marwatar/-t(a)n-

The word is a hapax legomenon occurring in a broken context of a prayer to the Storm God of Nerik.

[E.R.]

dat./loc. sg.

ma-ar-wa-ta-ni

KUB 36.89 rev. 26

(CTH 671, NS)

The lexeme should be considered a noun in the dat./loc. singular rather than a 2pl. pres. of the verb maruwāi- ‘to blacken, to darken’; thus Neumann 1971b:301, Starke 1986a:163 and HED M:89 (and already Haas 1970a:152 and 170, but see below) contra CHD L-N:203 (anda, which follows the lexeme before the lacuna, is not a preverb but a postposition), which is partly still followed by HHw:102, HEG L-M:153, CLL:142 and DCL:s.v.; in EDHIL:562 the interpretation is deemed unsure.Already DLL:69 kept apart this ‘glose’ from the assumed verb marru(wa)- ‘rougir?’. Without grammatical interpretation in DLL:69, CHD L-N:203, HHw:102, HEG L-N:153 and Ünal 2007a:435.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

Since this word is probably a verbal abstract noun derived from a reconstructed verb meaning ‘to darken, blacken’ (see under Stem), it is possible to assume a meaning like ‘darkness, blackness’, although the context is fragmentary; thus Haas 1971a:152f., CLL:142, DCL:s.v., HED M:89, EDHIL:562.For the alternative interpretation as a verbal form, see under Forms. No translation in DLL:69, CHD L-N:203, HHw:102, HEG L-N:153, and Ünal 2007a:435.

[E.R.]

Even if the nominative is not attested, we can say that we are dealing with a verbal abstract noun in -ttar/-tt(a)n-, a commonly used Luwianism in Hittite texts; thus Neumann 1971b:301, Starke 1986a:163 and Starke 1990a:486, while Haas 1970a:152 thinks of a non-existing stem *marwatan-. However, we would expect the spelling -°t-ta-n°-, since the plosive is fortis. In any case, especially in Hittite texts, the deficient writing -°t-n°- occurs frequently. Similarly, in the nominative, the usual ending -°t-tar is often replaced by -tar, which reminds of the Hittite verbal abstract noun in -ātar/-ann- (see, for example, puškantatar; cf. also Starke 1990a:436-437). Apparently, the noun is a derivative of the verb maruwāi- ‘to blacken, darken’.

[E.R.]

The stem class (verbal substantive in -ttar/-ttn-) makes clear that the word is Luwian. It is listed as Luwian in van den Hout 2006a:246. For the Luwian origin of the entire word family, see the lemma head and also marwāi(ya)- ‘dark’.

[E.R.]

*This lemma was written together with the trainee Marco Ammazzini.

For the lemma head see CLuw. *maruwa-.