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Akkadian language
please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
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{{Short description|Extinct Semitic language of Mesopotamia}}{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{distinguish|Acadian French}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
factoids | |
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, Mandaeans v. Mandaic Language
, Encyclopædia Iranica
, July 20, 2009
, Christa
, Müller-Kessler
, online 2012
, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasitische Archäologie 86 (1997): 43â95.Akkadian is a fusional language with grammatical case. Like all Semitic languages, Akkadian uses the system of consonantal roots. The Kültepe texts, which were written in Old Assyrian, include Hittite loanwords and names, which constitute the oldest record of any Indo-European language.E. Bilgic and S. Bayram. Ankara Kultepe Tabletleri II. Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1995. {{ISBN|975-16-0246-7}}Watkins, Calvert. "Hittite". In: The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor. Edited by Roger D. Woodard. Cambridge University Press. 2008. p. 6. {{ISBN|978-0-511-39353-2}}, Encyclopædia Iranica
, July 20, 2009
, Christa
, Müller-Kessler
, online 2012
Classification
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center| align = right| direction= horizontalHistory and writing
Writing
missing image!
- AkkadischLand.png -
Cuneiform writing (Neo-Assyrian script)(1 = Logogram (LG) "mix"/syllabogram (SG) {{IPA|ḫi}},2 = LG "moat",3 = SG {{IPA|aʾ}},4 = SG {{IPA|aḫ}}, {{IPA|eḫ}}, {{IPA|iḫ}}, {{IPA|uḫ}},5 = SG kam,6 = SG im,7 = SG bir)
Old Akkadian is preserved on clay tablets dating back to {{circa|2500 BC}}. It was written using cuneiform, a script adopted from the Sumerians using wedge-shaped symbols pressed in wet clay. As employed by Akkadian scribes, the adapted cuneiform script could represent either (a) Sumerian logograms (i.e., picture-based characters representing entire words), (b) Sumerian syllables, (c) Akkadian syllables, or (d) phonetic complements. In Akkadian the script practically became a fully fledged syllabic script, and the original logographic nature of cuneiform became secondary{{fact|date=March 2024}}, though logograms for frequent words such as 'god' and 'temple' continued to be used. For this reason, the sign AN can on the one hand be a logogram for the word ilum ('god') and on the other signify the god Anu or even the syllable -an-. Additionally, this sign was used as a determinative for divine names.Another peculiarity of Akkadian cuneiform is that many signs do not have a well defined phonetic value. Certain signs, such as {{transliteration|sem|AḪ}}, do not distinguish between the different vowel qualities. Nor is there any coordination in the other direction; the syllable {{transliteration|sem|-Å¡a-}}, for example, is rendered by the sign {{transliteration|sem|Å A}}, but also by the sign {{transliteration|sem|NĪÄ}}. Both of these are often used for the same syllable in the same text.Cuneiform was in many ways unsuited to Akkadian: among its flaws was its inability to represent important phonemes in Semitic, including a glottal stop, pharyngeals, and emphatic consonants. In addition, cuneiform was a syllabary writing systemâi.e., a consonant plus vowel comprised one writing unitâfrequently inappropriate for a Semitic language made up of triconsonantal roots (i.e., three consonants plus any vowels).- AkkadischLand.png -
Cuneiform writing (Neo-Assyrian script)(1 = Logogram (LG) "mix"/syllabogram (SG) {{IPA|ḫi}},2 = LG "moat",3 = SG {{IPA|aʾ}},4 = SG {{IPA|aḫ}}, {{IPA|eḫ}}, {{IPA|iḫ}}, {{IPA|uḫ}},5 = SG kam,6 = SG im,7 = SG bir)
Development
Akkadian is divided into several varieties based on geography and historical period:Caplice, p.5 (1980)- Old Akkadian, 2500â1950 BC
- Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian, 1950â1530 BC
- Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian, 1530â1000 BC
- Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian, 1000â600 BC
- Late Babylonian, 600 BCâ100 AD
Decipherment
File:Georg Friedrich Grotefend.jpg|thumb|150px|Georg Friedrich GrotefendGeorg Friedrich Grotefend{{multiple image|caption_align=center
