mallitiwalla-

This word is attested only once in a fragment of a NS cult inventory (cf. Hazenbos 2003a:111, and for this text type in general Cammarosano 2018a).

[A.B.]

nom. sg. c.

ma-al-li-ti-wa-al-la-aš

KUB 42.91 obv. ii 2

(CTH 530, NS)

The attestation follows CLL:133, CHD L–N:131, HEG L–P:107, HED M:156, Ünal 2007a:420, Ünal 2016a:333 (cf. Starke 1990a:191, van den Hout 2007a:248, Zorman 2016a:584, not yet in Laroche 1959a). The transliteration has been checked against the photo of the Mainzer Fototarchiv.

[A.B.]

 

There is a broad consensus that the Luwian derivative malliti(ya)- ‘of honey’ (from Luwian mallit- ‘honey’) is present in the first part of this word: Hoffner 1974a:171 ‘honey cake’ (implicitly, see below), CHD L–N:131 (cf. Ünal 2007a:420, Ünal 2016a:333): a kind of bread or cake containing honey (?); Tischler 1995b:321 (‘Honigbrote’); HEG L–P:107 (cf. Tischler 2008a:109, Tischler 2016a:206): Gebäckbezeichnung “honigüberzogen”?; Starke 1990a:191f. ‘das mit Honigsüße Versehene’; cf. Rieken & Sasseville 2014a:304, 310 ‘that which is provided with honey’, ‘honey-coated’ (cf. CLL:133, EDHIL:580); Zorman 2016a:584 ‘das mit Honigglasur Überzogene’ and HED M:156 considering it to be an “artonym” (coinage?) for ‘honey-bread’ lit. ‘as-honey-kind’ (cf. under Origin).
The context of KUB 42.91 (NS) obv. ii 1–7 shows the following (the transliteration is based on the photo of the Mainzer Fotoarchiv, and the hand copy as well as the transliterations and translations of Tischler 1995b:321, Hazenbos 2003a:112 and CHD L–N:131 have been taken into account):

(1)⸢pa zì.da⸣ dur5 7 ninda.gur4.ra ⸢up-ni⸣ i-ia-an-zi (2)7 ma-al-li-ti-wa-al-la-aš ku-iš-ša ⸢zu9⸣ 7 DUGbur.⸢zi⸣ (3)tu7ḪI.A ša LÚmuḫaldim lú GIŠbanšur 7 gal iš-tu kaš.geštin (4)2-nu-ú-ia-kán 3-šú-ia GIŠ⸢banšur⸣ kiš-an si×sá-an (5)šu-up-pa ti-ia-an-zi ½ bán zì.da 1 DUGḫa-ni-iš-ša-aš kaš (6)GIŠzag.⸢gar⸣.ra-ni 3 NINDAa-a-an ⸢3?⸣ ninda.gúg ⸢3⸣ ninda.tu7 1 n[inda?.k]u7? (7)1⸢DUG⸣ [ka]š aš-nu-ma-aš ḫal-zi-ia-ri galḪI.A-kán aš-nu-wa-an-⸢zi⸣ dutu-ši da-a-iš

(1)(of an amount of) one parīsu of moist flour they prepare 7 thick breads of (i.e., measuring) one upni, (2)7 mallitiwalla-, each of them (is) a tooth. 7 offering bowls, (3)stews from the cook and the table man, 7 cups of wine-beer, (4)2 portions and 3 sets (are on) the table prepared in the following way: (5)they place purified meat, one half sūtu of moist flour, 1 ḫanišša-vessel for(?) beer, (6)on the altar (there are) 3 warm breads  3? barley-mush-breads, 3 bread puddings, 1 sweet bread, (7)1 vessel of beer for provision, one calls, they serve the cups, (thus) the Majesty has instituted

