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The [[grammar]] of the [[Hittite language]] has a highly conservative verbal system and rich [[nominal (linguistics)|nominal]] [[declension]]. The language is [[attested language|attested]] in [[Hittite cuneiform|cuneiform]], and is the earliest attested [[Indo-European language]].
 
== Basic nounNoun and adjective declension ==
The nominal system consists of the following cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative-locative, ablative, ergative, allative, and instrumental. The system then distinguishes between two numbers (singular and [[plural]]) and two genders, common (animate) and neuter (inanimate). The distinction between genders is fairly rudimentary, with a distinction generally being made only in the [[nominative]] case, and the same noun is sometimes attested in both genders.
 
=== Gender system and cases ===
The distinction in [[animacy]] is rudimentary and generally occurs in the [[nominative case]], and the same noun is sometimes attested in both animacy classes. There is a trend towards distinguishing fewer cases in the plural than in the singular. The [[ergative case]] is used when an inanimate noun is the [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] of a [[transitive verb]]. Early Hittite texts have a [[vocative case]] for a few nouns with an original and innovative suffix ''-u'', but it ceased to be productive by the time of the earliest discovered sources and was subsumed by the nominative in most documents (actually, the vocative is identical to the nominative in many PIE declensions). The [[Allative case|allative]] was subsumed in the later stages of the language by the [[Dative case|dative]]-[[Locative case|locative]]. An archaic [[Genitive case|genitive]] plural ''-an'' is found irregularly in earlier texts, as is an [[Instrumental case|instrumental]] plural in ''-it''. A few nouns also form a distinct [[Locative case|locative]], which had no case ending at all.
Hittite distinguishes between two genders, common (animate) and neuter (inanimate). The distinction between genders is fairly rudimentary since it is made only in the [[nominative]] and [[Accusative case|accusative]] case, and the same noun is sometimes attested in both genders. It is still debated whether or not this reflects a prehistoric merger of inherited [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] masculine and feminine into a single common/animate gender or an archaic system in which there was already a common gender.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=64}}</ref> Nouns referred to living beings (humans, animals and Gods) are usually found in the common/animate gender, but some inanimate objects actually have the common/animate gender. For instance, nouns in a-stem and t-stem are common/animate and, given how productive was the formation of words in the a-stem and t-stem, many words in Hittite indicating inanimate objects are actually in the common/animate gender in the nominative and accusative.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=65}}</ref> The other gender, the neuter/inanimate, is referred to objects, including parts of the body, and abstract concepts or collective nouns, e.g. "family, assembly, troops, humanity". Some common examples of neuter declension are the u-stem nouns and the nouns formed by the suffixes -ātar, -eššar and the suffix for collective nouns -a(i)-. Words derived by common/animate gender roots through neuter suffixes are neuter.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=65}}</ref>
 
The only reference to a female gender, which however does not erase the two-gender system "common-neuter gender", is the infix -(š)šara-, used to indicate female gender for humans and deities.
=== Examples of declension (animate noun) ===
 
The basic scheme of suffixation is given in the table below, which is valid for almost all nouns and adjectives. The first sample word is a heteroclytic word (i.e., a declension with more than one root), '<nowiki/>''Antūwaḫḫaš, antuḫšaš''' (nom., gen.), from [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] ''*h₁n̥dʰwéh₂ōs, h₁n̥dʰuh₂sós''.
The nominal system consists of the following 9 cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative-locative, ablative, ergative, allative, and instrumental.
 
* The '''nominative''' marks the subject of a sentence or the predicate nominative (e.g., "I am a man").
* The '''genitive''' marks the possessor, the material of an object (e.g., "A sword <made> ''of iron''"), the content of an object (e.g., "A vessel <full> ''of wine''"), the object of an action (e.g., "The destruction ''of the city''") and a partitive construction (a part ''of a whole''); the last four usages are called "genitive of material", "genitive of contents", "objective genitive" and "partitive genitive". The genitive case is also used with [[Postpositions|pospositions]] in OH (in NH, a case shift happened from genitive to dative-locative except in the posposition ''iwar'', "in the manner of").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=255}}</ref>
 
