“L’onomastica hurrita,”
La civilità dei Hurriti = La parola del passato 55, pp. 278-295.
Napoli: Macchiaroli editore.
In this brief contribution, the present author offers an overview on the Hurrian onomastic system, presenting a chronology and a geographical distribution of the sources, an discussion on Hurrian Satznamen, Bezeichnungsnamen and toponyms.
Urkesh is specifically quoted on p. 249, in the introduction to the language, and on p. 293, where the the grammatical formation of the toponym is explained: “Alcuni toponimi, presumibilmente hurriti, come Ikinkalliš, Mukiš e Urkeš presentano un’uscita in -ž, la cui interpretazione non è chiara, ma che può forse rappresentare una forma arcaica, senza il tema vocalico -i, del suffisso aggettivale -ži/-šše, attestato per esempio nel toponimo Tamluš, la cui interpretatio hurrica come tal(a)m/v = o = ž(i), ‘grande’, sembra certa. In ogni caso anche la base lessicale dei toponimi sopra citati resta ignota“ [“Some toponyms, possibly Hurrian, such as Ikinkalliš, Mukiš, and Urkeš display an ending in -ž, whose interpretation is unclear, but it could anyway represent an archaic form, without the vocalic stem -i, typical of the adjectival suffix -ži/-šše, attested e.g. in the toponym Tamluš, whose interpratatio hurrica as tal(a)m/v = o = ž(i), ‘great’, seems to be sure. Nevertheless, also the lexical stem of the aforementioned toponyms is still unknown” English translation by M. De Pietri].
Back to top: Mauro Giorgieri 2000