Although mallitiwalla- does not appear with a determinative, most scholars assume that it is some sort of bread, cake or pastry (see above).
This assumption is based on the context (as it is preceded by another bread types), and on a parallel phrase in KUB 38.25 obv. i? 20’, where ninda.làl appears together with kuišša zu9 as well: 5 ninda.làl kuišša zu9-aš iyanza. Hence, ninda.làl and mallitiwallaš could denote the same bread type with honey (cf. Hoffner 1974a:171,198; CHD L–N:131; HEG L–P:107f.; HED M:156), compare also Hitt. milit ninda.gur4.ra in KUB 36.89 rev. 58–59. In both cases, kuišša zu9 follows the lexeme in question. Different proposals for a translation of this phrase have been made. While Hoffner 1974a:198, Starke 1990a:191f., CHD L–N:131 (followed by Hazenbos 2003a:113), Tischler 1995b:321 (with question mark) and HED M:156 assume that zu9 refers to the shape of the bread, Haas 1970a:276f, despite transliterating ka×ud (=zu9) and not ka×u ‘mouth’, translated ‘Mundhappen’, which pertains to the size and a possible use as appetizers (or ‘bites’?). The first interpretation draws its conclusion in part from the fact that other bread types in the form of body parts are known (cf. Hoffner 1974a:198f., 208), among them ninda.zu9 ‘tooth bread’ e.g. in the ritual KUB 29.1 rev. iii 17, 20 and 36, where twenty ‘tooth breads’ (that number matches that of the primary dentition of a child) are listed. A ritual against a curse for the prince (KBo 10.37 rev. iv 29–32, cf. Christiansen 2006a:206f., 251) describes the offering of thick bread for the twelve teeth and other speech organs. Twelve is the number of incisors in a lion’s jaw (cf. the text ‘Benedictions for the Labarna’ KUB 20.54+KBo 13.122 rev.8: ‘his teeth are (those) of a lion’). Furthermore, Hoffner 1974a:198 points out the use of the Sumerogram zu9 together with sum.sikilsar to describe a garlic clove and assumes that it has the shape of cuspids. This could also be the shape of the bread described as kuišša zu9.
Apart from the context, another basis for the semantics of mallitiwalla- is its word formation. There are different options depending on whether one assumes one or two lexemes included in this form, that is, either a derivative or a compound (for details see under Origin). If it is a derivative (cf. Starke 1990a:191f. and Rieken & Sasseville 2014a:304, 310), not much more can be said about the meaning other than it is a bread, cake or pastry covered or filled with honey.
If it is a compound, the first part is malliti(ya)- (see details under Origin) and the second part is probably Hitt. walla- or its Luwian equivalent walli- ‘(upper part of the) thigh-bone; bolt; nail’ (cf. Tischler 1995b:322). If walla- refers to the shape of the bread it would be cylindric (and probably similar to a nail or bolt). Hence,  mallitiwalla- could be a something like a cake roll covered with or containing honey. The tooth shape explicated above could be a variation of this bread type.

[A.B.]

The form of mallitiwalla- in this text is Hittite (cf. eg. CLL:133), but the first part is clearly based on Luwian mallit- ‘honey’, its Hittite equivalent being milit-. This led to the classification of mallitiwalla- as a Luwianism (cf. CHD L–N:131, Starke 1990a:191f., HED M:156, CLL:133, EDHIL:580, Tischler 2008a:109, Tischler 2016a:206, in the list of Luwianisms by van den Hout 2007a:248, but not in that by Melchert 2005a, cf. also Brosch 2010a:271).
Three different explanations have been proposed for the word formation of mallitiwalla-. All of them assume that the first part is the derived adjective malliti(ya)- ‘with honey, honeyed’ (see under the respective lemma). CHD L–N:131 points out that a derivation is problematic since there is no known Luwian suffix -iwalla-. Starke 1990a:191f. suggested a multi-level derivational process yielding an adjective in -alla/i- (a very productive suffix that forms adjectives from nouns in Luwian, cf. Melchert 2003b:195 and Yakubovich 2015b:14) that is later substantivized. According to Starke this derivation is preceded by adding a suffix -wa- (cf. also Kronasser 1966a:174, 193 for this suffix) to the adjective malliti(ya)-. Rieken & Sasseville 2014a:304, 310 (with further examples) follow Starke’s suggestion with regard to the derivation of mallitiwalla- in their paper on the rarely attested Anatolian suffix -wa- and consider a possessive-equative function. Considering the functional spectrum of the equivalents of this suffix attested in other Indo-European languages (cf. Rieken & Sasseville 2014a:302f.) it cannot be excluded that it represents a color term here (honey-coloured?) or even a verbal noun, in case the derivational base is not an adjective but a verb in -i(ya)- (for this suffix cf. Melchert 2003b:199 and Yakubovich 2015b:18).
A different approach is suggested by Tischler 1995b:321 (cf. HEG L–P:108, cf. Brosch 2010a:271) who assumes a compound with Hitt. walla- ‘thigh-bone; bolt; nail’ as second part of the word. This would explain the Hittite inflection, but it remains unclear why it does not show the Luwian equivalent walli- (see below). Additionally, Tischler points out another possible compound of the same type, also denoting a type of bread: ḫiwaššiwala- (already Hoffner 1974a:161 as ‘derivational sufformative’), yet this lexeme is even more problematic due to the single /l/.
Finally, HED M:156 (rejecting Starke and Tischler) assumes mallitiwalla- to be a graphic rendering of *malitti-iwa(r-a)lla ‘as-honey-kind’ as a translation of the Hittite expression milit iwar šanizzi ‘as-honey-sweet’ (rejected by Brosch 2010a:271). However, this interpretation does not make any sense in the given context (see under Meaning).
Only the first two explanations fit the context. If we are dealing with a Luwian derivative that is rendered as a Hittitized form, it is a Luwian loanword in Hittite. The same would be the case if mallitiwalla- were originally a Luwian compound with walli- that would have been Hittitized (probably under the influence of Hittite walla-). If, however, Hittite walla- is the second part of the compound, it would be a Hittite compound with malliti(ya)- as a Luwian foreign or loanword as first component.

[A.B.]