* The '''dative-locative''' is used to mark the indirect object and the static position/location. It also mark a position/location with motion verbs (e.g., "I pour wine into the glass"). In Hittite, it is also used in some fixed temporal expression, e.g., "at night, in Winter".
* The '''accusative''' marks the direct object of a transitive verb (e.g., "I eat the apple"); in causative constructions (e.g., "He makes his ox cross the river"), a double accusative is found. Double accusative in Hittite is also used in the sentence "make ''something'' into ''something else''" (e.g., "I refuse to make him my husband") and, from this expression, double accusative was used in the later coined structure "Treat ''somebody/something'' like..." (e.g., "I treated them like mothers and fathers"). To conclude, accusative in Hittite marks the time extent/duration, e.g. "I had reigned for ten years".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=247-249}}</ref>
* The '''vocative''' is used in invocations (exclamations containing a direct address to humans or deities during a prayer or ritual).
* The '''allative''' (also known as "directive" and "terminative") is used to indicate the motion to or toward/in direction of a place. Verbs are always directive (e.g., "I go/come/travel to Rome; I carry the merchandize to Rome") and never stative (e.g., "I am in Rome") and describe the act of walking/perambulating. By contrast, a verb like "pour" has a direction but it's not a perambulatory movement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=263}}</ref> Sometimes, the allative is substituted by the accusative, which is called "accusative of direction" in this context.
* By contrast, the '''ablative''' is used to mark motion from a place or a beginning point in time (e.g., from now on). It is also used to mark movement through a place or object (e.g., "I get inside the house ''through the window''"). This kind of ablative is called "perlative ablative". In NH, the ablative was then used to mark the agent of an action in passive constructions (e.g., "The city was destroyed ''by the king''") instead of the instrumental case.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=267}}</ref>
* The '''instrumental''' marks the (concrete or abstract/intangible) tool through which an action is performed in OH; as in many other Indo-European languages (e.g., balto-slavic languages), it also has a sociative/comitative meaning, i.e., it marks the person an action is performed with. It also expresses the cause of an action and, in OH, it marks the agent of an action in passive contructions. In NH, the instrumental was substituted by the ablative, as in [[Latin]].
 
Hittite declension system also distinguishes between two numbers (singular and [[plural]]) and shows indirect traces of a [[dual number]]; due to syncretism, the ending of ablative and instrumental in the plural coincide.
 
Hittite language is based on [[split ergativity]]: when a common/animate noun is the subject of a transitive verb, e.g., "The child eats the apple", the subject is marked by the nominative case. By contrast, when a neuter noun is the subject of a transitive verb, e.g., "The spear kills the soldier", the subject of the sentence is marked by the ergative case; hence, only neuter nouns show the ergative case in their declension, which means that common/animate nouns show 8 cases, while neuter nouns show 9 cases. Inflected adjectives always have the ergative case in their declension, but this case is used only when an adjective is referred to a neuter noun in the ergative case, i.e., followed by a transitive verb; consequently, adjectival declension shows 9 cases. Personal pronouns as the subject are always in the nominative case; the subject of an intransitive verb always take the nominative ending as well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=88}}</ref>
 
=== a-stem declension in Old Hittite (OH) ===
The basic scheme of suffixation is given in the table below, which is valid for almost all nouns and adjectives.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=69}}</ref> The sample word shown is ''antuḫšaš'', "man", a-stem noun (common/animate gender, thus a name without the ergative case). The letter "š" is always pronounced as /s/, while "z" is always pronounced /ts/ and derives from an ancient */ti/ or */tj/. For instance, in mi-verb declension, the 3rd person singular ending in the present tense ''-zi'' according to Hoffner and Melchert comes from an earlier ''*-ti''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=183}}</ref>
 