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}}The Akkadian language began to be rediscovered when Carsten Niebuhr in 1767 was able to make extensive copies of cuneiform texts and published them in Denmark. The deciphering of the texts started immediately, and bilinguals, in particular Old Persian-Akkadian bilinguals, were of great help. Since the texts contained several royal names, isolated signs could be identified, and were presented in 1802 by Georg Friedrich Grotefend. By this time it was already evident that Akkadian was a Semitic language, and the final breakthrough in deciphering the language came from Edward Hincks, Henry Rawlinson and Jules Oppert in the middle of the 19th century.In the early 21st century it was shown that automatic high-quality translation of Akkadian can be achieved using Natural Language Processing methods such as Convolutional neural networks.JOURNAL, Gutherz, Gai, Gordin, Shai, Sáenz, Luis, Levy, Omer, Berant, Jonathan, 2023-05-02, Kearns, Michael, Translating Akkadian to English with neural machine translation,weblink PNAS Nexus, en, 2, 5, pgad096, 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad096, 2752-6542, 10153418, 37143863,
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Dialects
The following table summarises the dialects of Akkadian identified with certainty so far.{| class="wikitable"
|+ Known Akkadian dialects
! Dialect !! Location
|-
| Assyrian || Northern Mesopotamia
|-
| Babylonian || Central and Southern Mesopotamia
|-
| Mariotic || Central Euphrates (in and around the city of Mari)
|-
| Nuzi || Northern Tigris (in and around the city of Nuzi)JOURNAL, Gordon, Cyrus H., 1938, The Dialect of the Nuzu Tablets,weblink Orientalia, 7, 32â63, 43581190,
|-
| Tell Beydar || Northern Syria (in and around Tell Beydar)
|}
Some researchers (such as W. Sommerfeld 2003) believe that the Old Akkadian variant used in the older texts is not an ancestor of the later Assyrian and Babylonian dialects, but rather a separate dialect that was replaced by these two dialects and which died out early.Eblaite, formerly thought of as yet another Akkadian dialect, is now generally considered a separate East Semitic language.! Dialect !! Location
|-
| Assyrian || Northern Mesopotamia
|-
| Babylonian || Central and Southern Mesopotamia
|-
| Mariotic || Central Euphrates (in and around the city of Mari)
|-
| Nuzi || Northern Tigris (in and around the city of Nuzi)JOURNAL, Gordon, Cyrus H., 1938, The Dialect of the Nuzu Tablets,weblink Orientalia, 7, 32â63, 43581190,
|-
| Tell Beydar || Northern Syria (in and around Tell Beydar)
|}
Phonetics and phonology
{{anchor|Phonology}}Because Akkadian as a spoken language is extinct and no contemporary descriptions of the pronunciation are known, little can be said with certainty about the phonetics and phonology of Akkadian. Some conclusions can be made, however, due to the relationship to the other Semitic languages and variant spellings of Akkadian words.Consonants
The following table presents the consonants of the Akkadian language, as distinguished in Akkadian cuneiform. The reconstructed phonetic value of a phoneme is given in IPA transcription, alongside its standard (DMG-Umschrift) transliteration in angle brackets {{code|⨠â©}}.{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center|+ Akkadian consonantsReconstruction
File:AO 5477 (photograph and transcription).jpg|thumb|The first known Sumerian-Akkadian bilingual tablet dates from the reign of RimushRimushAkkadian emphatic consonants are typically reconstructed as ejectives, which are thought to be the oldest realization of emphatics across the Semitic languages.BOOK, The Semitic Languages, Hetzron, Robert, One piece of evidence for this is that Akkadian shows a development known as Geers' law, where one of two emphatic consonants dissimilates to the corresponding non-emphatic consonant. For the sibilants, traditionally /Å¡/ has been held to be postalveolar {{IPA|[Ê]}}, and /s/, /z/, /{{transliteration|sem|á¹£}}/ analyzed as fricatives; but attested assimilations in Akkadian suggest otherwise.Kogan, Leonid (2011). "Proto-Semitic Phonetics and Phonology". In Semitic languages: an international handbook, Stefan Weninger, ed. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 68. For example, when the possessive suffix -Å¡u is added to the root awat ('word'), it is written awassu ('his word') even though Å¡Å¡ would be expected. The most straightforward interpretation of this shift from tÅ¡ to ss, is that /s, á¹£/ form a pair of voiceless alveolar affricates {{IPA|[tÍ¡s tÍ¡sʼ]}}, *Å¡ is a voiceless alveolar fricative {{IPA|[s]}}, and *z is a voiced alveolar affricate or fricative {{IPA|[dÍ¡z~z]}}. The assimilation is then [awat+su] > {{IPA|[awattÍ¡su]}}. In this vein, an alternative transcription of *Å¡ is *sÌ , with the macron below indicating a soft (lenis) articulation in Semitic transcription. Other interpretations are possible. {{IPA|[Ê]}} could have been assimilated to the preceding {{IPA|[t]}}, yielding {{IPA|[ts]}}, which would later have been simplified to {{IPA|[ss]}}.The phoneme /r/ has traditionally been interpreted as a trill but its pattern of alternation with /{{transliteration|ar|DIN|ḫ}}/ suggests it was a velar (or uvular) fricative. In the Hellenistic period, Akkadian /r/ was transcribed using the Greek Ï, indicating it was pronounced similarly as an alveolar trill (though Greeks may also have perceived a uvular trill as Ï).Descent from Proto-Semitic
