The origin of the phonetic value of the Anatolian hieroglyphic sign *41 (CAPERE/tà)

Abstract

Following Rieken’s 2008 establishment that the Anatolian hieroglyphic sign *41 (CAPERE/ta) denoted the syllable /da/, with lenis /d/, Yakubovich (2008) argued that the sign’s phonetic value was acrophonically derived from the Hittite verb dā-i/d- ‘to take’. In the present article it is argued that this view can no longer be upheld in view of new proposals regarding the phonetic value of sign *41 (rather [da]) and the interpretation of Hitt. dā-i/d- (rather [tʔā-]). It is proposed that the value of sign *41 has instead been derived from the Luwian verb ‘to take’, lā-i/l-, which from a historical linguistic perspective must go back to earlier *.ā-i/ *.-. This acrophonic assignment of the value [da] to sign *41 must then be dated to the beginning of the 18th century BCE at the latest, which implies that already by that time the Anatolian hieroglyphs were in use as a real script that made use of phonetic signs.