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Case
! colspan="4" | "antūwaḫḫaš" (man)
|-
!
! colspan="2" | Singular
!Singular
! colspan="2" | Plural
!Plural
|-
! ''[[Nominative]]''
| antūwaḫḫ'''-aš''', antuḫš'''aš'''||'''-ašeš'''; || antuwaḫḫ'''eš-a''', antuḫš'''eš'''||'''-eš'[n.]''
|-
![[Ergative case|''Ergative'']]
! ''[[Genitive]]''
| antuḫš'''aš-anz(a)'''|| '''-aš'[n]''|| antuḫš'''aš-antēš'''|| '''-aš'[n]''
|-
! ''[[Dative]]-[[locativeVocative]]''
| '''-a'''|| - - -
| antuḫš'''i''', antuḫš'''e'''|| '''-i, -e'''|| antuḫš'''aš'''||'''-aš'''
|-
! ''[[Accusative]]''
| antuwaḫḫ'''an-(a)n''',; antūḫš'''an-∅''' ''[n]''|| '''-anuš''' || antuḫš''[c.];'uš' ''||'-a''-uš' ''[n.]''
|-
! ''[[VocativeGenitive]]''
| antūwaḫḫ'''-aš''', antuḫš||'''aš-an'''|| > '''-aš'''|| antuwaḫḫ'''eš'[later];'', antuḫš'''eš-aš'''|| '''-eš'[n.]''
|-
! ''[[Dative]]-[[locative]]''
| '''-i'''; '''-ya'''||'''-aš'''
|-
! ''[[Ablative]]''
| antuḫš'''-az(a)'''||, '''-az(a)za'''||; antuḫš'''-az(a)''' ''[later]''|| '''-az(a)''', '''-za'''
|-
! [[Instrumental case|''Instrumental'']]
| antuḫš'''et'''|| '''-et'''|| antuḫš'''et'''|| '''-et'''
|-
![[Ergative case|''Ergative'']]
| antuḫš'''anz(a)'''||'''-anz(a)'''|| antuḫš'''antēš'''||'''-antēš'''
|-
! ''[[Allative]]''
| ''Old Hittite'' antuḫš'''-a'''||- - -
|-
> antuḫš'''i''', antuḫš'''e'''
! [[Instrumental case|''Instrumental'']]
| '''-a'''|| antuḫš'''aš'''||'''-aš'''
| '''-it''', '''-et'''|| '''-it''', '''-et'''
|}
Given that the nominal root ends with the thematic vowel -a and some suffixes starts in a vowel, the final -a in the root is elided (e.g., ''attaš'', "father" > dat-loc. ''atti'', not ''*attai''). Only in some rare instances that represent an innovation, a dat-loc. in ''-ai'' is found; some of these instances are foreign words and foreign names.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=74}}</ref>
 
Neuter nouns in the accusative singular take -n only if the thematic vowel is ''-a-'', e.g., yukan (plough). All the other neuter nouns take ''-a'' (sometimes indicated as the "zero-ending" -∅). As for the neuter accusative plural, names belonging to the common/animate gender take ''-uš'', while names belonging to the neuter gender take ''-a''. Only names in i-stem take the dative-locative in ''-ya''. Vocative and allative case have no plural counterpart neither in Old Hittite (OH), nor in Middle Hittite (ME) and New Hittite (NE). As already stated, due to syncretism, the ending of ablative and instrumental in the plural coincide. The instrumental case has two possible endings (''-it, -et'') and, according to Hoffner (2008), ''-it'' is the oldest ending; it developed from an earlier ending -t through [[anaptyxis]]/ephentesis in environment of a preceding dental consonant. Some tracks of this presumed ending can be found in irregular instrumental endings, in names such as genu (knee) > ''genut'', šākuwa (eye) > ''šākuwat''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=77}}</ref>
 
In MH, two more plural suffixes were created for the nominative and accusative (nom. ''-eš,'' ''-uš, -aš''; acc. ''-uš,'' ''-eš, -aš''). Then, the allative and instrumental cases both merged with dative-locative ''-az(a)''. The use of old allative ''-a'' and old instrumental ''-it'' in NH are archaisms. In NH, all the three plural suffixes for nouns of common gender in the two strong cases (nominative and accusative) collapsed into ''-uš'', with only some exceptions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=70}}</ref> In OH, the original suffix of the genitive plural is ''-an''; then, a new suffix ''-aš'' was coined in Late OH and displaced ''-an'' in NH.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=73}}</ref>
 
Adjectives in a-stem share the same endings of noun declension; their gender depends from the gender of the noun they refer to (common/animate or neuter).
 
