tapašša-

The lexeme occurs in a variety of genres, mostly in NS texts, but once also in a MS manuscript.

[E.R.]

nom. sg.	ta-pa-aš-ša-aš	KBo 2.2 i 5, 7, 30	(CTH 577, NS)
		KBo 32.202 rev. 25’	(CTH 186, MS)
		KUB 48.123 iv 1	(CTH 590, NS)
	ta-⸢pa⸣-aš-ša-aš	KUB 5.4 i 20	(CTH 563, NS)
	ta-pa-aš-⸢ša⸣-aš	KBo 44.210 obv. 13’	(CTH 577, LNS)
	⸢ta-pa-aš-ša-aš⸣	KUB 50.27 ii 2’, 6’	(CTH 570, NS)
	[t]a-pašx-ša-aš	KUB 52.53 iii 2	(CTH 580, NS)
	ta-pa-aš-ša-aš	KBo 2.2 i 3, 12, 45, 54	(CTH 577, NS)
acc. sg.	ta-pa-aš-ša-an	KUB 24.3 iii 9’	(CTH 376, NS)
		KUB 6.14 rev. 15’	(CTH 578, NS)
	ta-pa-aš-ša-⸢an⸣	KUB 6.14 rev. 10’	(CTH 578, NS)
	⸢ta-pa-aš-ša-an⸣	KUB 50.27 ii 4’	(CTH 570, NS)
	ta-pa-ša-an	KUB 24.1 iv 7	(CTH 377, NS)
	ta-pašx-ša-a[n?]	VBoT 136, 12’	(CTH 582, NS)
	da-pa-aš-ša-an	IBoT 3.102, 6’	(CTH 409, NS)
	da-pa-aš-[ša-an]	KBo 53.222 i 3’	(CTH 469, LNS)
	ta-pa-aš-ša-an	KBo 2.2 i 23, 52	(CTH 577, NS)
		KBo 2.2 ii 18	(CTH 577, NS)
	ta-pa-aš-ša-[aš]	KBo 2.2 ii 11	(CTH 577, NS)
dat. sg.	ta-pa-aš-ša	KUB 22.45 obv. 34’	(CTH 577, NS)
	⸢ta-pa-aš-ša⸣	KBo 41.171, 11’	(CTH 572, NS)
abl./instr. (Hitt.)	ta-pa-aš-ša-az	KBo 16.97 left side	(CTH 571, MS)
	ta-pa-aš-ša-za	KUB 5.2, 10	(CTH 582, LNS)
unclear	ta-[	KUB 60.55, obv. 2	(CTH 582, NS)

The spelling with -piš- = -paš_x- is also found in tappaš- ‘sky, heaven’. Outdated is Berman 1972a:53, trying to attribute the alleged -i- vocalism of the second syllable to Hittite.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.*

[E.R.]

Already Hrozný 1919a:30 n. 3 recognized that tapašša- denotes a kind of illness. Misled by the assonance with Ved. tápas- ‘blaze, heat’, he suggested a borrowing from that language meaning ‘fever, malaria’ (accepted or at least considered in Sommer 1924a:13 n. 1, IEW 1070, HW:211, Kronasser 1956a:224, et al.; further references in HEG T:122f.). Others assumed an inherited cognate of Ved. tápas- with the same meaning (e.g. Forrer 1938a:185 n. 2, Gurney 1940a:99, DLL: 92; further references in HEG T:122f.). Later, it was noticed that the spelling with a singleton -p- vis-à-vis the voiceless -p- in Vedic excludes a borrowing from that language (e.g. by Oettinger 1979a:556, CLL:209, Sasseville 2018a:306). Also, Oettinger’s (Oettinger 1979a:556) attempt to explain the labial lenis as the result of lenition between unstressed pretonic vowels (adducing the alleged parallel of tapašuwant(i)- < *tepos-u̯ént-) fails to convince, since there is no indication of a word-final stress. In spite of the doubts raised, the semantic interpretation was frequently repeated with or without question mark even in more recently published literature (see Berman 1972a:53, Oettinger 1979a:556, HHw:165, CLL:92, Ünal 2007a:685f., Weitenberg 1984a:201, Sasseville 2018a:306).

However, the frequency of tapašša- and the contexts suggest a very general meaning like ‘illness’; cf. its typical occurrences in the list ḫinkan kurur gaštan idālun tapaššan “epidemic, enmity, starvation, and evil illness” (KUB 24.3 ii 32f., prayer) or mān=ma=an kala.ga-aš tapaššaš anda ul kar-iazi “if the strong illness does not seize him” (KUB 5.4 i 20, oracle report).For semantic reasons, the form ta-pa-(aš-)ša-an occuring in the incantation of a festival text (KBo 22.201 ii 9’ et al.) has to be kept apart; see Klinger 1996a:371f., followed by Katz 2001a:227.

[E.R.]

While the proposed derivation from *tappas- ‘blaze, fever’ can be regarded as obsolete, the new suggestion by Sasseville 2018a:306 to connect tapašša- with tāpa/i- ‘bad, shoddy, of minor value(?)’ (though by him left untranslated) has won plausibility by the modernized semantic interpretations of both lexemes. Thus, a derivational chain starting with the adjective tāpa/i- ‘bad’ → substantivized *tāpa/i- ‘the bad, badness’ → tapašša/i- ‘related to badness’ → individualizing agent noun tapašša- c. ‘badness, illness (?)’ accommodates all known facts.

[E.R.]

1. [3569] tapaššiye/a-^(mi)

After the alleged Mittanni-Aryan origin had been rejected (see under Meaning), more scholars recognized the Luwian origin of the borrowing as indicated by the use of the gloss-wedges and the -ašša/i- suffix underlying the formation; cf. Forrer 1938a:185 n. 2, Fronzaroli 1958a:136 (non vidi), DLL:92, Kammenhuber 1968a:188f. (“nicht ausgeschlossen”), Berman 1972a:53, Oettinger 1979a:556, CLL:209, Weitenberg 1984a:201, HHw:165, Sasseville 2018a:306). The Luwian dat./loc. sg. in -a in ta-pa-aš-ša še-er (KUB 18.12 rev. 11’) further confirms the analysis.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. tāpa/i-.

*The forms in the table were checked together with Marian Wehrstein.