/tarza-/

This lexeme is attested four times in inscriptions from Tell Ahmar and the Amuq, dating from the late 10^th to the early 9^th century BCE.

[A.P.]

[A.P.]

The meaning of this verb has been subject to debate, because most of the evidence for it has been found relatively recently with only the fragmented TELL AHMAR 2, §2 known to scholars before 2006.Hawkins 2000a:228 tentatively translated it as ‘very(?) honoured(?)’, but the context is mainly unclear. The current meaning was suggested by Rieken 2004a:465 on the basis of the available HLuw. and CLuw. evidence, including the attestations for the verb /tarzi-/ ‘to have access to (?)’, now considered to be related, yet different. Dinçol, Dinçol, Hawkins, Peker & Öztan 2015a:68 point out that its use in the apodosis of a curse formula must indicate a negative sense, which also seems to be the case for the causative derivative /tarzanu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to cause to turn’. However, the contexts of TELL AHMAR 2 and 6 suggest a more neutral meaning.Both inscriptions feature a long list of gods in §2 that the author assumes favoured him, and the relevant phrases may mean ‘…, the moon-god Arma, turning inside, the sun-god Tiwad, the stag-god Runtiya …’.

The curse formula at ARSUZ 1, §24a+b reads: *a-pa-ti-pa-wa/i-tá MATER-na-tí-ni-sa (DEUS)BONUS-ma-sa tá-ti-sa-pa-wa/i-tú-tá (DEUS)VITIS-pa+ra/i-ia-sa (PES₂.PES)tara/i-za-tú, approx. /abatti=ppa=wa=tta annattinnis Kumarmas tadis=ppa=wa=du=tta TiPariyas tarzaTu/, meaning ‘Then the mother, (the grain-goddess) Kumarma, the father, (the wine-god) TiPariya, shall turn on him’ (Dinçol, Dinçol, Hawkins, Peker & Öztan 2015a:65 and Sasseville 2021a:448).

[AH.B.]

It cannot be said with certainty which stem class this verb belongs to. Sasseville 2021a:448 follows Rieken 2004a:465 and suggests /-zza-⁽ⁱ⁾/, but further finds may necessitate a reappraisal; cf. the discussion in the CLuw. lemma below.

[AH.B.]

1. /tarzanu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/

The only occurrence in the Cuneiform Luwian corpus comes from the Ritual for the Sick Child.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

No translation is offered in CLL:220 an HHw:171. Poetto 2000b:435, based on the assumed connection of tarza- with Hitt. tar- ‘to speak’ and the analysis of stem final -za- as the imperfective suffix, suggests “imprecare / pronunciare invettive / lanciare maledizioni.” However, the context deals with the removal of the impurity of the sick child and transfer to the enemy: ^(12’)... pa-ri-ia-am-ša-at-ta ^(13’)tar-za-an-du a-at-ta a-ad-du-wa-an-za ^(14’)pa-ri-ia-an ad-du-wa-li-ia-an ^(15’)wa-at-ta-ni-ia-an up-pa-an-na-an-du “Let them tarza- (it?, i.e. the evil) beyond it. Let them carry the evils over to an evil land” (literally: over to the land related to the evil; cf. Yakubovich 2010a:236-238 for the second clause). The form ... pa-ri-ia-am-ša-at-ta is ambiguous as to its analysis, since it can be parsed as either pariyam=ša=tta or pariyam=ša=ada=tta, i.e. the clause may or may not contain an object pronoun. Taking into account also HLuw. /tarza-/ and /tarzanuwa-/ (see under Lemmata), Rieken 2004a:464 proposed a semantic interpretation as ‘to turn’, which yields either intransitive “let them turn beyond it” (i.e. the ritual opponent changes his direction now facing the enemy country) or transitive “let them turn it beyond it” (i.e. the ritual opponent turns the direction of the evil). The subsequent clause then describes the transfer of the evil into the enemy country, which tips the scales in favor of the former solution as two connected but distinct actions.

[E.R.]

With only the 3pl. impv. and the participle attested, the stem class remains unclear. Sasseville 2021a:448 (following Rieken 2004a:465f.) assigns the verb to the class of -zza-⁽ⁱ⁾ imperfectives, while more recently, Oettinger (apud DCL:s.v.) indicates the possibility that we are dealing with an original *-i̯e/o- verb with a phonological development *-k^u̯-i̯e/o- > -za- (see under Reconstruction). In the latter case, a 3sg. pres. act. *tarzatti would represent the regular outcome. There are currently two competing etymologies, see under lemma head.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. *tar(k)u-.