On the Origin of the Hittite Particle -z(a)

Abstract

In the field of Hittite linguistic studies, recent scholarship has been especially interested in the nature and origin of the particles so frequently attested in this language. Among the most intriguing of these morphemes is -z( a), about which H.A. Hoffner (1969, 1973) has made important observations. He points out that, although the use of this particle in verbal sentences has long been correctly identified as "Reflexivum [ ... ], das [ ... ] fiir alle Personen verwendet wird" (Kronasser 1956: 145), "little is known today of the rules governing the occurrence or non-occurrence of -za in the nominal sentence" (1969: 225). His research has led him to conclude that "the first and second person pronouns, when they constitute the subject of the nominal sentence, demand -za or its oblique enclitic pronoun stand-in. Stated differently, when the subject of the nominal sentence is either the speaker or his addressee(s) or both ('inclusive "we"'), the reflexive pronoun is required. When the subject of the nominal sentence is a person or object not involved in the discourse as either addressor or addressee, no need is felt for the reflexive" (1969: 230); instead, "the enclitic -aš may appear for the 3rct person" (Hamp 1984: 58), cf. 11-an-za-wa-za e-eš 'be alive!' and ku-is-wa-ra-aš a-ši DUMU-aš 'who is he, this child?' In this paper 1 want to attempt an explanation of this distribution of -z( a) in nominal sentences by exploring the possible Indo-European etyma of the particle.