=== Examples of noun declension (a-stem, OH) ===
 
* antuḫšaš ''(man)'', attaš ''(father)'', annaš ''(mother)'', išḫāš ''(lord)'', arunaš ''(sea)'', <u>'''common/animate'''</u>
* yukan ''(plough)'', pedan ''(place)'', ekan ''(ice)'', <u>'''neuter'''</u>
 
In the following examples, all forms not directly attested<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=79-82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=82}}</ref> are put between brackets.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+"arunaš" (sea)
!Case
! Singular
! Plural
|-
|! '''''Nom.'''''
| antuḫš'''aš''', att'''aš''', ann'''aš''', išḫ'''āš''', arun'''aš'''|| antuḫš'''eš''', atti'''ēš''', ann'''iš''' ''(irr.),'' išḫ'''eš'''
|'''[[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]]''' *h₃réwn'''os''' > '''Hitt''' arun'''aš'''
|[[Proto-Indo-European language|'''PIE''']] *h₃réwn'''oes''' > '''Hitt''' arun'''eš''', arun'''iš'''
|-
|!''Gen'''Erg.'''''
| - - - || - - -
|*h₃réwn'''osyo''' > arun'''aš'''
|*h₃réwn'''oHom''' > ''Old Hittite'' arun'''an''' > arun'''aš'''
|-
|! ''Dat-loc'''Voc.'''''
| [*h₃réwnantūḫš'''eya'''], att''(Loc.)'a''', >[*ann'''a'''], arunišḫ'''iā'''|| - - -
|*h₃réwn'''oysu''' ''(Loc.)'' > arun'''aš'''
|-
|! '''''Acc.'''''
| antūḫš'''an''', att'''an''', ann'''an''', išḫ'''ān'''|| antuḫš'''uš''', att'''uš''', ann'''(i)uš''', išḫ'''uš'''
|*h₃réwn'''om''' > arun'''an'''
|*h₃réwn'''oms''' > arun'''uš'''
|-
|! ''Voc'''Gen.'''''
| antuḫš'''aš''', att'''aš''', ann'''aš''', išḫ'''āš'''|| antuḫš'''an''', att'''an''', [*ann'''an'''], išḫ'''ān''' > -'''aš'''
|*h₃réwn'''e''' > arun'''i''', arun'''a'''
|*h₃réwn'''oes''' > arun'''eš''', arun'''iš'''
|-
|! ''Abl'''Dat-loc.'''''
| antuḫš'''i''', att'''i''', ann'''i''', išḫ'''ī'''|| antuḫš'''aš''', add'''aš''', [*ann'''aš'''], išḫ'''aš'''
|*h₃réwn'''ead''' > arun'''az(a)'''
|*h₃réwn'''ead'''? > arun'''az(a)'''
|-
|! ''Instr'''Abl.'''''
| antuḫš'''az(a)''', att'''az(a)''', ann'''az(a)''', [*išḫ'''āz(a)'''] || antuḫš'''az(a)''', att'''az(a)''', ann'''az(a)''', [*išḫ'''āz(a)''']
|*h₃réwn'''ōys'''? > arun'''it'''
|*h₃réwn'''ōys''' > arun'''it'''
|-
|! ''Erg'''All.'''''
| antuḫš'''a''', att'''a''', ann'''a''', išḫ'''ā'''|| - - -
|arun'''anz(a)'''
|arun'''antēš'''
|-
|! ''All'''Instr.'''''
| antuḫš'''it/et''', [*att'''it/et''', *ann'''it/et''', *išḫ'''it/et'''] || antuḫš'''it/et''', [*att'''it/et''', *ann'''it/et''', *išḫ'''it/et''']
|''Old Hittite'' arun'''a''' > arun'''i'''
| - - -
|}
 
