tāwa-

This lexeme is found in a Palaic ritual with bread offerings preserved on Old/Middle and New Hittite tablets.

[D.S.]

loc. sg.	[t]a-a-u-w[a]	KUB 35.165 obv. 3	(CTH 751, OS or MS)
	ta-a-u-wa	IBoT 2.35 obv. 8’	(CTH 751, MS)
	ta-a-wa	IBoT 2.36 obv. 4	(CTH 751, NS)

The sequence ta-a-u-wa-ia can be interpreted either as a single noun tāwaya or as tāwa followed by the coordinating conjunction -ya. The latter is here preferred, based on the comparison with šāwaya=ya. The appurtenance of the word ša-a-wa-ia(-ia) ‘cups’ (KUB 35.165 rev. 22’) to tāwaya- ‘?’ would be possible, if one emends the sign <ša> into <ta> (Carruba 1970a:69, 73). However, the context does not support the meaning ‘cup’ for tāwa- (or tāwaya-); cf. under Meaning.

[D.S.]

IBoT 2.35 obv. 8’ and IBoT 2.36 obv. 4 are checked against the photographs of the Konkordanz. The attestation [t]a-a-u-w[a-i]a (KUB 35.165 obv. 3) could not be properly checked against the photograph of the Konkordanz due to the lack of light for this specific spot of the tablet.

[D.S.]

The word tāwa occurs towards the beginning of an incantation, in which the god Ziparwa is invited to eat bread. It could be interpreted either as the direct object (nom./acc. pl.) of the verb lukī- ‘to break (into pieces)’ or as a locative singular. Following the latter, it would express the surface on which bread is broken into pieces. This option is superior to the former one, because the direct object is already known from the two following sentences. In the current one, the direct object is left out.

The meaning ‘cup’ suggested in Carruba 1970a:73 is not appropriate for the context, since it concerns exclusively the preparation of bread. The last words addressed to Ziparwa (KUB 35.165 obv. 15), before the speaker moves on to another deity, refer only to the process of eating bread and not of drinking anything. The drinking offerings come only later on in the text (KUB 35.165 rev. 21f.), that is after the bread and the meat has been served to the gods. No meaning can be offered at the moment.

[D.S.]

No etymology possible.

[D.S.]