/tarPuna-/, (“LIGNUM”)tara/i-pu-na-
‘(a kind of toy)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 3948
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/tarPuna-/, (“LIGNUM”)tara/i-pu-na-
‘(a kind of toy)’1.1.1Transmission
This lexeme is attested twice in a single inscription from Karkamiš, dating to the late 9th or early 8th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| gen. sg. | /tarPunas(sa)/ | (“LIGNUM”)tara/i-pu-na-sá | KARKAMIŠ A6, §16 (Karkamiš) |
| acc. pl. | /tarPunanzi/ | (“LIGNUM”)tara/i-pu-na-zi-i | KARKAMIŠ A6, §17 (Karkamiš) |
[A.P.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this lexeme is provisional, because its etymological connections, if any, remain unproven. The word has variously been linked to the families around /tarba-(di)/ ‘to tread, trample’ (thus e.g. HHG:123f.) and Hittite teripp-(mi) ‘to plough’ (see Morpurgo Davies 1986a:140-143), or both links have been regarded with scepticism (see Yakubovich 2002a:206). Yakubovich points out that among all the words starting with /tarP°/ in HLuw., the present lexeme is alone in using the logogram LIGNUM (sign *382) as a determinative.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this word has been a matter of scholarly debate, and interpretations differ wildly. Meriggi 1934a:158 suggested ‘high’ (“hoch”), Hrozný 1933a:186 ‘platform (of stone)’ (“tribune de pierre”), whereas Bossert 1951a:54 connected the word with the children at play depicted on the relief accompanying the KARKAMIŠ A6 inscription and proposed that /katuna-/ denotes the game ‘knucklebones’ (“Astragal”);Bossert assumed the logogram used as a determinative (*382) to depict a game board, but it has since been interpreted as a wooden staff, hence the designation LIGNUM. Laroche 1960c:203f. refrained from assigning any meaning. Differently, Morpurgo Davies 1986a:140-143 suggested a connection with Hittite teripp-(mi) ‘to plough’, arguing that the context of KARKAMIŠ A6 outlined the difference between a military and a civil career, with §§16-17 reading: kwa/i-zi-pa-wa/i-ma-za-a (“LIGNUM”)tara/i-pu-na-sá i-zi-i-sa-ta+ra/i-wa/i-ma-za zi-la (“LIGNUM”)tara/i-pu-na-zi-i (MANUS)i-sà-tara/i-i “PONERE”-wa/i-ha-a, approx. /kwinzi=ba=wa=mmanz tarpunas izzistadi=wa=mmanz zila tarpunanzi istri tuwahha/, meaning ‘(Those who are of weapons, for them I then put weapons into their hands with honour), but those who (are) of t., for them I then put t. into (their) hands with honour’ (cf. Morpurgo Davies 1982-1983a:264 n 42).Also followed by Hawkins & Morpurgo Davies 1986a:79f. and Morpurgo Davies 1986a:130f. However, Yakubovich 2002a:205f. rightly highlights that the present lexeme differs from many of the other words starting with what appears to be /tarP°/ in using the logogram LIGNUM for a determinative, which otherwise accompanies words for wooden objects and related meaning such as invested powers etc. He also notes that KARKAMIŠ A6 uses the alleged cognate /tarba-(di)/ ‘to tread, trample’ in §11, yet with PES2.PES for a determinative, suggesting that the words were not considered related by the scribe(s). Therefore, an interpretation close to Bossert’s ‘knucklebones’ seems the most likely option, i.e. a kind of toy.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The word is an a-stem, as becomes clear from the attested forms. Morpurgo Davies 1986a:140 suggests that the derivational basis is the infinitive */tarPuna/, which is in principle possible, were it not for the fact that the assured de-infinitival formation /adun(i)-/ ‘provisions (?)’ (from /ad-/ ‘to eat’) shows i-mutation. Likewise, the noun /kattun(i)-/ used in the parallel construction in KARKAMIŠ A6, §§14-15, also assumed to be de-infinitival by Morpurgo Davies, clearly follows an i-mutated inflectional pattern. /tarPuna-/ therefore probably represents a different formation, e.g. a derivation in /-na-/ from an otherwise unattested u-stem adjective */tarPu-/ vel sim. of unclear meaning (cf. Melchert 2003b:195f.).
[AH.B.]