Several Proto-Semitic phonemes are lost in Akkadian. The Proto-Semitic glottal stop {{transliteration|sem|*Ê}}, as well as the fricatives {{transliteration|sem|*Ê}}, {{transliteration|sem|*h}}, {{transliteration|sem|*ḥ}} are lost as consonants, either by sound change or orthographically, but they gave rise to the vowel quality e not exhibited in Proto-Semitic. The voiceless lateral fricatives ({{transliteration|sem|*Å, *á¹£Ì}}) merged with the sibilants as in Canaanite, leaving 19 consonantal phonemes. Old Akkadian preserved the /*Å/ phoneme longest but it eventually merged with /*Å¡/, beginning in the Old Babylonian period.THESIS, A descriptive grammar of Sumerian,weblink openaccess.leidenuniv.nl, 2015-11-20, Jagersma, Abraham, Hendrik, 46, 2010-11-04, 2015-10-16,weblink live, The following table shows Proto-Semitic phonemes and their correspondences among Akkadian, Modern Standard Arabic and Tiberian Hebrew:File:Inscription in Babylonian, in the Xerxes I inscription at Van, 5th century BCE.jpg|thumb|An inscription in Babylonian, in the Xerxes I inscription at VanXerxes I inscription at Van{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" align="center"! | Proto-Semitic! | Akkadian! colspan="2" | Arabic! colspan="2" |Aramaic! colspan="2" | HebrewVowels{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:center"
|+ Akkadian vowels
! !! Front!! Central!! Back
|-
! Close
| {{IPAlink|i}} || || {{IPAlink|u}}
|-
! Mid
| {{IPAlink|e}} || ||
|-
! Open
| || {{IPAlink|a}} ||
|}
The existence of a back mid-vowel {{IPA|/o/}} has been proposed, but the cuneiform writing gives no good proof for this.Sabatino Moscati et al. "An Introduction to Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages Phonology and Morphology". (section on vowels and semi-vowels) There is limited contrast between different u-signs in lexical texts, but this scribal differentiation may reflect the superimposition of the Sumerian phonological system (for which an /o/ phoneme has also been proposed), rather than a separate phoneme in Akkadian.JOURNAL, Akkadian and Eblaite,weblink www.academia.edu, 2015-11-19, Huehnergard & Woods, 233, 2021-05-11,weblink live, All consonants and vowels appear in long and short forms. Long consonants are transliterated as double consonants, and inconsistently written as such in cuneiform. Long vowels are transliterated with a macron (Ä, Ä, Ä«, Å«) or a circumflex (â, ê, î, û), the latter being used for long vowels arising from the contraction of vowels in hiatus. The distinction between long and short is phonemic, and is used in the grammar; for example, iprusu ('that he decided') versus iprusÅ« ('they decided').! !! Front!! Central!! Back
|-
! Close
| {{IPAlink|i}} || || {{IPAlink|u}}
|-
! Mid
| {{IPAlink|e}} || ||
|-
! Open
| || {{IPAlink|a}} ||
|}
Stress
The stress patterns of Akkadian are disputed, with some authors claiming that nothing is known of the topic.{{fact|date=May 2024}} There are, however, certain points of reference, such as the rule of vowel syncope, and some forms in the cuneiform that might represent the stressing of certain vowels.Huehnergard claims that stress in Akkadian is completely predictable.BOOK, A Grammar of Akkadian, Huehnergard, John, 2005, 2nd, Eisenbrauns, 1-57506-922-9, 3â4, In his syllable typology there are three syllable weights: light (V, CV); heavy (CVC, CVÌ, CVÌ), and superheavy (CVÌC). If the last syllable is superheavy, it is stressed, otherwise the rightmost heavy non-final syllable is stressed. If a word contains only light syllables, the first syllable is stressed.A rule of Akkadian phonology is that certain short (and probably unstressed) vowels are dropped. The rule is that the last vowel of a succession of syllables that end in a short vowel is dropped, for example the declinational root of the verbal adjective of a root PRS is PaRiS-. Thus the masculine singular nominative is PaRS-um (< *PaRiS-um) but the feminine singular nominative is PaRiStum (< *PaRiS-at-um). Additionally there is a general tendency of syncope of short vowels in the later stages of Akkadian.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}Grammar
