māntalla/i-
‘related to slander, slanderous (vel sim.)’
- Language
- Cuneiform Luwian
- Class
- Derivative
- Grammar
- adj
- ID
- 4070
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Cuneiform Luwian
māntalla/i-
‘related to slander, slanderous (vel sim.)’1.1.1Transmission
The lexeme is attested twice in two Kizzuwatnean rituals of the Kuwattalla tradition.
[E.R.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. pl. n. | ma-a-an-ta-al-la | KUB 35.68 14’ | (CTH 763, NS) |
| ma-a-an-ta-al-la | KUB 35.65 iii 12’ | (CTH 763, NS) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.
[E.R.]
1.1.4Meaning
Since the contexts of the two attestations are fragmentary, the meaning of the lexeme was first grasped by considering the corresponding adjective mantalla/i- used in Hittite transmission, whose meaning must be something like ‘venomous(?), poisonous(?), rancorous(?)’; for the Luw. word, a meaning such as ‘slanderous’ (or ‘slandered’, see CLL:137f. and DCL:s.v.) is perhaps more appropriate; thus translated by Yakubovich & Mouton 2023a:384f., 388f. and Yakubovich & Mouton 2023b:413. See mantalla/i- in Hittite transmission under Meaning.
[E.R.]
1.1.5Stem
Luw. mantalla/i- represents an adjective derived with the suffix -alla/i- from a base that may be attested in the Hittite hapax manza, if its stem is indeed mant-.
[E.R.]
*This lemma was written together with the trainee Marco Ammazzini.
1.2 Luwian (Glossenkeilwörter)
mantalla/i- (maltalla/i-)
1.2.1Transmission
The word is attested several times in Hittite context, in oracle reports and in ritual texts from Kizzuwatna.
[E.R.]
1.2.2Forms
| nom. sg. c. | ma-an-tal-li-iš |
KUB 16.17 ii 17 | (CTH 578, NS) |
| ma-al-ta-al-liš | KBo 8.68 i 6’ | (CTH 500, NS) | |
| ma-al-ta-al-l[iš] | KBo 8.68 i 8’ | (CTH 500, NS) | |
| m]a‑⸢al‑ta⸣‑al‑liš | KBo 8.68 i 9’ | (CTH 500, NS) | |
| acc. sg. c. | ma-al-ta-al-li-in | KBo 8.68 i 12’ | (CTH 500, NS) |
| dat./loc. sg. | ma-al-ta-al-li | KBo 8.68 i 13’ | (CTH 500, NS) |
| ma-al-ta-al-li | KBo 8.68 i 14’ | (CTH 500, NS) | |
| ma-al-t]a-al-li | KBo 8.68 i 18’ | (CTH 500, NS) | |
| acc. pl. c. (Hitt.) | ma-an-ta-al-li-i-e-e[š] | KBo 39.8 i 24 | (CTH 404, MS) |
| ma-an-ta-al-li[-i-e-eš | KBo 44.17 i 24’ | (CTH 404, MS) |
Except for the acc. pl. c. mantalliyēš, all forms are ambiguous as to their endings being Hittite or Luwian in origin.
[E.R.]
1.2.3Graphic Features
Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.
[E.R.]
1.2.3.13.1 Phonological Interpretation
The Kizzuwatnean ritual KBo 8.68 features a less common variant with -l- instead of -n-. In the past, CHD L-N:135, followed by HEG L-M:110, recorded maltalli- with an entry in its own right, but since the contexts in KBo 8.68 are severely broken, the translation as ‘obliged to make a malteššar(?)’ (still followed by Ünal 2007a:421, HEG L-N:110 and, with a question mark, in EDHIL:550f., but already disproved by Starke 1986a:160) was rather speculative.Since there are a couple of Hittite attestations of the variant with -l-, which may belong here or to the related mantalli(ya)- (maltalli(ya)-) (see s.v.) and the form with -l- does not fit the suggested etymology (see below), CHD L-N:178 and HEG L-N:126-127 believed that it arose secondarily from semantic considerations under the influence of maltalla/i- itself. Instead, it is far more economical to treat the forms with -l- as simple variants of mantalla/i- everywhere, considering that the attestations in KBo 8.68 can be accounted for with the meaning usually given to mantalla/i- (see under Meaning). Therefore, probably no separate word maltalla/i- exists (following Starke 1986a:160-161, HED M:61, CLL:137-138 and DCL:s.v.). For the alternation of /l/ and /n/, see Kronasser 1962c:58-62; for the alternation of -lts- and -nts-, which is not identical to the one seen here but still happens in alveolar environment, see also Yakubovich 2014a:285.
[E.R.]
1.2.4Meaning
Only the Hittite attestations were found in a context clear enough to propose a meaning for this adjective. As the word modifies the noun ‘tongue’ in the Maštigga ritual, denoting a negative quality of the tongues themselves, a translation like ‘poisonous, venomous, rancorous (?)’ fits quite well (DUTU-i iš-ḫa-a-mi ka-a-ša-wa-at-ta pa-ra-[a] ti-it-[t]a-nu-nu-un ma-an-ta-al-li-i-e-eš ‘O Sungod, my lord, I have brought forward to you the venomous(?) (tongues)’: KBo 39.8 I 23-24); see CHD L-N:176f., Ünal 2007a:427 and EDHIL:555 (also ‘rancorous (?)’) and similarly HHw:100, HEG L-M:126f. (‘feindlich, schädlich’); HED M:59 translates also ‘injurious, deleterious (vel sim.)’. These translations fit well with the attestations in KBo 8.68, where we find ma‑al‑ta‑al‑liš UN-aš (i 6), which can be translated as ‘rancorous (?) person’ (see HED M:59). Perhaps, a translation referring to the concept of ‘slander’ is likewise appropriate, even if it is hard to determine whether the sense is ‘slanderous’ or ‘slandered’ (CLL:137f., DCL:s.v.; see also mantālla/i- in Cuneiform Luwian transmission). An argument in its favor is that it conforms with the putative derivation of this lexeme from a base mant- meaning ‘saliva (?)’, ‘venom (?)’ or ‘sorcery (?)’: see below.DLL:68 gave no translation, whereas HW:136 is outdated.
[E.R.]
1.2.5Stem
We are dealing with an adjective derived with the suffix -alla/i-, whose putative base is attested in the hapax manza (for the meaning, see CHD L-N:179, HEG L-N:128f. and HED M:61 for the details). The stem of manza is probably mant- (thus Rieken 1999a:42-43 contra Starke 1986a:161).
[E.R.]
1.2.6Derivatives
1.2.7Origin
The word is clearly Luwian, as proved by the fact that it appears in Luwian context (see below Cuneiform Luwian attestations). Moreover, the suffix -alla/i-, surely present here, is extremely productive in Luwian. The word is listed as Luwian by Melchert 2005a:451 and van den Hout 2006a:245; also DLL:68, CLL:137f., DCL:s.v., CHD L-N:176f., HHw:100, HEG L-N:126f., HED M:59-61 and EDHIL:555 consider it Luwian.Outdated Ünal 1975a:183 and Kammenhuber 1976a:28f., who proposed a Hurrian origin.
[E.R.]
*This lemma was written together with the trainee Marco Ammazzini.
For the lemma head see CLuw. *mant-.