]

The lexeme is an adjective in /-alla/i-/, a suffix frequently found in Luwian, although no longer productive in HLuw. as opposed to CLuw. /-alla/i-/. It is subject to i-mutation, forms denominal adjectives with a sense of appurtenance, and the derivational basis of the present lexeme is likely the abstract noun /muwatta-/ ‘conquest’.

[AH.B.]

The sole occurrence of the word in Cuneiform Luwian context is found in Luwian mugauwar for the Storm-god.

[E.R.]

abl./instr.

[m]u-u-wa-at-ta-al-la-ti

KBo 29.31 iv 9’

(CTH 756, NS)

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The meaning of the adjective muwattalla/i- ‘mighty, related to feistiness’ vel sim. has long been acknowledged, sometimes with different connotations such as ‘brave’, ‘overpowering’ or ‘awe-inspiring, terrifying’ (Friedrich 1930a:376 n. 3, Güterbock 1950a:219, HW:146, Starke 1990a:173, CLL:151, CHD L-N:316f., HEG L-N:243, HHw:109, HED M:198, Neumann 2007a:229, Ünal 2007a:463, EDHIL:589, Schürr 2016d:165). At KBo 29.31 iv 9’, the sole attestation, Laroche (DLL:72, modified in Starke 1985b:364) plausibly restores [m]u-u-wa-at-ta-al-la-ti ^GIŠ[tukul^ḪI.A-ti], which accords well with the collocation of the ‘strong weapon’ also frequent in Hittite contexts (see HED M:198, CHD L-N:316f.; cf. also Hitt. tarḫuili- ^GIŠtukul- ‘strong/powerful weapon’). In the present context, it forms part of a list of blessings requested from the Storm-god.

[E.R.]

From the present perspective, it is clear that the adjective muwattalla/i- is built with the adjectival suffix -alla/i- based on muwatt(a)- n. in turn deriving from muwa-⁽ⁱ⁾ (see CLL:151 and Melchert 2005a:456; outdated HEG L-N:243 building on Kronasser 1966a:176f.).

[E.R.]

Syllabic spellings of the adjective are found in a mugauwar ritual and ephemeral texts, i.e. votive texts and an oracle report. It is also attested as the name of a deity, i.e. ^DMuwattalli, as well as a kingly name ^mMuwattalli (Laroche 1966a:123; for the Old Assyrian tradition, see Yakubovich 2010d:211f., Kloekhorst 2014a:59).

[E.R.]

nom./acc. sg. n.	[m]u-wa-ta-li	KUB 33.78, 4’	(CTH 459, NS)
nom. pl. c.(?)	mu-u-⸢wa-at-ta-al-li-iš-š(=)⸣	KUB 15.9 ii 2’	(CTH 590, NS)
acc. pl. c.(?)	mu-wa-at-ta-lu-uš	KUB 15.4, 5’	(CTH 590, NS)
unknown	mu-wa-tal-[	KUB 5.1 ii 110	(CTH 561, NS)

For the morphological analysis of [m]u-wa-ta-li at KUB 33.78, 4’ (followed by ^GIŠtukul) as a neuter nom./acc. sg., see CHD L-N:316. – According to de Roos 2007a:163 n. 365, an acc. pl. c. would be expected, but the sign seems to feature two final verticals, which point to IŠ.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – For the spelling with the logograms nir.gál and ka.zal (= Akk. muttallu ‘noble’), see CHD L-N:316f., including the remark that a phonetic similarity of the Hittite and Akkadian words does not necessarily ensure identical semantics (different Rabin 1963a:131). – The initial [m]u- and final -⸢li-iš-š=a⸣ at KUB 33.78, 4’ and KUB 15.9 ii 2’, respectively, cannot be safely confirmed through collation of the photograph, but in view of the collocation with ^GIŠtukul, the lexeme is probably correctly recognized (cf. ⸢^GIŠ⸣tukul nir.gál at KBo 11.28 ii 8’). – The reading ^Dim mu-ú-wa-x[ at KUB 40.38, 6’ (thus CHD L-N:316, Glocker 2009a:155) seems doubtful because of the lack of a space between ^Dim and mu- and the singular spelling with -ú-.

[E.R.]

Forrer 1926a:63 equated the personal names ^mMuwatalli and ^mnir.gál and derived the underlying appellative stem muwattalli- from an adjective “*mōvanta, *mōvatta” and further from “mōva” ‘strength, power’. This was rejected by Friedrich 1930a:376 and later also in CHD L-N:317 (see under Graphic Features). Although the details of semantics and stem formation have proved wrong, Forrer’s translation came close to what is assumed now based on the interpretation of mūwa-. From the semantic range of what has been suggested for mūwa-, ‘(overpowering) might, feistiness’ finds the best contextual support (see under Lemma). Consequently, mūwattalla/i- should have a similar meaning when used as the attribute of weapons and tools, the epithet of the Storm-god and other deities, and as personal name (for the derivational chain, see under Stem); cf. HW:146 ‘strong’, Starke 1990a:173 ‘related to feistiness’, CLL:151 ‘overpowering, mighty’ (followed in Hutter 2003a:221f. and Schürr 2016d:163), less concrete CHD L-N:316f. ‘awe-inspiring(?), terrifying(?)’ (followed in HEG L-N:243f., HHw:146, Ünal 2007a:463, EDHIL:589), HED M:198 ‘potent, puissant, powerful, mighty’.

[E.R.]

The adjective mūwattalla/i- varies between a- and i-stem forms. For individual parts of the suffix chain, see Starke 1990a:173, CLL:151, HW:146, Melchert 2005a:456, Yakubovich 2010d:211, Melchert 2014d:210; unclear Dardano 2014a:53 n. 16).

[E.R.]

For the Luwian origin of mūwattalla/i-, see under the lemma head. The vacillation of the adjective between a- and i-stem forms shows that it was borrowed directly from its Luwian match.

[E.R.]

This lexeme is a hapax attested on TL 44, the pillar of Xanthos, dated stylistically to around 400 BCE and contextually to shortly after the ascension of the Persian emperor Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.).

[O.B.]

nom./acc. pl. n.

mutala

TL 44d.33 (Xanthos)

Grammatical analysis with Melchert (DLL:122) and Neumann 2007a:229.

[O.B.]

The meaning ‘mighty’ for this lexeme is inferred from the etymological connection to Luw. muwattalla/i- (cf. Kretschmer 1924a:208, DLL:122, Shevoroshkin apud Neumann 2007a:229, Schürr 2010c:195). However, due to the lexeme being a hapax and the obscurity of the passage in which it appears, this interpretation can only be considered tentative.

Slightly differently in Shevoroshkin 2002a:212, who analyzes the word as a noun meaning ‘strongman’.

[O.B.]

If this lexeme is an adjective, an analysis of mutala as nom./acc. pl. n. is automatic. However, mutala could theoretically also be a common gender a-stem noun in the coll., nom. sg. or dat./loc. sg./pl. (nom. sg. in Shevoroshkin 2002a:223).

In comparison to Luw. muwattalla/i-, we would expect the second vowel to be an -e- on account of the geminated -ll-. However, the appearance of the a-vowel is easily attributable to back vowel-harmony. To retain the connection with Luw. muwattalla/i-, we would moreover need to assume contraction of the sequence *-uwa- to -u- (cf. Schürr 2010c:195).

[O.B.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. mūwa­-⁽ⁱ⁾.