*p(o)ls-o-
‘way’
- Language
- Proto-Anatolian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 3868
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/pals(i)-/, pa-la-sa-
‘way; x times’1.1.1Transmission
The three occurrences of this lexeme originate from inscriptions from Karkamiš and Tabal, whose datings lie between the late 10th and 8th centuries BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| dat./loc. sg. | /palsi/ | (“MANUS”)pa+ra/i-si | KARKAMIŠ A6, §19 (Karkamiš) |
| abl./instr. | /palsadi/ | pa-la-sa-ti-i | KARKAMIŠ A2+3, §22 (Karkamiš) |
| pa+ra/i-sa5+ra/i | SULTANHAN, §47 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is fairly certain for the reason that it is cognate with Hittite palša- c. ‘way’ (Meriggi 1953a:18 and Neumann 1976a:140).
The abl./instr. forms attested for this lexeme are an instructive example of rhotacism in HLuw., since the younger attestation in SULTANHAN, §47 shows /r/ where the older occurrence in KARKAMIŠ A2+3, §22 still distinguishes /l/ and /d/ clearly at least on the graphemic level; cf. Neumann 1976a:140 for first mention in relation to the present lexeme.
Whether or not GIŠpalšuwanza is Hittite or Luwian and also related, has remained unclear so far; cf. CHD P:78, CLL:165.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning for this lexeme was first suggested by Meriggi 1953a:18 in connection with the KARKAMIŠ A6, §19 context, and Neumann 1976a:140, who compared it to Hittite palša- c. ‘way’. Within the HLuw. contexts, the word seems to be attested only in less concrete and partly idiomatic phrasings. Thus, the abl./instr. appears to be used with an adverbial meaning ‘away’ in SULTANHAN, §47 and KARKAMIŠ A2+3, §22, and the latter may be an instance of a euphemistic phrasing for the death of a person (see Hawkins 2000a:472 and 112 resp.).
Puhvel (HED PA:76) points out for Hittite palša- c. ‘way’ that the use of ‘way’ or a similar word for indicating repetitive action as in ‘x times’ is also found in other languages, e.g. Akkadian. The same is evidently true for HLuw. in KARKAMIŠ A6, §19 (cf. HEG P:398-400): wa/i-ná ara/i-la-a (“3”)tara/i-su-u “4”-su-u (“MANUS”)pa+ra/i-si (“CRUS”)ta-nu-wa/i-wa/i-i, i.e. /wa=an arla tarrisu mawasu palsi tanuwawi/ ‘I will set him up three, four times’.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The dat./loc. sg. ending in /-i/ rules out a common gender a-stem (cf. Yakubovich 2015b:6.2), and the stem, given as /pals(i)-/, is therefore certain in view of Hitt. palša-, common gender a-stem.
[AH.B.]
1.2 Hittite
palša-
‘road, path’1.2.1Literature / Comments
CHD P: 69-77
2. Reconstruction
2.1Reconstruction ‘way’
The Hittite noun palša- c., which is also possibly attested as an i-stem palši- c. (cf. also KASKAL-šiyaḫḫ-(i) ‘to dispatch’), and HLuw. /pals(i)-/ allow for the reconstruction of thematic or i-stem noun, i.e. *p(o)ls-o- (thus EDHIL:621f.) or, if it is not secondary, *p(o)ls-i-. Since Hrozný 1917a:95, the word is etymologically connected with Gk. διπλός and Lat. duplus (for the Indo-European reconstruction, see under Lyc. B -plẽ) has been generally accepted (HEG P:400, EDHIL:621f., differently Kimball 1999a:450 and Puhvel in HED PA:76). The presence of the -s- following the root *pel- would imply an earlier s-stem, which was then derived with the thematic suffix *-ó-.
[D.S.]