/lapta-?/, la-pa-ta-
‘(parts of stone installation)’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 820
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/lapta-?/, la-pa-ta-
‘(parts of stone installation)’1.1.1Transmission
Attested once, the evidence for this hapax legomenon originates from one inscription from Tabal, dating to the late 8th century BCE.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| nom./acc. pl.? | /lapta?/ | la-pa-ta | KULULU 6, §2 (Tabal) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The lexeme is spelt fully syllabically, however, its phonological interpretation remains difficult. It appears to be a cognate of Lyd. lapta-, whose meaning is likewise at least partially opaque. Based on the HLuw. spelling, the suggested shape /lapta-?/ is just one possibility, another would be /laPatt(a)-/ with a stem in /-tt(a)-/. Until further evidence is found, however, these suggestions remain just that.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning assigned to the lexeme must remain quite vague for the moment, because the word occurs in an inscription that is heavily damaged and only still legible in parts without a single complete clause surviving. In fact, the relevant clause is the most fully preserved of the text, breaking off only towards the end of the verb form: wa/i-ti kwa/i-sa la-pa-ta PUGNUS-ri+i-[ ... ], possibly meaning ‘Who raise[s?] the lapta for him’, with /lapta/ interpreted as the direct object showing a nom./acc. pl. n. ending. Evidently introducing the curse formula, the clause contains the dative pronoun /=di/, likely in the function of a raised possessor: ‘Who raise[s?] his lapta’. A similar phrasing can be found in Lydian on LW 42, which likely translates as ‘who damages these lapta’. It is therefore likely that the collective /lapta/ denotes parts of a burial or other installation, but a more precise meaning proves elusive without further evidence.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
The lexeme appears to be a neuter noun with a stem in /-a-/. It may or may not be a collective noun, which would only show plural. Nothing further about the formation of the stem can be said at this point.
[AH.B.]