xttba-

This lexeme is attested in a number of sepulchral inscriptions (TL 89, TL 90, TL 149) as well as 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.]

acc. sg.	xttbã	TL 89.3 (Myra)
	[x]tt[bã]	TL 90.4 (Myra)
abl./instr.	xttbadi	TL 44b.10 (Xanthos)
		TL 149.7 (Rhodiapolis)

For the possibility of interpreting xttbadi as a verb, cf. e.g. Savelsberg 1878a:162, Torp 1900a:32, Shevoroshkin 1969a:266, Heubeck 1981a:171, Hajnal 1995a:152, Neumann 2007a:135. Melchert (DLL:85) gives all forms in the table above as nouns (tentatively followed here). The passage on TL 44b does not provide sufficient contextual clues for determining whether xttbadi is a verb or noun (Heubeck 1981a:171).

[O.B.]

On TL 89.2-3, xttba- occurs in the protasis of a punishment clause: mej=ẽ : tik{:}e : xttbã ‘if anyone (does) x.…’. Consequently, xttba- is a negative action, rendering a meaning ‘damage’ (vel sim.) reasonable (thus in e.g. HEG A-K:215, Hajnal 1994a:151, Eichner 2005a:27 n. 148, Neumann 2007a:135, DLL:85). This analysis finds further support in the etymological connection to xtta- ‘damage, harm’ and xtta(i)-^(di) ‘to damage, do harm’.

[O.B.]

Lyc. A xttba- is a common gender a-stem. Per Hajnal 1995a:172 n. 228, xttba- is a secondary a-stem derived from a u-adjective. Conversely, Melchert (DLL:85) and Eichner 2005a:27 n. 148 assume an origin in a verbal noun equivalent to a virtual Hittite stem *ḫattuwar/n-.

[O.B.]

For the lemma head see Lyc. *xtt-.