=== Examples of declension (inanimate noun) ===
The nouns are accompanied by the derivation of its morphology from Proto-Indo-European.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+"ḫulanaš" (wool)
!Case
!Singular
!Plural
|-
|'''''Nom.'''''
|yuk'''an''', ped'''an''', ek'''an'''
|'''[[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]]''' *h₂wĺ̥h₁n'''eh₂''' > '''Hitt''' ḫulan'''aš'''
|[*yuk'''a''', *ped'''a''', *ek'''a''']
|-
|''Gen'''Erg.'''''
|[*h₂wĺ̥h₁nyuk'''eh₂sanz(a)''', >*ped'''anz(a)''', ḫulan*ek'''ašanz(a)'''] ''[n.]''
|[*yuk'''antēš''', *ped'''antēš''', *ek'''antēš'''] ''[n.]''
|-
|''Dat-loc'''Voc.'''''
|[*h₂wĺ̥h₁nyuk'''eh₂eya''' ''(Dat.) or'', *h₂wĺ̥h₁nped'''eh₂(i)a''', ''(Loc.)'' > ḫulan*ek'''ia''']
| - - -
|-
|'''''Acc.'''''
|[*h₂wĺ̥h₁nyuk'''āman''', >*ped'''an''', ḫulan*ek'''an''']
|[*yuk'''a''', *ped'''a''', *ek'''a''']
|-
|''Voc'''Gen.'''''
|*h₂wĺ̥h₁nyuk'''eh₂aš''', > ḫulanped'''aaš''', ḫulanek'''iaš'''
|[*yuk'''aš'''], ped'''aš''', [*ek'''aš''']
|-
|''Abl'''Dat-loc.'''''
|*h₂wĺ̥h₁nyuk'''eh₂si''', >ped'''i''', ḫulanek'''az(a)i'''
|[*yuk'''aš'''], ped'''aš''', [*ek'''aš''']
|-
|''Instr'''Abl.'''''
|[*h₂wĺ̥h₁nyuk'''eh₂h₁az(a)'''], >ped'''az(a)''', ḫulan[*ek'''itaz(a)''']
|[*yuk'''az(a)'''], ped'''az(a)''', [*ek'''az(a)''']
|-
|''Erg'''All.'''''
|[*yuk'''a''', ped'''a''', ek'''a''']
|ḫulan'''anz(a)'''
| - - -
|-
|''All'''Instr.'''''
|yuk''Old Hittite'it/et''', ḫulan[*ped'''ait/et''', > ḫulan*ek'''iit/et''']
|yuk'''it/et''', [*ped'''it/et''', *ek'''it/et''']
|}
 
=== An example of adjective declension (a-stem, OH) ===
The adjective chosen is ''araḫzenaš, araḫzenan'' ("external"), inflected for both genders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=83-84}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|+"yukan" (yoke)
!Case
!Singular
!Plural
|-
|'''''Nom.'''''
|araḫzen'''aš''', araḫzen'''an'''
|[[Proto-Indo-European language|'''PIE''']] *yug'''óm''' > '''Hitt''' yuk'''an'''
|araḫzen'''eš''', araḫzen'''a'''
|[[Proto-Indo-European language|'''PIE''']] *yug'''éh₂''' > '''Hitt''' yuk'''a'''
|-
|''Gen'''Erg.'''''
| - - -, [*araḫzen'''anz(a)''']
|*yug'''ósyo''' > yuk'''aš'''
| - - -, [*araḫzen'''antēš''']
|*yug'''óHom''' > ''Old Hittite'' yuk'''an''' > yuk'''aš'''
|-
|''Dat-loc'''Voc.'''''
|[*araḫzen'''a''']
|*yug'''éy''' ''(Loc.)'' > yuk'''i'''
| - - -
|*yug'''óysu''' ''(Loc.)'' > yuk'''aš'''
|-
|''Acc.''
|*yug'''óm''' > yuk'''an'''
|*yug'''éh₂''' > yuk'''a'''
|-
|''Voc'''Acc.'''''
|*yug'''óm''' > yukaraḫzen'''an'''
|[*yugaraḫzen'''éh₂uš''', > yuk*araḫzen'''a''']
|-
|''Abl'''Gen.'''''
|araḫzen'''aš'''
|*yug'''éad''' > yuk'''az(a)'''
|araḫzen'''aš'''
|*yug'''éad'''? > yuk'''az(a)'''
|-
|''Instr'''Dat-loc.'''''
|araḫzen'''i'''
|*yug'''ṓys'''? > yuk'''it'''
|[*yugaraḫzen'''ṓys''' > yuk'''itaš''']
|-
|''Erg'''Abl.'''''
|yukaraḫzen'''anzaz(a)''')
|yukaraḫzen'''antēšaza'''
|-
|'''''All.'''''
|araḫzen'''a'''
|''Old Hittite'' yuk'''a''' > yuk'''i'''
| - - -
|-
|'''''Instr.'''''
|[*araḫzen'''it/et''']
|[*araḫzen'''it/et''']
|}
 
== Syntax ==
Hittite is a [[Head final|head-final]] language, with it has [[subject-object-verb]] [[word order]].
 
Hittite syntax shows one noteworthy feature that is typical of Anatolian languages: commonly, the beginning of a sentence or clause is composed of either a sentence-connecting particle or otherwise a fronted or topicalized form, and a "chain" of fixed-order [[clitic]]s is then appended.
 
