Oettinger N (2022)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2022
Book Volume: 135
Pages Range: 255-263
Journal Issue: 1
DOI: 10.13109/hisp.2022.135.1.255
An attempt is made to show that Hittite menu- (/mēnu-/) normally means ‚male’, whereas in the text KBo 3.28 it means ‘human being’. So Cuneiform Luvian mannu- n. ‘virility, male fecundity’ and mannu-/mannaw- ‘virile, fecundating’ are no longer isolated within Anatolian. The root has correctly been recognized as *men- ‘to tower, stand out’. As far as u-stems are concerned, PIE probably possessed a resultative neuter *món-u/*ménu- ‘the outstanding thing/being (in height)’ > ‘virility’ with an internally derived adjective *ménu-/*mn-éu- ‘virile, fecundating’. The latter could be substantivized as *menu- ‘man, human being’ (Hittite menu-, Vedic mánu-).
APA:
Oettinger, N. (2022). Hittite menu- 'human being, male' Hethitisch menu- ‚Mensch, männlich‘. Historische Sprachforschung, 135(1), 255-263. https://doi.org/10.13109/hisp.2022.135.1.255
MLA:
Oettinger, Norbert. "Hittite menu- 'human being, male' Hethitisch menu- ‚Mensch, männlich‘." Historische Sprachforschung 135.1 (2022): 255-263.
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