puntariye/a-^zi

Attested in a Hittite ritual (MS) and in a lexical list (NS).

[Zs.S.]

3sg. pres. act.

pu-un-tar-ri-i-e-ez-zi

KBo 19.145 iii 12’

(CTH 788, MS)

Verbal substantive:

nom.-acc. sg. n.	pu-un-tar-ia-u-wa-ar	KUB 3.99 ii 11	(CTH 301, NS)
	pu-un-ta-ri-ia-[u-wa-ar]	KUB 3.99 ii 12	(CTH 301, NS)

The attestations follow CHD P:377 (including the restoration based on textual parallelism; cf. also HEG L-S:649; HED Pe-Pu:119) checked against the photographs of the Konkordanz.

[Zs.S.]

Based on the entry KUB 3.99 ii 12 in a lexical list, there is a general agreement regarding the meaning, even if the Akkadian part is fragmentary and the Sumerian column consists of hapax legomena (Scheucher 2012a:650f.) as it refers to the characteristics of an ass or to something pertaining to a donkey, which is also supported by the related form puntarriyala/i-, a characteristics of Ištar with the same meaning (Güterbock in MSL XVII:121; CHD P:377 [although only as “very uncertain”]; Ünal 2007a:552, Ünal 2016a:422; Tischler 2008a:150, Tischler 2016a:284 HEG L-S:649; EDHIL:681 [with question mark]; Scheucher 2012a:651; HED Pe-Pu:119; Schürr 2019a:563f.; no translation in Haas & Thiel 1978a:301 and Haas & Wegner 1988a/I: 213, since the context of KBo 19.145 iii 12’ is entirely fragmentary [but ‘unberechenbar sein’ in Haas & Wegner 1988a/II: 159, without any argument]).

Nevertheless, Simon 2020a argues that the lexical list allows a completely different meaning, ‘to shout, to scream’, which not only fits the donkey (i.e. the bray) but also provides a contextually more fitting description of Ištar as a terrifying war-goddess.

[Zs.S.]

Starke 1990a:378f. claims (for his reasoning see below) that this is a Luwian loanword (but it was not included in the list of Luwianisms of Melchert 2005a and van den Hout 2007a). However, as Oettinger 1979a:352, EDHIL:681, and HED Pe-Pu:120 (with examples) pointed out, we are probably dealing with a Hittite internal derivation from pu(wa)nt- according to the type of gimmant- ‘winter’ → gimmantariye/a-^zi ‘to spend the winter’. Thus, its Luwian origin depends on the etymology of the stem pu(wa)nt-, which has, however, no established etymology (EDHIL:681):

Tischler (HEG L-S:649) cautiously proposed a derivation from PIE *peu̯t- ‘aufblasen’, but this is attested only in the Baltic languages (Lith. pučiù ‘blasen, wehen’, puntù ‘schwellen, sich aufblasen’, LIV²:481) and suspiciously looks like an onomatopoetic verb.

Oettinger 1979a:352 (implicitly) suggested a derivation from pūwae- ‘to pound, to grind’ (followed by Starke 1990a:378f. and HED Pe-Pu:120), which is probably a Luwian loanword in Hittite (see s.v.). Nevertheless, the semantic connection between ‘to pound’ and ‘to be stubborn’ is anything but straightforward (cf. also Schürr 2019a:563f., admitted by Starke 1990a:379, too), and Starke’s and Puhvel’s assumed intermediate meanings (‘spröde, ungeschmeidig’ and ‘dig in the heels’, resp.) are not helpful either.

Schürr 2019a:564 suggests that the base is a cognate of Lycian puwa- ‘goat, buck’ (see s.v.) from PIE *b^hug̑o-, which is semantically fitting (cf. German bocken) and which would prove the Luwian origin due to phonological reasons (although the evidence is rather circumstantial).

If the meaning ‘to shout, to scream’ turns out to be correct, then the word has no etymology and, accordingly, there is no evidence for its Luwian origin.

[Zs.S.]

Last updated: 28 April 2020