Yes-no questions were marked using prosodic features such as rising intonation. In writing, they were partially left unmarked: Scribes in Assyria and Babylonia who wrote Akkadian in cuneiform script (and later Hittites as well) sometimes indicated the interrogative intonation by a plene spelling of the vowel in the final syllable of the central word in the interrogative clause. Nevertheless, the use of this device in Hittite was rare and probably not codified.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=348}}</ref>
 
== Verb conjugation ==
When compared with other early-attested Indo-European languages, such as [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Sanskrit]], the verb system in Hittite is morphologically relatively uncomplicated. There are two general verbal classes according to which verbs are inflected, the ''mi''-conjugation and the ''hiḫi''-conjugation. ThereThe names are twodrawn voicesby (activethe andending [[medio-passive]]),of twothe moodsfirst (indicativeperson andsingular imperative),in twothe aspectspresent (perfectivetense. andRose imperfective(2006), lists 132 ḫi-verbs and twointerprets tensesthe ḫi-mi oppositions as vestiges of a system of grammatical voice (present"centripetal andvoice" vs. "centrifugal [[preterite]]voice").
 
* mi-conjugation verbs are divided into vowel-stem verbs (verbs whose root ends in a vowel) and consonant-stem verbs; the latter category includes both verbs with bare roots and verbs ending with infixes and suffixes added to the root, e.g., ''-nin-'' and ''-ešš-''.
* ḫi-conjugation verbs often have a consonantal root; most roots ends either in a single consonant, either non-geminated or geminated. Some verbs have an a-stem or i-stem root. Part of the a-stem model of conjugation was then generalized to part of the i-stem conjugation; this new model of conjugation is called 'mixed inflection'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=225}}</ref>
 
There are two voices (active and [[medio-passive]]), two moods (indicative and imperative), two aspects (perfective and imperfective), and two tenses (present for the present and future time and [[preterite]] for the past time); the difference between the present and the future can be disambiguated through an analytical construction. Additionally, the verbal system displays two infinitive forms, one verbal substantive, a supine and a participle.
 
Modality (e.g. "could, would, should, must") in conveyed in Hittite through modal particles and adverbs instead of modal verbs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=180}}</ref> Both verb class have some verbs that contain [[Ablaut|ablauting]] vowels according to fixed patterns.
Additionally, the verbal system displays two infinitive forms, one verbal substantive, a supine and a participle. Rose (2006) lists 132 hi-verbs and interprets the ''hi''/''mi'' oppositions as vestiges of a system of grammatical voice ("centripetal voice" vs. "centrifugal voice").
 
The basic conjugational endings are as follows:<ref>Hoffner & Melchert (2008: 181-182, 184)</ref>
Line 179 ⟶ 220:
|-
|''mi''-conj.
|''hiḫi''-conj.
|-
! colspan="4" |Indicative Present-Future
Line 185 ⟶ 226:
|Sg. 1
|''-mi''
|''-(ah)hiḫi, -ḫe''
|''-hahariḫaḫari (-hariḫari, -haḫa)''
|-
|2
|''-siši''
|''-ti''
|''-ta(ti)''
Line 199 ⟶ 240:
|-
|Pl. 1
| colspan="2" |''-weni; -meni''
|''-wastawašta(ti)''
|-
|2
Line 214 ⟶ 255:
|Sg. 1
|''-(n)un''
|''-hunḫun''
|''-(haḫa)hatḫat(i)''
|-
|2
|''-sš; (-t, -ta)''
|''-ta (-stašta), -t''
|''-at, -ta, -tat(i)''
|-
|3
|''-t(a)''
|''-sš'' (''-ta'', ''-stašta)''
|''-at(i), -ta, -tat(i)''
|-
|Pl. 1
| colspan="2" |''-wen; -men''
|''-wastatwaštat''
|-
|2
| colspan="2" |''-ten (-tin)''
|''-dumat''
|-
|3
| colspan="2" |''-er; (-irar (rare)''
|''-antat(i)''
|-
Line 244 ⟶ 285:
|''-(a)llu''
|''-allu''
|''-(haḫa)haruḫaru''
|-
|2
|''-∅ (-i, -t)''
|''-∅ (-i)''
|''-hutḫut(i)''
|-
|3
|''-tu; -du [later]''
|''-u''
|''-(t)aru''
|-
|Pl. 1
| colspan="2" |''-weni (-wani)''
|''-wastatiwaštati''
|-
|2
| colspan="2" |''-ten (-tin)''
|''-dumat(i)''
|-
Line 268 ⟶ 309:
|''-antaru''
|}
The ending ''-meni'' in the present tense in confined to nu-causative verbs; the ending ''-weni'' is identical in the present and imperative tense, thus the context helps disambiguating between the two tenses. In the preterite, ''-un'' is used with vocalic stem, i.e., a verbal root that ends in a vowel, which is then deleted. In the preperite, the neding ''-šta'' for 2nd person singular is used in a specific group of verbs, while the ending in ''-t'' is used in i-stem verbs; the ending ''-ta'' in the 3rd person singular is used in the i-stem verbs too.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=181}}</ref>
 
