“*256”-tà-sá-
‘(unknown)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, n.
- ID
- 3607
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
“*256”-tà-sá-
‘(unknown)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested once in an inscription from Tabal dating to the mid-8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. sg. n. | /…-da(s)san=za/ | “*256”-tà-sá-za | KULULU 2, §6 (Tabal) |
Pace Hawkins 2000a:488, 490, the interpretation of the spelling attested at KULULU 2, §6 as 〈(“*256”)tà-sá-za〉 is unlikely. 〈tà〉 usually represents /da/, but Luwian is generally assumed to have devoiced all initial stops (cf. Melchert 2003b:184), and the sign 〈tà〉 is otherwise not found in word-initial position, see Rieken 2008b:637.
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Partly unclear. The syllabic signs following after the logogram *256 suggest a stem ending in /°das(s)a-/, cf. the discussion of the stem below.
Sign *256 resembles a smaller square within another larger square and has been identified as HORREUM, see van den Hout 2010b:237. It is not clear, however, how this interpretation would fit with the present word, cf. the discussion of the meaning below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
While the precise meaning of the word remains in the dark for the time being, it undoubtedly denotes something undesirable. It occurs in the apodosis of a curse formula and represents the punishment wished upon any evildoer. KULULU 2, §6 reads: wa/i-ru-ta (DEUS)sà-ta-si-i-zi (DEUS)mara/i-wa/i-i-zi-i “*256”-tà-sá-za a-ta “CRUS”-tu, approx. /wa=du=tta Santassinzi marwainzi …-das(s)an=za anta tanuwantu/, translating as ‘For him, the Marwa-gods of the god Santa shall set up a *256-das(s)a-’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:488).Note that Hawkins’ translation is quite different due to an earlier and erroneous interpretation of the spelling of the present lexeme and also the verb of the clause.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The attested form suggests the word to be a neuter ending in /°das(s)a-/. The stem may contain the suffix /-assa-/i/, representing a substantivised adjective, but a different, more opaque stem formation is possible as well.
[AH.B.]