/zara/iwa/iya-?/, za+ra/i-wa/i-ia-
‘(unknown)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- adj
- ID
- 753
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/zara/iwa/iya-?/, za+ra/i-wa/i-ia-
‘(unknown)’1.1.1Transmission
The lexeme occurs once on one of the lead strips from Tabal, dating to the mid- or late 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. sg. n. | /zara/iwa/iyan-za?/ | za+ra/i-wa/i-ia-za | KULULU lead strip 1, §38 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Without any cognate links to other words in HLuw. or any of the other Anatolian languages, the phonological shape of the present lemma is uncertain. Moreover, the interpretation is severely hampered by the fact that the spelling of the word, as attested on KULULU lead strip 1, §38, involves two of the vowel-polyvalent signs in HLuw., viz. the graphematic clitic 〈ra/i〉 (*383) and 〈wa/i〉 (*439). In addition to that, intervocalic /r/ may actually stand for an original /d/ or /l/ that has undergone rhotacism, cf. e.g. Melchert 2003b:179-182. The spelling may hence represent various different stem shapes, e.g. /zariwiya-/, /zarawaya-/, /zadiwaya-/ and several more.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
In its context of attestation, the lexeme represents a syntactic anomaly, because it is one of only two words on KULULU lead strip 1 to occur in this position,The other one is SCRIBA+RA/I-za in KULULU lead strip 1, §1. i.e. after the commodity and before the named recipients: 10 “HORDEUM”-za za+ra/i-wa/i-ia-za [?]mu-wa/i-ia-a CUM-ni [I]ki-ia-ki-sá-na FRATER.LA-i hú-ra/i-na-li á-na-tara/i-< > tu-na-sa(URBS),The word á-na-tara/i-< > is missing its ending, which is unusual in the lead strips and hence marked here, see cf. Hawkins 2000a:512. which translates as ‘Ten (homers of) zara/iwa/iya-? barley to Muwa, the brother of Kiyakiya, the hunter of Lower Tuna’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:508f., 512). Within the context, it seems likely that /zara/iwa/iya-?/ is an adjective and modifies the preceding noun HORDEUM ‘barley’, both showing singular inflection expected after numerals ‘five’ and above (cf. Bauer 2014a:88-90). However, the commodities listed are not usually modified. In fact, the entries on the HLuw. lead strips are highly organised and adhere to a common structure, resulting in their contents being very predictable for the most part, and it is for that reason that it is all the more difficult to accommodate any outliers, including the lexeme under discussion, and furnish them with a meaning. Quite probably, the adjective denotes a property of barley, but it remains in the dark what exactly it could be.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
While much of the stem remains opaque due to the HLuw. writing system and orthographic conventions, the word clearly shows an adjective stem in /-i(ya)-/. As an adjective, it is expected to be subject to i-mutation, although its single attested form cannot prove that. It is inflected as a neuter, as shown by the neuter particle /-sa, -za/, see e.g. Melchert 2003b:186f.
[AH.B.]