In the imperative, the ending in ''-t'' is used in nu-causative verbs.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Nonfinite Verbal Forms
Line 278 ⟶ 322:
|-
|Ia
|''-war'' (gen. ''-waswaš'')
|''-wanzi''
| rowspan="3" |''-wan''
Line 284 ⟶ 328:
|-
|Ib
|''-mar'' (gen. -''masmaš'')
| -''manzi''
|-
|II
|''-ātar'' (gen. ''-annasannaš'')
|''-anna''
|}
The infinitive ''-wanzi'' comes from a pre-Hittite locative in ''*-wenti'' or *''-wonti'' showing vowel mutations and *''-ti'' > ''-zi'' mutation; the supine ''-wan'' comes from a pre-Hittite locative without the final part of the ending, *''-wen'' or *''-won''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=74}}</ref>
The Set I endings are default; the Set II endings are taken primarily by monosyllabic Ablauting ''mi-''verbs. Within Set I verbs, the Ib endings are taken by stems ending in ''-u''.<ref>Hoffner & Melchert (2008: 185)</ref>
 
The Set I endings are default; the Set II endings are taken primarily by monosyllabic ablauting ''mi-''verbs. Within Set I verbs, the Ib endings are taken by stems ending in ''-u''.<ref>Hoffner & Melchert (2008: 185)</ref>
== Syntax ==
Hittite is a [[Head final|head-final]] language, with it has [[subject-object-verb]] [[word order]]. It also has a [[split ergative]] [[Morphosyntactic alignment|alignment]].
 
A simple example of conjugation in the present tense is ḫarzi ('to have, to hold'); the verb belongs to the mi-conjugation verb class and is non-ablauting:
Hittite syntax shows one noteworthy feature that is typical of Anatolian languages: commonly, the beginning of a sentence or clause is composed of either a sentence-connecting particle or otherwise a fronted or topicalized form, and a "chain" of fixed-order [[clitic]]s is then appended.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Pronoun
!Verb
|-
|''I''
|ḫar'''mi'''
|-
|''You''
|ḫar'''ši'''
|-
|''He, she, it''
|ḫar'''zi'''
|-
|''We''
|ḫar'''ueni'''
|-
|''You (all)''
|ḫart'''enī'''
|-
|''They''
|ḫark'''anzi'''
|}
 
=== Basic negative adverbs ===
The negation adverb is ''natta'' ("not"); nāwi translates "not yet", while ''lē'' translates "don't...!" in orders and prohibitions ("imperatival negative"); ''lē'' can be used with the imperative or, in NH, with the present with an imperatival negative meaning. Another use of ''lē'' is the "categorical negative", an emphatic negation in an obvious context which can be translated as "certainly not", e.g., "A blind man certainly doesn't see, a deaf man certainly doesn't hear, a lame man certainly doesn't run".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=345}}</ref>
 
Negative adverbs are usually put right before the verb, in pre-verbal position; in rhethorical questions and emphatic questions, ''natta'' put at the beginning of a sentence, before the subject (if expressed).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=341-434}}</ref>
 
== Pronouns ==
 
=== The verb "to be" in OH ===
The verb is conjugated in the present tense and belong to the mi-conjugation verbal class. In the first person plural, no ''*asweni'' or ''*esweni'' form is attested yet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar |last2=Melchert |first2=Harold Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=188}}</ref> The verb "to be" can be omitted in the present tense in sentences containing a predicate nominative (e.g., "I am a man"), thus creating a nominal sentence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=243}}</ref> Consequently, adjectives referred to the proedicate nominative take the nominative case as well.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Pronoun
!Verb
|-
|''I''
|ēšmi
|-
|''You''
|ēšši
|-
|''He, she, it''
|ēšzi
|-
|''We''
|ešuwani (*asweni?)
|-
|''You (all)''
|? (*ašteni?)
|-
|''They''
|ašanzi
|}
 