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2022}}File:Nebuchadnezzar II bronze step inscription.jpg|thumb|Neo-Babylonian inscription of king Nebuchadnezzar IINebuchadnezzar IIMorphology
Consonantal root
Most roots of the Akkadian language consist of three consonants, called the radicals, but some roots are composed of four consonants, so-called quadriradicals. The radicals are occasionally represented in transcription in upper-case letters, for example PRS (to decide). Between and around these radicals various infixes, suffixes and prefixes, having word generating or grammatical functions, are inserted. The resulting consonant-vowel pattern differentiates the original meaning of the root. The middle radical can be geminated, which is represented by a doubled consonant in transcription, and sometimes in the cuneiform writing itself.The consonants {{IPA|Ê}}, {{IPA|w}}, {{IPA|j}} and {{IPA|n}} are termed "weak radicals" and roots containing these radicals give rise to irregular forms.Case, number and gender
Formally, Akkadian has three numbers (singular, dual and plural) and three cases (nominative, accusative and genitive). However, even in the earlier stages of the language, the dual number is vestigial, and its use is largely confined to natural pairs (eyes, ears, etc.). Adjectives are never found in the dual. In the dual and plural, the accusative and genitive are merged into a single oblique case.Akkadian, unlike Arabic, has only "sound" plurals formed by means of a plural ending. Broken plurals are not formed by changing the word stem. As in all Semitic languages, some masculine nouns take the prototypically feminine plural ending (-Ät).The nouns Å¡arrum (king) and Å¡arratum (queen) and the adjective dannum (strong) will serve to illustrate the case system of Akkadian.{| class="wikitable"|+ Noun and adjective paradigmsNoun states and nominal sentences
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center| align = right| direction =vertical| header=Cylinder of Antiochus I| image1 = Antiochus cylinder with transcription.jpgVerbal morphology
Verb aspects
The Akkadian verb has six finite verb aspects (preterite, perfect, present, imperative, precative, and vetitive (the negative form of precative)) and three infinite forms (infinitive, participle and verbal adjective). The preterite is used for actions that are seen by the speaker as having occurred at a single point in time. The present is primarily imperfective in meaning and is used for concurrent and future actions as well as past actions with a temporal dimension. The final three finite forms are injunctive where the imperative and the precative together form a paradigm for positive commands and wishes, and the vetitive is used for negative wishes. The periphrastic prohibitive, formed by the present form of the verb and the negative adverb lÄ, is used to express negative commands. The infinitive of the Akkadian verb is a verbal noun, and in contrast to some other languages the Akkadian infinitive can be declined in case. The verbal adjective is an adjectival form and designates the state or the result of the action of the verb, and consequently the exact meaning of the verbal adjective is determined by the semantics of the verb itself{{specify|date=April 2021}}. The participle, which can be active or passive, is another verbal adjective and its meaning is similar to the English gerund.{{specify|date=April 2021}}The following table shows the conjugation of the G-stem verbs derived from the root PRS ("to decide") in the various verb aspects of Akkadian:{| class="wikitable" align="center"Verb moods
Akkadian verbs have three moods:- Indicative, used in independent clauses, is unmarked.
- Subjunctive, used in dependent clauses, is marked in forms which do not end in a vowel by the suffix -u (compare Arabic and Ugaritic subjunctives) but is otherwise unmarked. In the later stages of most dialects, the subjunctive is indistinct, as short final vowels were mostly lost.
- Venitive or allative, not a mood in the strictest sense, being a development of the first-person dative pronominal suffix -am/-m/-nim. With verbs of motion, it often indicates motion toward an object or person (e.g., illik, "he went" vs. illikam, "he came"). However, this pattern is not consistent, even in earlier stages of the language, and its use often appears to serve a stylistic rather than morphological or lexical function.
