A Grammar of the Hittite Language

Hoffner and Melchert’s long-awaited work is sure to become both the standard reference grammar and the main teaching tool for the Hittite language. The first volume includes a thorough description of Hittite grammar, grounded in an abundance of textual examples. Moreover, the authors take into account a vast array of studies on all aspects of the Hittite language. In the five decades since the publication of the second edition of Johannes Friedrich’s Hethitisches Elementarbuch (1960), our knowledge of Hittite grammar has become more detailed and nuanced, especially because of the number of new texts available and the growing body of secondary literature. This first volume in the LANE series fills a serious gap and offers a comprehensive reference for decades to come.

The second volume is a tutorial that consists of a series of graded lessons with illustrative sentences for the student to translate. The tutorial is keyed to the reference grammar and provides extensive notes.

The printed grammar volume is accompanied by a CD-ROM that contains the entire text of the grammar and tutorial in searchable, cross-referenced, and hyperlinked form.

“[T]he authors deserve the deepest gratitude of Hittitologists and of scholars of neighbouring fields for this excellent grammar book.”—Zsolt Simon, Journal of Near Eastern Studies

“With this work, the authors have given scholars in the field and whoever else wants to approach the study of Hittite, even for simple reference, a fundamental tool which will become indispensable in the years to come, filling a void that had persisted for too long.”—Rita Francia, Orientalia

Preface

Abbreviations and Conventional Markings

General Abbreviations

Bibliographical Abbreviations

Introduction

The Hittites and Their Language

Decipherment

The Text Corpus

Modern Resources for Study

Cuneiform Editions

Commentaries

Sign Lexicon

Grammars

Dictionaries

Text Catalogues and Name Collections

Chapter 1. Orthography and Phonology

The Cuneiform Writing System of the Hittites

Orthography

Writing Conventions

Transcriptional Conventions

Homophony

Polyphony

Multivalence

New Values

Logogram Pronunciation

Phonology

Individual Phonemes (Vowels and Consonants)

Vowels

Consonants

Phonotactics

Onomatopoeia

Accent

Chapter 2

Noun and Adjective Formation

Underived Stems

Derived Stems

Reduplicated Nouns and Adjectives

Compounded Nouns and Adjectives

Chapter 3

Noun and Adjective Inflection

Inflectional Endings

The Basic Scheme

Common-Gender Nominative

Common-Gender Accusative

Neuter Nominative-Accusative

Ergative

Genitive

Dative-Locative

Vocative

Allative

Ablative

Instrumental

Stem Variation

Chapter 4

Noun and Adjective Declension

a-Stem Nouns

Common-Gender a-Stem Nouns

Neuter a-Stem Nouns

a-Stem Adjectives

i- and u-Stem Nouns

i-Stem Nouns

i-Mutation

Common-Gender i-Stem Nouns

Neuter i-Stem Nouns

ai-Stem Nouns

i-Stem Adjectives

u-Stem Nouns

Common-Gender u-Stem Nouns

Neuter u-Stem Nouns

au-Stem Nouns

u-Stem Adjectives

e-Stem Noun

Consonantal-Stem Nouns and Adjectives

-Stem Noun

l-Stem Nouns

al-Stem Nouns

e/il-Stem Nouns

ul-Stem Nouns

n-Stem Nouns

Neuter n-Stem Nouns

Common-Gender n-Stem Nouns

r-Stem Nouns and Adjectives

s-Stem Nouns

t-Stem Nouns and Adjectives

Simple t-Stem Nouns

nt-Stem Nouns and Adjectives

r/n-Stem Nouns

Non-Derived r/n-Stem Nouns

Derived Nouns with Suffix -atar

Derived Nouns with Suffix -eššar

Derived Nouns with Suffix -awar

Derived Nouns with Suffix -mar

Verbal Substantives

Irregular Consonant-Stem Nouns

Chapter 5

Personal Pronouns

Distinctive Features of Pronominal Stems and Endings

Accented (Independent) Personal Pronouns

Enclitic Personal Pronouns

Chapter 6

Possessive Pronouns

Chapter 7

Deixis: The Demonstratives

ka- and apa-

aši, uni, ini

anni-

Adverbs Built to Demonstratives

Chapter 8. Relative and Indefinite Pronouns

The Interrogative and Relative Pronoun kui-

The Indefinite Pronoun kuiški and the Distributive kuišša

Other Stems with Partial Pronominal Inflection

Chapter 9

Numbers

Form and Declension of the Cardinals

‘One’

‘Two’ to ‘Ten’

The Syntax of the Cardinals

Agreement in Case

Number Agreement with Non-Collectives

Counting Non-Decimal Sets

Word Order in Counting

Fractions

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinals in -t-

Multiplicatives

Distributives

Derivative Adjectives and Verbs

Numbers in Compounds

Compound Numbers

Chapter 10. Verb Formation

Reduplicated Roots

Verbal Suffixes and Infixes

Overview

The Individual Suffixes

Chapter 11

Verb Inflection

Types of Verbal Inflection

Irregularities in the mi-Conjugation

Irregularities in the ḫi-Conjugation

Medio-Passive Endings

Verbal Substantive, Participle, Infinitive, and Supine

Chapter 12

Conjugation of mi-Verbs

Consonantal Stems

Root Stems

Affixed Stems

Vocalic Stems

Ablauting

Non-Ablauting

Suppletive Verb

Verbs with Mixed Stems

Chapter 13

Conjugation of ḫi-Verbs

Consonantal Stems

Vocalic Stems

a-Stems

Stems Originally in -Cw-

ai-Stems

Stems with Mixed Inflection in -a- and -i-

Verbs with the Imperfective Suffix -anna/i-

Mixture of mi- and ḫi-Forms

Chapter14

Medio-Passive Conjugation

Consonantal Stems

Vocalic Stems

Chronology of the Medio-Passive Endings

Medio-Passive Stem Formation

Chapter 15

Grammatical Agreement

Types of Agreement

Lack of Agreement

In Gender

In Number

Chapter 16

Noun Cases

Generalities

Nominative

Vocative and ‘Naming Construction’