== Pronouns ==
 
=== Personal pronouns ===
Personal pronouns are inflected according to their case. They have an enclitic version as well, which can be used as a direct or indirect object (acc-dat). The third person has only the enclitical version and distinguishes between common/animate gender and neuter gender. The following table contains the nominative cases of all pronouns and the enclitic form (acc-dat).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=134-135}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Pronoun
!Hitt
|-
|I
|ūk; -mu
|-
|You
|zik; zīk ''(rare);'' -ta
|-
|He, she;
it ''[comm/an.]''
| -aš ''[nom.]''
|-
|It ''[n.]''
| -at
|-
|We
|wēš; anzāš ''[later];'' -naš
|-
|You (all)
|šumeš; šumāš ''[later];'' -šmaš
|-
|They
| -e > -at ''(MH, NH)'' ''[nom.]''
|}
 
=== Possessive pronouns ===
Possessive pronouns have an earlier enclitic version and a later full/analytical version placed before the noun. Possessive pronouns are inflected according to cases and take the gender of the noun they refer to. The following table shows the nominative form:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Pronoun
!Hitt
|-
|My
| -miš ''[comm/an.]''; -met ''[n.];'' ammel ''[analytic, NH]''
|-
|Your/thy
| -tiš; -tet; tuel, tue ''[later]''
|-
|His, her;
its ''[comm/an.]''
| -šiš; apel
|-
|Its ''[n.]''
| -šet; apel
|-
|Our
| -šummiš; -šummet; anzel
|-
|Your
| -šmiš; -šmet; šumel
|-
|Their
| -šmiš; -šmet; ?
|}
 
=== Demonstrative pronouns ===
Demonstrative pronouns are put before the noun; they are inflected according to the case and the gender of the noun they refer to. Hittite has a three-way system to indicate position: near to the speaker, near to the listener and far from both ("here-there-yonder").
 
The pronouns "this, that" in the nominative singular are ''kāš'' and ''apāš''; their plural is ''kē'' (later ''kūš'') and ''apē'' (later ''apūš''). Their neuter counterparts are ''kī'' and ''apāt'', plural ''kē'' and ''apē''. Adverbs "here, there" (''kā, apiya'') are derived from demonstrative pronouns as well as ''kinun'' and ''apiya'' ("now, then/in the past").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=147}}</ref>
 
== Numbers ==
Both ordinal and cardinal numbers in Hittite were often written with ciphers instead of syllables, which makes both the reconstruction of their pronunciation and their translation in context difficult. Hence, most number are indicated by the Arabic cipher and their ending, e.g. "one" in the nominative common/animate gender is known as "1-aš". Number "one" was reconstructed by Goedegebuure (2006) as *šia-. Numbers from one to four are declined in Hittite.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffner |first=Harry A. |title=A grammar of the Hittite language |last2=Melchert |first2=H. Craig |date=2008 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-119-1 |series=Languages of the ancient near east |location=Winona Lake, Ind |pages=154-157}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Number
!Hitt (cardinal)
!Hitt (ordinal)
|-
|''One''
|*šia-aš ''[c.];'' šia-an ''[n.]''
|ḫantezzi(ya)- ''[declined]''
|-
|''Two''
|2-uš; 2-e
([[Luwian language|Luwian]] tuwa)
|dān
|-
|''Three''
|*ter-(i)eš; *ter-e
([[Lycian language|Lycian]] trei, [[Luwian language|Luwian]] tari)
|teriyan, terin ''[synchopated]''
|-
|''Four''
|mi-e-(ya-)wa-aš ''[c.]''
|4-an, 4-in ''[synch.]''
|-
|''Five''
|5- ([[Luwian language|Luwian]] paⁿta)
|5-an, 5-in ''[synch.]''
|-
|''Six''
|6- (< [[PIE]] *swéḱs?)
|?
|-
|''Seven''
|7- ([[Luwian language|Luwian]] šaptam-)
|?
|-
|''Eight''
|8- ([[Lycian language|Lycian]] aitãta)
|?
|-
|''Nine''
|9- ([[Lycian language|Lycian]] nuntata), [[Luwian language|Luwian]] nuwa[n?]
|?
|-
|''Ten''
|10- (< [[PIE]] *déḱm̥?)
|?
|}
 
==Literature==
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