Filling in the Facts: The Practice of Space-Filling in Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions

Abstract

This article explores the use of sign sequences (plene writing) in Hieroglyphic Luwian. It is

argued that the vowel signs in these sequences are frequently used as space-fillers in almost all texts dateable

to the Iron Age. Space-filling explains the presence of many vowel signs commonly taken as linguistically

void, and a new transliteration method is proposed to mark these space-fillers in a uniform way. It is also shown that many vowel signs cannot have been used as space-fillers. Rather, these signs are linguistically significant and bound to express a phonetic feature. On a methodological level, this article considers how we can meaningfully distinguish space-fillers from linguistically real plene writing, as both were not marked differently by the scribes. The last section examines space-fillers in greater detail: their chronological distribution and vowel quality are treated, as are some conspicuous and rare types of space-filling.