āšš-

Hapax in a Luwian ritual in NS.

[Zs.S.]

nom.-acc. pl. n.

a-aš-ša

KUB 35.88 rev. iii 9’

(CTH 766, NS)

Attestation following CLL:34 (without, however, a-aš-ša-ad-du, for which see s.v. āšša-, cf. also Laroche 1959a:33) checked against the photograph of the Konkordanz. Starke 1985b:228 restores [a-aš-š]a-at-ta in KUB 35.89, 10’ based on the parallelism with KUB 35.88 rev. iii 9’, which is contextually fully justified, but nothing is visible from the sign ša on the photograph of the Konkordanz and thus the attestation is very uncertain. For the grammatical analysis see under Meaning.

[Zs.S.]

A form a-aš-ša-at-ta is attested in the following context (KUB 35.88 iii 9’, Starke 1985b:227, restoration based on the parallel [ a(-aš-ša)]-at-ta wa-na-a-an-za la-lạ-a-[at-ta in KUB 35.89, 10’, Starke 1985b:228 [slightly modified]):

DKam-ru-ši-pa-aš	a-aš-ša-at-ta	wa-na-an-za	l[(a-la-a-)at-ta
K.nom.sg.	a.	woman.dat.pl.	take.3sg.pret.

Those scholars who consider a-aš-ša-at-ta as a verb either do not indicate a meaning (Laroche 1959a:33 [but cf. below]; HW (2nd ed.) A:50; HEG A-K:7, Tischler 2008a:28, Tischler 2016a:35 [but cf. below]) or suggest ‘to say, to speak’ (CLL:34; Tischler 2008a:28, Tischler 2016a:35; EDHIL:166 [all with question mark]; Ünal 2016a:952) based on the assonance with Luwian āšš- ‘mouth’ (Tischler 2008a:28, Tischler 2016a:35 also entertains ‘to overcome, to beat’ as further possibility).

A verbal interpretation and a meaning ‘to say, to speak’ is in theory possible (Tischler’s ‘to overcome, to beat’ make no sense here), but in that case it remains unclear who and what takes from the women. Thus and since the verb lālā- ‘to take’ is frequently constructed with the particle =tta (cf. CLL:121), it is more logical to understand the entire passage as one sentence and to analyse a-aš-ša-at-ta as the direct object āšša with the particle =tta, as did already Laroche 1965a:45 and Starke 1990a:99f. (note that this particle can appear within the clause too [Melchert 2003b:200] and, alternatively, this specific case can also be explained by the fronting of Kamrušipa [a regular process in Luwian, Melchert 2003b:201], which would place this particle in its usual place). Laroche and Starke identified this word with āšš- ‘mouth’, which is formally possible (although note that assured cases of āšš- ‘mouth’ consistently show hyperplene spelling, see s.v., unlike this word) , but it does not make sense in this context, as the mouth cannot be taken. All what can be inferred from the text is that this āšš- must be an object belonging to women that can be taken (note that the next sentence refers to combs).

[Zs.S.]