/puballa-(ti)/
‘to write’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- verb
- ID
- 3808
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/puballa-(ti)/
‘to write’1.1.1Transmission
This hapax legomenon is attested once in one of the letters found in Assur but originating from elsewhere. The text dates to the late 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| 2sg. pret. act. | /puballatta/ | (“LOQUI”(-´))pu-pa-la-ta | ASSUR letter a, §5 (Assur) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this verb is uncertain to a certain degree because of its status as a hapax legomenon. Morpurgo Davies 1980b:102 n. 23 considers it to be /pupla-/, syncopated from an earlier */pupula-/, but a more recent morphological analysis by Rieken 2018a:342 suggests /puballa-/ as the more likely candidate, cf. also the possible, though uncertain, cognate CLuw. pupulā[.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning ‘to write; to compose (?), dictate (?)’
The meaning ‘to write’ was first suggested by Morpurgo Davies 1980b:102 incl. n. 23, who immediately connected it to the Lycian verb ppuwe- ‘to write’. Following Hawkins 2000a:542, Payne 2010b:184f. remarks on the use of the logogram LOQUI (*22) as a determinative with this verb, which sets it apart from the other words connected to writing, suggesting that it may denote a more specialized meaning such as ‘to compose, dictate’. Within the context in ASSUR letter a, §5, either meaning is possible: wa/i-mu-i ha-tu+ra/i-na NEG2-a ma-nu-ha (“LOQUI”(-´))pu-pa-la-ta, i.e. /wa=mu hattulan na manuhha puballatta/, translating as ‘You in no way wrote “life” to me’, very likely meaning ‘You didn’t mention my health in any way’ (following Waal 2021a regarding the interpretation of ha-tu+ra/i-).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The stem formation has been elucidated by Rieken 2018a:342f., and the present lexeme is a derivation in /-a-(ti)/ from an unattested noun */puballa-/, which also served as a basis for the closely related verb /puballi-(ti)/ ‘to inscribe’; cf. also the stem class discussion in Sasseville 2021a:40.
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head, see HLuw. */pu-(di)/.