ḫuwammaliya-

The sole attestation of the noun comes from a fragment of a birth ritual.

[E.R.]

acc. sg.

TÚGḫu-wa-am-ma-li-ia-an

KUB 30.29 obv. 7

(CTH 430, MS)

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The context of the lexeme runs as follows: ([When] a woman is giving birth, then the midwife prepa[re]s the following: [two sto]ols (and) three cushions. On each stool is placed one cushion. § And one spreads out [on]e cushion between the stools on the ground. When the child begins to fall (i.e., to be born), [then] the woman seats herself on the stools.) ⁽⁶⁾... ^MUNUSḫa-as-nu-pa-al-la-ša ⁽⁷⁾[ki-iš]-šar-ta ^TÚGḫu-wa-am-ma-li-ia-an ḫar-zi “And the midwife holds the receiving blanket with (her) [ha]nd” (Beckman 1983a:22f.). Beckman’s plausible translation ‘receiving blanket’ ultimately goes back to Güterbock apud HW:341 and is adopted also in Kronasser 1966a:169, HEG A-K:327, HHw:58, Zeilfelder 2001a:261, HW 2nd ed. Ḫ:811f., Ünal 2007a:246, Fuscagni 2014g(skeptical Klinger 2010a:181f.).

[E.R.]

Obviously, the stem ends in the suffix -i(ya)- (see alread Kronasser 1966a:169). Since the root ḫuwamm- underwent Čop’s Law and, therefore, must be Luwian, it is likely that the preceding suffix is the substantivized adjectival -alla/i- (with deficient spelling), yielding the well-attested combination -all-i(ya)-. Since the common gender a-stem is attested (see under ḫūmma-), Occam’s Razor suggests that it represents the base, and the following derivational chain can be reconstructed: root ḫuwamm- plus abstract suffix -a- c. plus agent noun suffix -all(i)- c. plus relational -i(ya)- with subsequent substantivization.

[E.R.]

So far, the word is not listed among the Luwian borrowings, but the shape of the root ḫuwamm- showing the result of Čop’s Law (see under Reconstruction) and the sequence of suffixes (see under Stem) make a Luwian origin more than likely. Its occurrence in a birth ritual further confirms the assumption.

[E.R.]

For the lemma head see CLuw. ḫūmma-.