Other Forms of Direct Address

Accusative

Ergative

Genitive

Word Order in a Genitival Phrase

Dative-Locative

Indirect Object

Indicating Possession

Dative of Disadvantage

Goal

Purpose or Result

Location

Temporal Uses

Units of Measure and Dimensions

Additive-Incremental

Allative

Ablative

Instrumental

Cases with Particular Verbs

Chapter 17

Adjectives

Comparison of Adjectives

Comparative Degree

Superlative Degree

Chapter 18

Pronouns

Independent Personal Pronouns

Enclitic Personal Pronouns

(Third-Person) Subject Clitics

Intransitive Verbs with Subject Clitics

Intransitive Verbs without Subject Clitics

Other Clauses without Referential Subjects

Special Cases

Demonstrative Pronouns

ka-, apa-, and aši: Word Order

Declinable kaš kaš as a Distributive Expression

Correlated ka-Forms Having Different Cases

Other Deictic Elements

The Indefinite Pronoun kuiški

tamai-

Chapter 19

Adverbs

Local Adverbs

Temporal Adverbs

Adverbs of Manner

Denominative Adverbs

The Adverbial Suffix -ili

Adverbial Circumlocutions

Chapter 20

Local Adverbs, Preverbs, and Postpositions

Free-standing Adverbs

Preverbs

Postpositions

Chapter 21

Verb Voice

Active Voice

Middle Voice

Passive Voice

Chapter 22

Verb Tense

Present

Preterite

The Analytic Perfect Construction

Function

Form

Uniqueness within the Old Anatolian Indo-European Group

Examples

‘Stative’ Constructions with ḫar (k)- and eš-

Chapter 23

Verb Mood

Indicative

Imperative

Optative, Potential, and Irrealis

Optative

Potential and Irrealis

Chapter 24

Verb Aspect

Imperfectives

Adverbial Markers

Suffix Markers

Nuances of Imperfective Aspect

Choice of Suffix

Suffix Redundancy

kaša (tta) and kašma

The ‘Serial’ Use of pai- ‘to go’ and uwa- ‘to come’

Chapter 25

Non-Finite Verb Forms

Verbal Substantive

Infinitive

Supine

Participle

Chapter 26. Negation

natta

Word Order with natta

Negative Rhetorical Questions (with Negatives of Assertion)

nawi ‘not yet’

Imperatival and Categorical Negative le

le⸗man and numan

Categorical Negative le

Word Order with le

ne/ikku

Double Negatives

Carry-Over of Negative Force

Summary

Chapter 27

Questions

Intonation Marking

Yes-No Questions

Direct Questions with Interrogative Pronouns, Adjectives,

and Adverbs

Questions Posing Alternatives

Indirect Questions

Chapter 28

Particles

The Particle -wa (r-)

The Particle -z (a)

Form

Reflexive Function

Lexical Use of -z (a)

Use in Nominal Sentences and with the Verb ‘To Be’

The Local Particles -an, -apa, -ašta, -kan, and -šan

The Particle -kan

The ‘Local’ Value

Accompanying the ‘Dative of Disadvantage’

The Terminative Value

With Verbs of Hostility

Aspect Independent of Verb’s Lexical Meaning

Absence of Expected -kan

Summary

The Particle -šan

Co-occurring with the Adverb šer

Physical or Conceptual Movement toward an Object

The Particle -an

The Particle -apa

The Particle -ašta

The Particle -pat

Anaphoric

Particularizing

Restrictive

Contrastive

Chapter 29

Conjunctions

Clause-Initial Clause-Linking Conjunctions

Distribution

nu

šu

ta

Enclitic Clause-Linking Conjunctions

-a/-ma

-a/-ya

Asyndeton

Form

Function

Disjunction

naššu naš (šu)ma

-(a) ku -(a) ku

Chapter 30

Clauses

Word Order

Major Constituents

Deletion Processes

Sentential Clitics

Nominal and ‘To Be’ Sentences

Dependent Clauses

Temporal Clauses

Causal Clauses

Concessive Clauses

Conditional Clauses

Simple Conditions

Contrary-to-Fact Conditions

Relative Clauses

Indirect Statements and Questions

Multiple Dependent Clauses

Chapter 31. Sumerian and Akkadian

Sumerograms

Nouns, Adjectives, and Participles

Pronouns

Verbs

Akkadian Grammar

Orthography

Superscripting

Phonetic Complements

Phonology

Morphology

Nouns and Adjectives

Pronominal Suffixes

Numbers

Verbs

Conjunctions

Calques

Prepositions

References

Minor corrections, which have been incorporated into the second printings of both the Grammar and the Tutorial (December, 2008 – January, 2009), are available here for download.

Addenda and corrigenda are available here for download.