panāgant-

This lexeme is found in a mythical passage of the ritual for the disappearing deity.

[D.S.]

Checked against the photograph in the Konkordanz.

[D.S.]

The action of panāganzi is performed by the eagle right after the Sun-god realizes that the guests, the other gods, eat without being satiated, drink without their thirst being quenched. The verb surely refers to the flying movement of the eagle, which is supposed to look for the missing deity. Carruba 1972a:10 suggests either the meaning ‘to leave’ or ‘to return’; cf. Meriggi 1979a:7. Szemerényi 1979b:318 suggests the meaning ‘to fly’, which is contextually plausible, but his etymological reconstruction faces too many phonological problems (see under reconstruction). Since the verb panāganzi lacks a direct object and is accompanied by the reflexive particle ši (→ zi after resonant) in ḫarāš=kuwar=zi panāganzi, it is likely to be intransitive. The meaning ‘to depart’ (thus with Carruba ibid.) is contextually more likely than ‘to return’, since the action of panāganzi takes place when the Sun-god commands his searchers to go and rouse the missing deity.

[D.S.]

There are different ways to analyze morphologically the participle panāgant-. Watkins 1975a:361 suggests a verbal formation in -ana-^(di) (or -ana(g)a-^(di)); cf Pal. ḫantanā-^(di) ‘to find’. This would leave us with a root pa-. Differently, one could assume a root pan- with the denominative suffix -a(g)a-^(di). Another option would be to view a univerbation of the prefix pa- with a root nag-. Since there too many possibilities, more evidence is needed before any decision can be made.

[D.S.]

A number of phonologically implausible etymological suggestions are offered in Szemerényi 1979b:318. No reconstruction is offered here.

[D.S.]