/attanassamm(a)-/, (“COR”)á-ta-na-sa-ma-

The two attestations of this adjective are found in the two copies of the KARATEPE 1 inscription, which is variously dated between middle 8th and early 7th century BCE.

[I.Y.]

instr.	/attanassammadi/	(“COR”)á-ta-na-sa-ma-ti	KARATEPE 1 Hu. § 18 (Cilicia)
		“COR<”>-ta-na-sa-ma-ri+i	KARATEPE 1 Ho. § 18 (Cilicia)

The neuter gender of the lexeme under discussion is postulated based on its comparison with acc.sg. kwa/i-ti-sà-ma-za (EĞREK § 2), which arguably features the same suffix chain.

[I.Y.]

The spelling of the Hu. copy appears to be archaizing, whereas the Ho. copy renders the phonetic peculiarities of Late Luwian, namely the likely aphaeresis and the merger of intervocalic /d/ and /r/.      

[I.Y.]

The Phoenician equivalent of /attanassamm(a)-/ is ḥkmt ‘wisdom’, as recognized in Bossert 1949a:107. The proposed derivation of the Luwian lexeme is consistent with the meaning ‘wisdom’.

[I.Y.]

The synchronic connection between /attan(i)-/ ‘soul, self’ and /attanassamm(a)-/ ‘wisdom’ is underscored by the use of the logogram/determinative <COR> with both nouns. This is essentially the derivation offered in Hawkins 2000a:61a, although Hawkins considers /atr(i)-/ ‘person, self’ and /attan(i)-/ ‘soul, self’ as belonging to the same lemma. One can hypothesize that /attanassamm(a)-/ features the abstract suffix /-mm(a)-/, which is otherwise present e.g. in /alunnamm(a)-/ ‘lust’ and /hadast(ar)ramm(a)-/ ‘vitality’ (vel sim.). This productive Late Luwian synchronically forms semi-vocalic neuter stems in -(a)-, while in etymological terms it probably reflects the thematization of the earlier heteroclitic suffix ‑mar-/-mn-. The likely immediate base of its derivation is the possessive adjective /attanassa/i-/ ‘pertaining to the soul’.  Presumably, the Neo-Hittites saw soul as the container of human wisdom.

The connection between /attan(i)-/ (sic!) ‘soul’ and the lexeme under discussion is endorsed in van den Hout 2002a:181, but the initial vowel of “(COR)”á-ta-na-sa-ma-ti is explained there as a result of contamination with /atr(i)-/ ‘person, self’. This account does not appear to be plausible, since the noun /attan(i)-/ ‘soul’ was not lost in Late Luwian and continued to provide the synchronic derivational base for /attanassamm(a)-/. Neither is it necessary, since the interpretation /attan(i)-/ ‘soul, self’  is compatible with an alternative etymology, which is in no way inferior to the one offered in van den Hout 2002a.

[I.Y.]

For the base of the derivative see under /attan(i)-/.