# U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI (wannā lū kanāsī)

> and behold, may my gathering \[take place\] (proposed precative lū)

A Linear A word in the Linear A Lexicon. The reading is a proposal and carries its tier.

- Reading: wannā lū kanāsī
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*kanVs-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/2763/index.md>) 'to gather, assemble'
- Kind: Verbal
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: U (u) · NA (na) · RU (ru) · KA (ka) · NA (na) · SI (si)

## Compared forms

- Hebrew: כָּנַס *kānas* — kānas (כָּנַס) 'to gather, assemble' (Esth 4:16, Ezek 22:21, Neh 12:44); knesset (כְּנֶסֶת) 'assembly, gathering'; √k-n-s 'to gather'
- Akkadian: *kamāsu* — kamāsu A 'to gather, store' (CAD K 114–117); earlier form of Hebrew kns via m~n interchange (Greenfield 2001, 840–846); lū 'may, indeed'—the precative/asseverative particle written by -RU- (akk_hg_0642)
- Aramaic: כנש *knaš* — knaš (כנש) 'to gather, assemble'; kiništu (NB/LB loan) 'priestly college' (AHw 480a; Greenfield 2001)
- Arabic: كنس *kanasa* — kanasa (كنس) 'to sweep, collect'; kanīsah (كنيسة) 'synagogue, church' (< Aramaic knš)

## Attestations

- [PK Za 12](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/PKZa12/index.md>): \]RA-ME\[ \]A-\[…\]-NE U-NA-RU-KA-\[?\]-JA-SI A-PA-DU-PA-\[…\] \]JA-\[…\] JA-PA-QA — And behold, may [there be] my gathering!

## Commentary

PK Za 12 writes U-NA-RU-KA-[?]-JA-SI, JA legible (GORILA IV 38). The lost sign is restored as NA from the formula, and NI fits the trace equally (Soldani 2012, 221–222 n. 129). NA-JA recurs in I-NA-JA-PA-QA on PK Za 11, a Palaikastro spelling, and PK Za 11 preserves U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI whole. U-NA wannā 'and behold', RU lū 'may', KA-NA-SI kanāsī 'my gathering'. Akkadian lū introduces a positive injunction in a verbless clause (Huehnergard 1997, §22.2). Duhoux and Thomas take -RU- for a morphological variant within the group, Thomas an infix (Duhoux 1992, 69–70; Thomas 2020, 12–13). Cf. IO Za 16, which ends U-NA-RU-KA[. Rival: Soldani's KA-NI-JA- beside KA-NI-JA-MI (CR Zf 1), with SI an ending. Hebrew has the same sequence, hēn lū yəhî 'behold, may it be' (Gen 30:34). Weak point: the sign after KA is restored. One attestation. See U-NA-KA-NA-SI for the rival √k-n-š.

## Same root

- [U-NA-KA-NA-SI](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/U-NA-KA-NA-SI/index.md>) (wannā kanāsī / winnā kanāsī)
- [U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI/index.md>) (wannā lū kanasti / winnā lū kanasti)
- [KA-NA-TI](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/KA-NA-TI/index.md>) (kanasti)

## References

- Reading: di Mino
- AHw: von Soden, Wolfram (1981), Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Bd. I–III. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden
- Thomas, Rose (2020), Some Reflections on Morphology in the Language of the Linear A Libation Formula. Kadmos,59,1–23
- Greenfield, Jonas C. (2001), Three Related Roots: KMS, KNS, and KNŠ. In Paul, Shalom M.; Stone, Michael E.; Pinnick, Avital (eds.), ʿAl Kanfei Yonah: Collected Studies of Jonas C. Greenfield on Semitic Philology,II,Brill,840–846
- Huehnergard, John (1997), A Grammar of Akkadian. Scholars Press (Harvard Semitic Studies 45)
- Soldani, Francesco (2012), Alcune osservazioni sulla formula di libagione minoica. Pasiphae,6,Fabrizio Serra editore,207–227
- Duhoux, Yves (1992), Variations morphosyntaxiques dans les textes votifs linéaires A. Cretan Studies,3,65–88
- CAD K: Oriental Institute (A. Leo Oppenheim and Erica Reiner, eds.) (1971), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 8, K. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt
- GORILA IV: Godart, Louis; Olivier, Jean-Pierre (1982), Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A, volume 4: Autres documents (GORILA IV). École française d'Athènes (Études crétoises XXI, 4); Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI/
Licence: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Cite as: di Mino, Tom. 2026. Linear A Lexicon. Plasma AI. https://linear-a.ai/. Data: kaphtor, commit add28e94.
