“*476”-wa/i
‘(negative condition)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 3766
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
“*476”-wa/i
‘(negative condition)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested twice in inscriptions from Assur and Tell Ahmar, dating from the early 9th to the late 8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| dat./loc. sg. (?) | /…/ | “*476”-wa/i | ASSUR letter f+g, §7 (Assur) |
| TELL AHMAR frag. 5, l.2 (Tell Ahmar) |
Both attestation at ASSUR letter f+g, §7 and TELL AHMAR frag. 5, l.2 are followed by a string of clitics containing 〈-pa-wa/i(-ta)〉, i.e. /=ba=wa(=tta)/ ‘but’ with the quotative (and the locative) particles following.
[A.P.] [AH.B.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
A phonological interpretation as /taw(i)-/ is suggested by Oreshko 2020b:345, who proposes to interpret *476 as OCULI. His interpretation is deemed plausible by Melchert & Yakubovich 2022b:22 n. 4, yet outside confirmation is lacking.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The precise meaning of the word is not known (pace Oreshko 2020b:345), but it is clear from its context of attestation at ASSUR letter f+g, §7 that it must denote a negative condition: “*476”-wa/i-pa-wa/i (“*476.*311”)hi-ru-ra+a-ti-i ARHA wa/i-la-u-ta, approx. /...-wa/i=ba=wa hirudadi ahha walaunta/, probably meaning ‘We have died of perjury in the tawa-condition’ (cf. Melchert & Yakubovich 2022b:22f.).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
Due to the vocalic underspecification of 〈-wa/i〉, the final vowel of the word cannot be determined; it may be /-i/ or /-a/. The latter would render the word a common gender a-stem.
[AH.B.]