Verb patterns
Akkadian verbs have thirteen separate derived stems formed on each root. The basic, underived, stem is the G-stem (from the German Grundstamm, meaning "basic stem"). Causative or intensive forms are formed with the doubled D-stem, and it gets its name from the doubled-middle radical that is characteristic of this form. The doubled middle radical is also characteristic of the present. The forms of the D-stem use the secondary conjugational affixes, so a D-form will never be identical to a form in a different stem. The Å -stem is formed by adding a prefix Å¡-, and these forms are mostly causatives. The passive forms of the verb are in the N-stem, formed by adding a n- prefix. The n- element is assimilated to a following consonant, so the original /n/ is only visible in a few forms.Reflexive and iterative verbal stems can be derived from each of the basic stems. The reflexive stem is formed with an infix -ta, and the derived stems are therefore called Gt, Dt, Å t and Nt, and the preterite forms of the Xt-stem are identical to the perfects of the X-stem. Iteratives are formed with the infix -tan-, giving the Gtn, Dtn, Å tn and Ntn. Because of the assimilation of n, the /n/ is only seen in the present forms, and the Xtn preterite is identical to the Xt durative.The final stem is the Å D-stem, a form mostly attested only in poetic texts, and whose meaning is usually identical to either the Å -stem or the D-stem of the same verb. It is formed with the Å prefix (like the Å -stem) in addition to a doubled-middle radical (like the D-stem).An alternative to this naming system is a numerical system. The basic stems are numbered using Roman numerals so that G, D, Å and N become I, II, III and IV, respectively. The infixes are numbered using Arabic numerals; 1 for the forms without an infix, 2 for the Xt, and 3 for the Xtn. The two numbers are separated using a solidus. As an example, the Å tn-stem is called III/3. The most important user of this system is the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary.There is mandatory congruence between the subject of the sentence and the verb. This is expressed by prefixes and suffixes. There are two different sets of affixes, a primary set used for the forms of the G and N-stems, and a secondary set for the D and Å -stems.The stems, their nomenclature and examples of the third-person masculine singular stative of the verb parÄsum (root PRS: 'to decide, distinguish, separate') is shown below:{|class="wikitable" align="center"! # || Stem || Verb || Description || CorrespondenceStative
A very often appearing form which can be formed by nouns, adjectives as well as by verbal adjectives is the stative. Nominal predicatives occur in the status absolutus and correspond to the verb "to be" in English. The stative in Akkadian corresponds to the Egyptian pseudo-participle. The following table contains an example of using the noun šarrum (king), the adjective rapšum (wide) and the verbal adjective parsum (decided).{| class="wikitable"Derivation
Beside the already explained possibility of derivation of different verb stems, Akkadian has numerous nominal formations derived from verb roots. A very frequently encountered form is the maPRaS form. It can express the location of an event, the person performing the act and many other meanings. If one of the root consonants is labial (p, b, m), the prefix becomes na- (maPRaS > naPRaS). Examples for this are: maÅ¡kanum (place, location) from Å KN (set, place, put), maÅ¡raḫum (splendour) from Å RḪ (be splendid), maṣṣarum (guards) from Ná¹¢R (guard), napḫarum (sum) from PḪR (summarize).A very similar formation is the maPRaSt form. The noun derived from this nominal formation is grammatically feminine. The same rules as for the maPRaS form apply, for example maÅ¡kattum (deposit) from Å KN (set, place, put), narkabtum (carriage) from RKB (ride, drive, mount).The suffix â Å«t is used to derive abstract nouns. The nouns which are formed with this suffix are grammatically feminine. The suffix can be attached to nouns, adjectives and verbs, e.g. abÅ«tum (paternity) from abum (father), rabûtum (size) from rabûm (large), waṣûtum (leaving) from Wá¹¢Y (leave).Also derivatives of verbs from nouns, adjectives and numerals are numerous. For the most part, a D-stem is derived from the root of the noun or adjective. The derived verb then has the meaning of "make X do something" or "becoming X", for example: duššûm (let sprout) from dÄ«Å¡um (grass), Å¡ulluÅ¡um (to do something for the third time ) from Å¡alÄÅ¡ (three).Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Independent personal pronouns
Independent personal pronouns in Akkadian are as follows:{| class="wikitable"! colspan=2 | || colspan=2 | Nominative || colspan=2 | Oblique || colspan=2 | DativeSuffixed (or enclitic) pronouns
Suffixed (or enclitic) pronouns (mainly denoting the genitive, accusative and dative) are as follows:{| class="wikitable"! colspan=2 | || colspan=2 | Genitive || colspan=2 | Accusative || colspan=2 | DativeDemonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns in Akkadian differ from the Western Semitic variety. The following tables show the Akkadian demonstrative pronouns according to near and far deixis:{| class="wikitable"|+ Proximal Demonstrative ("this", "these")Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns in Akkadian are shown in the following table:{| class="wikitable"Interrogative pronouns
The following table shows the interrogative pronouns used in Akkadian:{| class="wikitable"! Akkadian! EnglishPrepositions
