/stinu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/, (PONERE)sà-ti-nu-

This lexeme is attested twice on one of the letters found in Assur. The letter is dated to the late 8^th century BCE.

[AH.B.]

2sg. impv. act.	/stinu?/	(PONERE)sà-ti-nu-i	ASSUR letter f+g, §4 (Assur)
			ASSUR letter f+g, §8 (Assur)

The form recorded in ASSUR letter f+g, §8 could perhaps also be interpreted as (PONERE)sà-ti-nu-´, i.e. with an 〈a〉 added in the end instead of an 〈i〉, because the shape of the sign visible on the lead strip is ambiguous. However, comparison with adjacent renditions of the sign 〈i〉 suggest that it should be interpreted alike.

[AH.B.]

Despite two attestations, the phonological form of this lexeme remains tentative. It clearly belongs to the same word family as the verb /sti-^?/, yet the latter’s suggested form is likewise tentative, its sole identified cognate being Pal. ištinašši. Still, it is noteworthy that both verbs, i.e. /sti-^?/ and /stinu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/, use the sign <sà> (*104) in their syllabic spelling, which is remarkable for the reason that 〈sà〉 is much less frequent than 〈sa〉 and 〈sá〉, see under lemma /sti-^?/.
The sign 〈-i〉 added at the end of the forms is a typical feature found in the ASSUR letters and other texts besides. Aside from serving as a space filler, its function is not yet clear, cf. Hawkins 2000a:540.

[AH.B.]

In both of its occurrences, the verb /stinu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/ is preceded by the preverb /pari/ ‘before, forth’, which affects the meaning of the verb in the contexts. The meaning of the present verb is put forward on the basis of its spelling and morphology. Derived from the verb /sti-^?/, whose suggested meaning is ‘to put aside^?’, the present lexeme should be a causative, i.e. ‘to cause to be put aside^?’ vel sim. In addition to both verbs using 〈sà〉 in their spelling (see discussion of phonology above), both also utilise the logogram PONERE (*65) as a determiner, implying strongly that they should be put into the same semantic field as the only other verb using the same determiner, i.e. /tu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to put’.

[AH.B.]

The verb is a deverbal formation in /-nu(wa)-⁽ⁱ⁾/, based on the verb /sti-/ ‘to put aside^?’, attested in an inscription from Commagene, with the derivation providing a causative meaning (cf. Sasseville 2021a:462-464). Both verbs appear to be transitive in their respective contexts.

[AH.B.]

For the lemma head see HLuw. /sti-?/.