/tuppalalliya-/, SCRIBA-la-ia-
‘writing’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 993
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
/tuppalalliya-/, SCRIBA-la-ia-
‘writing’1.1.1Transmission
Despite five attestations in the HLuw. corpus, the usage of this lexeme is limited to only two inscriptions. In fact, four of the attestations originate from one short passage in one of the Karkamiš inscriptions dating to around 800 BCE, and the remaining attestation can be found in Cilicia. The latter dates to the 7th century BCE, i.e. towards the very end of the HLuw. era.
[AH.B.]
1.1.2Forms
| abl./instr. | /tuppalalliyadi/ | SCRIBA-li-ia-ti-i | KARKAMIŠ A15b, §19 (x2) (Karkamiš) |
| SCRIBA-li-ia-ti | KARKAMIŠ A15b, §19 (Karkamiš) | ||
| /tuppalallidi/ | SCRIBA-li-ti | KARKAMIŠ A15b, §19 (Karkamiš) | |
| nom./acc. pl. or coll. | /tuppalalliya/ | SCRIBA-la-li-ia | KARATEPE 4, §2 (Cilicia) |
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
Connecting the spelling of this lexeme with its underlying phonology was first accomplished in the case of /tuppala-/ ‘scribe’ (Laroche 1956c:26), and then extended to the present lexeme. The syllabic signs following the logogram SCRIBA can be interpreted more fully because of the attestation from KARATEPE 4, as that form spells out also the final syllable of the underlying nominal basis /tuppala-/ and therefore grants a full view of the suffixes following it. Both suffixes, /-alla/i-/ and /-i(ya)-/ are well known from a host of other words, and their phonological interpretation is therefore secure.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
The meaning of this lexeme can be seen as certain despite the fact that all attestations originate from a mere two inscriptions. In the context of KARATEPE 4, /tuppalalliya-/ refers back to the dedicatory words put on a gate, followed by the names of the two people who carved them into the stone. The context as found in KARKAMIŠ A15b is rather more complex, but all the more elucidating for it. In fact, all four attestation of /tuppalalliya-/ occur within a single clause (§19), which juxtaposes the different ‘writings’ (i.e. writing systems) from a number of cities and states, before the author states in the next clause that he knew twelve languages (§20), cf. Hawkins 2000a:133 on which languages and writing systems these may be.
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
Having undergone multiple derivations, this lexeme constitutes an /-i(ya)-/ formation built from */tuppalalla/i-/ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:70), which is not attested in HLuw. Morphologically an adjective at first, it was likely turned into a noun quite soon in the same way as many similar formations. In this case, /tuppalalliya-/ is perhaps a collective. Beyond a generic meaning ‘belonging to a scribe’, the semantics of the unattested derivation basis */tuppalalla/i-/ cannot be determined further, but it in turn represents a denominal adjective derived from /tuppala-/ ‘scribe’.
[AH.B.]
For the base of the derivative see HLuw. /tuppala-/.