Akkadian has prepositions which consist mainly of only one word. For example: ina (in, on, out, through, under), ana (to, for, after, approximately), adi (to), aÅ¡Å¡um (because of), eli (up, over), iÅ¡tu/ultu (of, since), mala (in accordance with), itti (also, with). There are some compound prepositions which are combined with ina and ana (e.g. ina maḫar (forwards), ina balu (without), ana á¹£Är (up to), ana maḫar (forwards). Regardless of the complexity of the preposition, the following noun is always in the genitive case.Examples: ina bÄ«tim (in the house, from the house), ana dummuqim (to do good), itti Å¡arrim (with the king), ana á¹£Är mÄrÄ«Å¡u (up to his son).Numerals
Since numerals are written mostly as a number sign in the cuneiform script, the transliteration of many numerals is not well ascertained yet. Along with the counted noun, the cardinal numerals are in the status absolutus. Because other cases are very rare, the forms of the status rectus are known only by isolated numerals. The numerals 1 and 2 as well as 21â29, 31â39, 41â49 correspond with the counted in the grammatical gender. The numerals 3â20, 30, 40 and 50 are characterized by polarity of gender, i.e. if the counted noun is masculine, the numeral would be feminine and vice versa. This polarity is typical of the Semitic languages and appears, for example, in classical Arabic. The numerals 60, 100, and 1,000 do not change according to the gender of the counted noun. Counted nouns more than two appear in the plural form. Body parts that occur in pairs appear in the dual form in Akkadian; e.g., Å¡Äpum (foot) becomes Å¡ÄpÄn (two feet).The ordinals are formed (with few exceptions) by adding a case ending to the nominal form PaRuS. The P, R and S must be substituted with the suitable consonants of the numeral. It is noted, that in the case of the numeral "one", the ordinal (masculine) and the cardinal number are the same. A metathesis occurs in the numeral "four".{{cn|date=July 2023}}{| class="wikitable" align="center"|+Akkadian numbersHuehnergard, 3rd ed., §23.2!rowspan=3|#!colspan=4|Cardinal !Congruence !colspan=2|OrdinalSyntax
Nominal phrases
Adjectives, relative clauses and appositions follow the noun.While numerals precede the counted noun.In the following table the nominal phrase erbÄt Å¡arrÅ« dannÅ«tum Å¡a Älam Ä«puÅ¡Å« abÅ«ya 'the four strong kings who built the city are my fathers' is analyzed:{| class="wikitable"Sentence syntax
Akkadian sentence order was Subject+Object+Verb (SOV), which sets it apart from most other ancient Semitic languages such as Arabic and Biblical Hebrew, which typically have a verbâsubjectâobject (VSO) word order. Modern South Semitic languages in Ethiopia also have SOV order, but these developed within historical times from the classical verbâsubjectâobject (VSO) language Ge'ez. It has been hypothesized that this word order was a result of influence from the Sumerian language, which was also SOV. There is evidence that native speakers of both languages were in intimate language contact, forming a single society for at least 500 years, so it is entirely likely that a sprachbund could have formed.{{sfn | Deutscher | 2000 | p=21}} Further evidence of an original VSO or SVO ordering can be found in the fact that direct and indirect object pronouns are suffixed to the verb. Word order seems to have shifted to SVO/VSO late in the 1st millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD, possibly under the influence of Aramaic.Vocabulary
The Akkadian vocabulary is mostly of Semitic origin. Although classified as East Semitic, many elements of its basic vocabulary find no evident parallels in related Semitic languages: mÄrum 'son' (Semitic *bn), qÄtum 'hand' (Semitic *yd), Å¡Äpum 'foot' (Semitic *rgl), qabûm 'say' (Semitic *qwl), izuzzum 'stand' (Semitic *qwm), ana 'to, for' (Semitic *li).Due to extensive contact with Sumerian and Aramaic, the Akkadian vocabulary contains many loan words from these languages. Aramaic loan words were limited to the 1st centuries of the 1st millennium BC and primarily in the north and middle parts of Mesopotamia. Sumerian loan words were spread in the whole linguistic area. Beside the previous languages, some nouns were borrowed from Hurrian, Kassite, Ugaritic and other ancient languages.Since Sumerian and Hurrian, two non-Semitic languages, differ from Akkadian in word structure, only nouns and some adjectives (not many verbs) were borrowed from these languages. Some verbs were borrowed, along with many nouns, from Aramaic and Ugaritic, both of which are Semitic languages.The following table contains examples of loan words in Akkadian:{| class="wikitable"Sample text
The following is the 7th section of the Hammurabi law code, written in the mid-18th century BC:{{interlinear|lang=akk|glossing=link|indent=2| Å¡umma awÄ«l-um lÅ« kasp-am lÅ« ḫurÄá¹£-am lÅ« ward-am lÅ« amt-am| if man-NOM or silver-ACC or gold-ACC or slave-M.ACC or slave-F.ACC| If a man has bought silver or gold, a male or a female slave,}}{{interlinear|lang=akk|glossing=link|indent=2| lÅ« alp-am lÅ« immer-am lÅ« imÄr-am Å« lÅ« {mimma Å¡umÅ¡u} ina| or cattle/oxen-ACC or sheep-ACC or donkey-ACC and or something from| an ox, a sheep, or a donkeyâor anything for that matterâ}}{{interlinear|lang=akk|glossing=link|indent=2| qÄt mÄr awÄ«l-im Å« lÅ« warad awÄ«l-im balum Å¡Ä«b-Ä« uAkkadian literature
- Atrahasis Epic (early 2nd millennium BC)
- Enûma Elish ({{Circa|18th century BC}})
- Amarna letters (14th century BC)
- Epic of Gilgamesh (Sin-liqe-unninni', Standard Babylonian version, 13th to 11th century BC)
- Ludlul Bel Nemeqi
Notes
{{Reflist}}Sources
- Aro, Jussi (1957). Studien zur mittelbabylonischen Grammatik. Studia Orientalia 22. Helsinki: Societas Orientalis Fennica.
