The grammar of the Hittite language has a highly conservative verbal system and rich nominal declension. The language is attested in cuneiform, and is the earliest attested Indo-European language.
Noun and adjective declension
Gender system and cases
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, and the same noun is sometimes attested in both genders. It is still debated whether or not this reflects a prehistoric merger of inherited PIE masculine and feminine into a single common/animate gender or an archaic system in which there was already a common gender.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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.
The nominal system consists of the following 9 cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative-locative, ablative, ergative, allative, and instrumental. The dative-locative is used to mark the indirect object and the static position/location, while the allative (also known as "directive" and "terminative") is used to indicate the motion to/toward a place. By contrast, ablative is used to mark motion from a place. 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.[4]
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[5]. 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/.
| "antuḫšaš" (man), common/animate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Nominative | antuḫšaš | -s | antuḫšeš | -eš |
| Ergative | - - - | -anz(a) [n] | - - - | -antēš [n] |
| Vocative | antūḫša | -∅ | - - - | - - - |
| Accusative | antūḫšan | -(a)n; -∅ [n] | antuḫšuš | -uš [c.]; -∅ [n.] |
| Genitive | antuḫšaš | -aš | antuḫšaš | -an (-aš) |
| Dative-locative | antuḫši | -i; -ya | antuḫšaš | -aš |
| Ablative | antuḫšaz(a) | -az(a), -za | antuḫšaz(a) | -az(a), -za |
| Allative | antuḫša | -a | - - - | - - - |
| Instrumental | antuḫšit/et | -it, -et | antuḫšit/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).
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 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 the zero-ending. 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.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
Adjectives in a-stem share the same endings of noun declension.
Examples of declension (a-stem, OH)
- antuḫšaš (man), attaš (father), annaš (mother), išḫāš (lord), arunaš (sea), common/animate
In the following examples, all forms not directly attested[9] are put between brackets.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | antuḫšaš, attaš, annaš, išḫāš, arunaš | antuḫšeš, attiēš, anniš, išḫeš |
| Erg. | - - - | - - - |
| Voc. | [*antūḫša], atta, [*anna], išḫā | - - - |
| Acc. | antūḫšan, attan, annan, išḫān | antuḫšuš, attuš, ann(i)uš, išḫuš |
| Gen. | antuḫšaš, attaš, annaš, išḫāš | antuḫšaš, attaš, [*annaš], išḫāš |
| Dat-loc. | antuḫši, atti, anni, išḫī | antuḫšaš, addaš, [*annaš], išḫaš |
| Abl. | antuḫšaz(a), attaz(a), annaz(a), [*išḫāz(a)] | antuḫšaz(a), attaz(a), annaz(a), [*išḫāz(a)] |
| All. | antuḫša, atta, anna, išḫā | - - - |
| Instr. | antuḫšit/et, [*attit/et, *annit/et, *išḫit/et] | antuḫšit/et, [*attit/et, *annit/et, *išḫit/et] |
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 hi-conjugation. There are two voices (active and medio-passive), two moods (indicative and imperative), two aspects (perfective and imperfective), and two tenses (present and preterite).
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:[10]
| Active | Mediopassive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| mi-conj. | hi-conj. | ||
| Indicative Present-Future | |||
| Sg. 1 | -mi | -(ah)hi | -hahari (-hari, -ha) |
| 2 | -si | -ti | -ta(ti) |
| 3 | -zi | -i | -(t)a(ri) |
| Pl. 1 | -weni | -wasta(ti) | |
| 2 | -teni | -duma(ri) | |
| 3 | -anzi | -anta(ri) | |
| Indicative Preterite | |||
| Sg. 1 | -(n)un | -hun | -(ha)hat(i) |
| 2 | -s (-t, -ta) | -ta (-sta) | -at, -ta, -tat(i) |
| 3 | -t(a) | -s (-ta, -sta) | -at(i), -ta, -tat(i) |
| Pl. 1 | -wen | -wastat | |
| 2 | -ten (-tin) | -dumat | |
| 3 | -er (-ir) | -antat(i) | |
| Imperative | |||
| Sg. 1 | -(a)llu | -allu | -(ha)haru |
| 2 | - (-i, -t) | - (-i) | -hut(i) |
| 3 | -du | -u | -(t)aru |
| Pl. 1 | -weni | -wastati | |
| 2 | -ten (-tin) | -dumat(i) | |
| 3 | -andu | -antaru | |
| Set | Verbal substantive | Infinitive | Supine | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ia | -war (gen. -was) | -wanzi | -wan | -ant- |
| Ib | -mar (gen. -mas) | -manzi | ||
| II | -ātar (gen. -annas) | -anna |
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.[11]
Syntax
Hittite is a 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 clitics is then appended.
