/sah(i)-/, sa-hi-
‘generation, lifespan (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst, c.
- ID
- 3676
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/sah(i)-/, sa-hi-
‘generation, lifespan (?)’1.1.1Transmission
This hapax is attested in a single inscription from Tabal, dating to the mid-8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| acc. pl. | /saHinzi/ | s]a-hi-zi-i | KULULU 1, §2 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation:
The phonological interpretation of this word is reasonably secure. The HLuw. spelling leaves only little leeway in this case, and the suggested form is further supported by the possible cognate Hittite šaḫḫan- ‘service obligation’ and related words (Melchert & Yakubovich 2022a:379f.), although the quality of the laryngeal as fortis vs. lenis cannot be determined synchronically.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this word had long remained in the dark, thus e.g. Hawkins 2000a:443.Hawkins tentatively proposes an interpretation as a personal name, which is syntactically awkward. More recently, a suggestion was advanced by Melchert & Yakubovich 2022a:379f. that the word means ‘generation, lifespan’, which provides a good contextual fit. Thus KULULU 1, §2 serves to underline the great feat the author perceives his work as: a-wa/i za-ia DOMUS-na-a [? s]a-hi-zi-i á-sá-ta ha-ta-ma, approx. /a=wa zaya parna saHinzi asta hattamma/, translating as ‘These houses were ruined for generations, (and I rebuilt them, I made them houses)’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:443). In this context, the acc. pl. of /saH(i)-/ is used with a temporal meaning, a usage also found elsewhere in HLuw., cf. /uss(i)-/ ‘year’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The word can be clearly identified as a common gender noun belonging to the paradigm of i-mutation. For some thoughts on its historical morphology and its appurtenance to the word family surrounding CLuw. *šāḫuid- ‘binding (?)’, see Melchert & Yakubovich 2022a:379f.
[AH.B.]