- Buccellati, Giorgio (1996). A Structural Grammar of Babylonian. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- Buccellati, Giorgio (1997). "Akkadian", The Semitic Languages. Ed. Robert Hetzron. New York: Routledge. Pages 69â99.
- Bussmann, Hadumod (1996). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-20319-8}}
- Caplice, Richard (1980). Introduction to Akkadian. Rome: Biblical Institute Press. (1983: {{ISBN|88-7653-440-7}}; 1988, 2002: {{ISBN|88-7653-566-7}}) (The 1980 edition is partly available online {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507045102weblink |date=2006-05-07 }}.)
- BOOK, Dolgopolsky, Aron, From Proto-Semitic to Hebrew, 1999, Centro Studi Camito-Semitici di Milano, Milan,
- BOOK, Deutscher, G., Syntactic Change in Akkadian: The Evolution of Sentential Complementation, OUP Oxford, 2000, 978-0-19-154483-5,weblink 2018-08-26, 2020-03-16,weblink live,
- Gelb, I.J. (1961). Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar. Second edition. Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Huehnergard, John (2005). A Grammar of Akkadian (Second Edition). Eisenbrauns. {{ISBN|1-57506-922-9}}
- Marcus, David (1978). A Manual of Akkadian. University Press of America. {{ISBN|0-8191-0608-9}}
- Mercer, Samuel A B (1961). Introductory Assyrian Grammar. New York: F Ungar. {{ISBN|0-486-42815-X}}
- BOOK, Sabatino Moscati, An Introduction to Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages Phonology and Morphology, Harrassowitz Verlag, 1980, 978-3-447-00689-7,
- Soden, Wolfram von (1952). Grundriss der akkadischen Grammatik. Analecta Orientalia 33. Roma: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum. (3rd ed., 1995: {{ISBN|88-7653-258-7}})
- Woodard, Roger D. The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum. Cambridge University Press 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-521-68497-2}}
Further reading
General description and grammar
- Gelb, I. J. (1961). Old Akkadian writing and grammar. Materials for the Assyrian dictionary, no. 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-62304-1}}
- Hasselbach, Rebecca. Sargonic Akkadian: A Historical and Comparative Study of the Syllabic Texts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 2005. {{ISBN|978-3-447-05172-9}}
- Huehnergard, J. A Grammar of Akkadian (3rd ed. 2011.) Harvard Semitic Museum Studies 45. {{ISBN|978-1-57506-922-7}}
- Huehnergard, J. (2005). A Key to A Grammar of Akkadian. Harvard Semitic Studies. Eisenbrauns.
- Soden, Wolfram von: Grundrià der Akkadischen Grammatik. Analecta Orientalia. Bd 33. Rom 1995. {{ISBN|88-7653-258-7}}
- Streck, Michael P. Sprachen des Alten Orients. Wiss. Buchges., Darmstadt 2005. {{ISBN|3-534-17996-X}}
- Ungnad, Arthur: Grammatik des Akkadischen. Neubearbeitung durch L. Matouš, München 1969, 1979 (5. Aufl.). {{ISBN|3-406-02890-X}}
- Woodard, Roger D. The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum. Cambridge University Press 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-521-68497-2}}
- Ikeda, Jun. Early Japanese and Early Akkadian Writing Systems. University of Tsukuba. 2007 weblink
Textbooks
- Basics of Akkadian: A Grammar Workbook and Glossary, By Gordon P. Hugenberg with Nancy L. Erickson, 2022.
- Rykle Borger: Babylonisch-assyrische Lesestücke. Rom 1963.(3., revidierte Auflage, 2006 Teil. I-II)
- Part I: Elemente der Grammatik und der Schrift. Ãbungsbeispiele. Glossar.
- Part II: Die Texte in Umschrift.
- Part III: Kommentar. Die Texte in Keilschrift.
- Richard Caplice: Introduction to Akkadian. Biblical Institute Press, Rome 1988, 2002 (4.Aufl.). {{ISBN|88-7653-566-7}}
- Kaspar K. Riemschneider: Lehrbuch des Akkadischen. Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1969, Langenscheidt Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1992 (6. Aufl.). {{ISBN|3-324-00364-4}}
- Martin Worthington: "Complete Babylonian: Teach Yourself" London 2010 {{ISBN|0-340-98388-4}}
Dictionaries
- Jeremy G. Black, Andrew George, Nicholas Postgate: A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. Harrassowitz-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2000. {{ISBN|3-447-04264-8}}
- Wolfram von Soden: Akkadisches Handwörterbuch. 3 Bde. Wiesbaden 1958â1981. {{ISBN|3-447-02187-X}}
- Martha T. Roth, ed.: The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. 21 vols. in 26. Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago 1956â2010. (available free online {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918184402weblink |date=18 September 2011 }})
Akkadian cuneiform
- Cherry, A. (2003). A basic neo-Assyrian cuneiform syllabary. Toronto, Ont: Ashur Cherry, York University.
- Cherry, A. (2003). Basic individual logograms (Akkadian). Toronto, Ont: Ashur Cherry, York University.
- Rykle Borger: Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon. Alter Orient und Altes Testament (AOAT). Bd 305. Ugarit-Verlag, Münster 2004. {{ISBN|3-927120-82-0}}
- René Labat: Manuel d'Ãpigraphie Akkadienne. Paul Geuthner, Paris 1976, 1995 (6.Aufl.). {{ISBN|2-7053-3583-8}}
Translations
- Shin Shifra, Jacob Klein (1996). In Those Far Days. Tel Aviv, Am Oved and The Israeli Center for Libraries' project for translating Exemplary Literature to Hebrew. This is an anthology of Sumerian and Akkadian poetry, translated into Hebrew.
Technical literature on specific subjects
- Ignace J. Gelb: Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar. Materials for the Assyrian dictionary. Bd 2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1952, 1961, 1973. {{ISBN|0-226-62304-1}} {{ISSN|0076-518X}}
- weblinkGutherz, Gai, et al. "Translating Akkadian to English with neural machine translation." PNAS nexus 2.5, 2023
- Markus Hilgert: Akkadisch in der Ur III-Zeit. Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2002. {{ISBN|3-930454-32-7}}
- Walter Sommerfeld: Bemerkungen zur Dialektgliederung Altakkadisch, Assyrisch und Babylonisch. In: Alter Orient und Altes Testament (AOAT). Ugarit-Verlag, Münster 274.2003. {{ISSN|0931-4296}}
External links
{{incubator|akk}}{{commons category|Akkadian language}}{{OldWikisource|Akkadian}}{{wiktionary category}}- Introduction to Cuneiform Script and the Akkadian language on The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (Oracc)
- Akkadian cuneiform on Omniglot (Writing Systems and Languages of the World)
- NEWS, Wilford, John Noble, After 90 Years, a Dictionary of an Ancient World, The New York Times, 2, 7 June 2011,weblink
- weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050206163112weblink">A detailed introduction to Akkadian
- Assyrian grammar with chrestomathy and glossary (1921) by Samuel A B Mercer
- Akkadian-English-French Online Dictionary
- Old Babylonian Text Corpus (includes dictionary)
- The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918184402weblink |date=18 September 2011 }}
- Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar, by I. J. Gelb, 2nd Ed. (1961) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119201727weblink |date=19 November 2011 }}
- Glossary of Old Akkadian, by I. J. Gelb (1957) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614050131weblink |date=14 June 2011 }}
- List of 1280 Akkadian roots, with a representative verb form for each
- weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110716114724weblink">Recordings of Assyriologists Reading Babylonian and Assyrian
- Unicode Fonts for Ancient Scripts and Akkadian font for Ubuntu Linux-based operating system (ttf-ancient-fonts)
- The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)
- Akkadian in the wiki Glossing Ancient Languages (recommendations for the Interlinear Morphemic Glossing of Akkadian texts)
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