Literature
Dictionaries
- Goetze, Albrecht (1954). Review of: Johannes Friedrich, Hethitisches Wörterbuch (Heidelberg: Winter). Language 30.401–405.[1]
- Sturtevant, Edgar H. (1931). Hittite glossary: words of known or conjectured meaning, with Sumerian ideograms and Accadian words common in Hittite texts. Language, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 3–82., Language Monograph No. 9.
- Puhvel, Jaan (1984–). Hittite Etymological Dictionary. Berlin: Mouton.
Grammar
- Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, H. Craig (2008). A Grammar of the Hittite Language. Winona: Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- Hrozný, Friedrich (1917). Die Sprache der Hethiter, ihr Bau und ihre Zugehörigkeit zum indogermanischen Sprachstamm. Ein Entzifferungsversuch. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung.
- Jasanoff, Jay H. (2003). Hittite and the Indo-European Verb. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924905-9.
- Luraghi, Silvia (1997). Hittite. Munich: Lincom Europa. ISBN 3-89586-076-X.
- Melchert, H. Craig (1994). Anatolian Historical Phonology. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 90-5183-697-X.
- Patri, Sylvain (2007). L'alignement syntaxique dans les langues indo-européennes d'Anatolie. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-05612-0.
- Rose, S. R. (2006). The Hittite -hi/-mi conjugations. Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität Innsbruck. ISBN 3-85124-704-3.
- Sturtevant, Edgar H. A. (1933, 1951). Comparative Grammar of the Hittite Language. Rev. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951. First edition: 1933.
- Sturtevant, Edgar H. A. (1940). The Indo-Hittite laryngeals. Baltimore: Linguistic Society of America.
- Watkins, Calvert (2004). "Hittite". The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages: 551–575. ISBN 0-521-56256-2.
- Yakubovich, Ilya (2010). Sociolinguistics of the Luwian Language. Leiden: Brill.
Text editions
- Goetze, Albrecht & Edgar H. Sturtevant (1938). The Hittite Ritual of Tunnawi. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
- Sturtevant, Edgar H. A., & George Bechtel (1935). A Hittite Chrestomathy. Baltimore: Linguistic Society of America.
- Knudtzon, J. A. (1902). Die Zwei Arzawa-Briefe: Die ältesten Urkunden in indogermanischer Sprache. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
Journal articles
- Hrozný, Bedřich (1915). "Die Lösung des hethitischen Problems". Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft. 56: 17–50.
- Sturtevant, Edgar H. (1932). "The Development of the Stops in Hittite". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 52 (1). American Oriental Society: 1–12. doi:10.2307/593573. JSTOR 593573.
- Sturtevant, Edgar H. (1940). "Evidence for voicing in Hittite g". Language. 16 (2). Linguistic Society of America: 81–87. doi:10.2307/408942. JSTOR 408942.[2]
- Wittmann, Henri (1969). "A note on the linguistic form of Hittite sheep". Revue hittite et asianique. 22: 117–118.[3]
- Wittmann, Henri (1973) [1964]. "Some Hittite etymologies". Die Sprache. 10, 19: 144–148, 39–43.[4][5]
- Wittmann, Henri (1969). "The development of K in Hittite". Glossa. 3: 22–26.[6]
- Wittmann, Henri (1969). "A lexico-statistic inquiry into the diachrony of Hittite". Indogermanische Forschungen. 74: 1–10.[7]
- Wittmann, Henri (1969). "The Indo-European drift and the position of Hittite". International Journal of American Linguistics. 35 (3): 266–268. doi:10.1086/465065. S2CID 106405518.[8]
References
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, Harold Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar. Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, H. Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. Languages of the ancient near east. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, Harold Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar. Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, H. Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. Languages of the ancient near east. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, Harold Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar. Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, Harold Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar. Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, H. Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. Languages of the ancient near east. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, Harold Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. pt. 1: Reference grammar. Languages of the ancient near east / editoral board Gonzalo Rubio. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner, Harry A.; Melchert, H. Craig (2008). A grammar of the Hittite language. Languages of the ancient near east. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. pp. 79–82. ISBN 978-1-57506-119-1.
- ^ Hoffner & Melchert (2008: 181-182, 184)
- ^ Hoffner & Melchert (2008: 185)
External links
- Hittite in the wiki Glossing Ancient Languages (recommendations for the Interlinear Morphemic Glossing of Hittite texts)
- Lauffenburger, Olivier (2006). "The Hittite Grammar Homepage".