The Luwian word for ‘place’ and its cognates

Abstract Contrary to the common assumption, the Luwian word for ‘place’, hidden under the logogram in Anatolian hieroglyphic transmission, is genetically unrelated to Hittite pēda- (n.) ‘place’. Based on synchronic combinatory evidence, it can be assigned the phonological interpretation /allV(n)t-/ (n.). Its closest demonstrable cognates are Kizzuwatna Luwian /arlanuwa-i/ ‘to replace, relocate’ and Lydian arlil(i)- ‘belonging to the homestead, household’, which suggests the reconstruction of *arl(a)- ‘place’ at an earlier stage of the Luwian language. The Luwian and Lydian words treated in this paper are likely to be ultimately derived from the Anatolian verbal root ‘to stand’ (cf. Hittite artari ‘stands’). The original meaning of Hittite pēda- was possibly ‘plain’. An additional result of this article consists in the improved understanding of several Luwian and Lydian passages.