/mannawasunad(i)-/, ma-na-wa/i-su-na-
‘fertilisation (?)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 785
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/mannawasunad(i)-/, ma-na-wa/i-su-na-
‘fertilisation (?)’1.1.1Transmission
The lexeme is a hapax legomenon in the HLuw. corpus, and its sole attestation can be found in an inscription from Tabal, dating to the mid-8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. pl. | /mannawasunada/ | ma-na-wa/i-su-na-tà | SULTANHAN, §14 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
The spelling of this lexeme is reasonably clear, and together with cognate evidence from the other Anatolian languages, the phonological interpretation given can be taken as certain despite its rarity in HLuw. Use of 〈tà〉 strongly suggests a /d/ rather than a different quality dental (Rieken 2008b:642), see the discussion of the stem below.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this word long escaped scholars due to different word division within the clause, see Hawkins 2000a:466, 469. Newly interpreted as one word, the etymological connection to the cognates in the other Anatolian languages becomes evident, e.g. CLuw. /manna-/ ‘seed, crops’ and many more, although the HLuw. corpus appears to hold no further words derived from the same root. Taking into account the context of the clause, it is now clear that the author of the inscription is hoping for the storm-god’s continued assistance by providing fertilisation from above, i.e. rain, to make the crops grow. Still, the given meaning remains tentative, because the morphological structure of the word is at least partially opaque.
[AH.B.] [I.Y.]
1.1.5Stem
The word is a neuter noun with an abstract meaning, suitably showing a stem final suffix /-ad-/ (cf. Rieken 2008b:644). As expected in case of a neuter plural subject, the agreeing verb, “PES”-wa/i+ra/i ‘came’, shows a singular ending (and rhotacisation of /-da/ to /ra/, cf. Rieken 2008b:638f.). Clearly, /mannawasunad(i)-/ is related to CLuw. /manna-/ ‘seed, crops’, and in fact, it appears to be built from the same stem as the CLuw. noun /mannawa-/ ‘the one related to fertility’. However, its precise structure has yet to be uncovered. It is possible that it should be analysed as a compound consisting of a first part related to CLuw. /manna-/ or /mannawa-/ and a second member perhaps based on the verb attested in CLuw. as */sunna-/ ‘to fill’.
[AH.B.]
For the lemma head see *men(H)-o-.