Luwian and Sanskrit action nouns in *-i̯-eh2-

Abstract

The Luwian nominal class of common gender a-stems, which has been argued to reflect Proto-Indo-European stems in *-eh2-, has not yet been explored to a full extent. In Cuneiform Luwian, a number of action nouns in -a- c. derived from verbs in -i(ya)- (< *-i̯e/o-) have been noticed by scholars, but a larger analysis of all examples including Hieroglyphic Luwian is still lacking. It is the goal of the present paper to fill this gap. After a synchronic analysis of all examples, their stem formation will be compared to a similar derivational process found in Sanskrit. Consequently, the comparative evidence will shed light on the function of the suffix *-eh2- in Proto-Indo-European, including Anatolian.