Hittite heu
Heaw- « pluie »
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21334342 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sylvain Patri (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 131 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 243-258 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Indogermanische Forschungen (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0019-7262 • E-ISSN: 1613-0405 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/if-2026-0008 |
| OpenAlex | W7167668085 |
| Language | EN |
We propose interpreting the Hittite noun heu- : heaw- ‘rain’ as reflecting the prototype *h2ḗy-u- *h2ḗy-ew- underlying the Vedic adjective āyús, gen. sg. āyóḥ ‘endowed with life force, full of liveliness’ admitting that the root’s meaning ‘life force, vital principle’ was conceptualized in Hittite in relation to natural phenomena rather than human life. The representation associated with the pouring of lifegiving water finds further resonance in the Greek medical term αἰονάω ‘to bathe’ denoting a means of replenishing the skin’s αἰών
Adjective · Hittite language · Meaning (existential) · Natural (archaeology) · Noun · Relation (database) · Ancient Near East History · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Linguistics and language evolution
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |