Hittite grammar
The grammar of the Hittite language has a highly conservative verbal system and rich nominal declension. The language is attested in cuneiform, and is one of the earliest attested Indo-European languages apart from Vedic Sanskrit.
Basic noun and adjective declension
The Hittite nominal system consists of the following cases: nominative, accusative, dative-locative, genitive, allative, ablative, and instrumental, and 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.
The basic scheme of suffixation is given in the table below—valid for almost all nouns and adjectives. The example word shown is antuhsa meaning "man".
| antuhsa man c. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Nominative | antuhsas | -s | antuhses | -es |
| Vocative | antuhse | -e | antuhse | -e |
| Accusative | antuhsan | -n | antuhsus | -us |
| Genitive | antuhsas | -as | antuhsas | -as |
| Dative/locative | antuhsi | -i | antuhsas | -as |
| Ablative | antuhsaz(a) | -az(a) | antuhsaz(a) | -az(a) |
| Ergative | antuhsanza | -anza | antuhsantēs | -antēs |
| Allative | antuhsa | -a | antuhsa | -as |
| Instrumental | antuhsit | -it | antuhsit | -it |
Verb conjugation
When compared with other early-attested Indo-European languages, such as Ancient Greek language and Sanskrit, the verb system in Hittite is relatively morphologically 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), 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").
Basic conjugational endings are as follows:
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| mi-conj. | hi-conj. | mi-conj. | hi-conj. | |
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Sg. 1.
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-mi | -hi (-ahhi) | -hahari (-hari, -ha) | -hahari (-hari) |
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2.
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-si | -ti | -tati (-ta) | -tati (-ta) |
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3.
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-zi | -i | -tari (-ta) | -ari (-a) |
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Pl. 1.
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-weni | -weni | -wastati (-wasta) | -wastati (-wasta) |
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2.
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-teni | -teni | -duma (-dumari) | -duma |
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3.
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-anzi | -anzi | -antari (-anta) | -antari (-anta) |
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Sg. 1.
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-un (-nun) | -hun | -hahat(i) (-hat(i)) | -hahat(i) (-hat(i)) |
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2.
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-s (-t, -ta) | -s (-ta, -sta) | -tat(i) (-ta) | -at(i) (-tat) |
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3.
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-t (-ta) | -s (-ta, -sta) | -tat(i) (-ta) | -at(i) |
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Pl. 1.
|
-wen | -wen | -wastat | - |
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2.
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-ten (-tin) | -ten (-tin) | -dumat | -dumat |
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3.
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-er (-ir) | -er (-ir) | -antat(i) | -antat(i) |
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Sg. 1.
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-(a)llu | -allu | -haharu (-haru) | -haharu (-haru) |
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2.
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- (-i, -t) | - (-i) | -hut(i) | -hut(i) |
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3.
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-du | -u | -taru | -aru |
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Pl. 1.
|
-weni | -weni | - | - |
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2.
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-ten (-tin) | -ten (-tin) | -dumat(i) | -dumat(i) |
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3.
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-andu | -andu | -antaru | -antaru |
| Verbal substantive | Infinitive | Supine | Participle |
| -war | I. -wanzi | -wan | -ant- |
| II. -anna |
Literature
- Introductions and overviews
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- 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
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- 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.
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- Yakubovich, Ilya (2010). Sociolinguistics of the Luwian Language. Leiden: Brill.
- Text editions
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- 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.
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- Journal articles
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