Bēl Lišāni

Akkadian, a Semitic language attested in writing from 2600 BCE until the first century CE, was the language of Mesopotamia for nearly three millennia. This volume examines the language from a comparative and historical linguistic perspective.

Inspired by the work of renowned linguist John Huehnergard and featuring contributions from top scholars in the field, Bēl Lišāni showcases the latest research on Akkadian linguistics. Chapters focus on a wide range of topics, including lexicon, morphology, word order, syntax, verbal semantics, and subgrouping. Building upon Huehnergard’s pioneering studies focused on the identification of Proto-Akkadian features, the contributors explore linguistic innovations in the language from historical and comparative perspectives. In doing so, they open the way for further etymological, dialectical, and lexical research into Akkadian.

An important update on and synthesis of the research in Akkadian linguistics, this volume will be welcomed by Semitists, Akkadian language specialists, and scholars and students interested in historical linguistics.

In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume include Paul-Alain Beaulieu, Øyvind Bjøru, Maksim Kalinin, N. J. C. Kouwenberg, Sergey Loesov, Jacob J. de Ridder, Ambjörn Sjörs, Michael P. Streck, and Juan-Pablo Vita.

“Freshly innovative and yet traditionally rigorous. In creatively exploring still undiscovered terrains amid the vast landscape of the Akkadian language, the contributors have kept a firm grasp on the reliable maps that have been meticulously sketched by Huehnergard and other academic pioneers.”—Paul Korchin, Review of Biblical Literature

Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee is Associate Professor of Comparative Semitics at the University of Chicago and coauthor of Classical Ethiopic: A Grammar of Gəˁəz, also published by Eisenbrauns.

Na’ama Pat-El is Associate Professor of Semitic Languages at the University of Texas at Austin and coeditor of The Semitic Languages (2nd edition).

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee and Na’ama Pat-El

Chapter 1. Remarks on Word Order and the Syntax of ša-Clauses in Late Hellenistic Babylonian

Paul-Alain Beaulieu

Chapter 2. The Indicative Markers in West Semitic and Their

Relationship to the East Semitic Subordinative

Øyvind Bjøru and Na’ama Pat-El

Chapter 3. Eblaite and Akkadian: A Look at the Pronominal

System

Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee

Chapter 4. How the Neo- Assyrian Verb Works: Tense and Voice

Maksim Kalinin and Sergey Loesov

Chapter 5. Cognate Objects in Akkadian

N. J. C. Kouwenberg

Chapter 6. “All Is Number”: Verbs and Nouns Derived from the Cardinal Numbers in Akkadian

Jacob J. de Ridder

Chapter 7. Notes on the Use of the Subordinative in Oaths

in Akkadian

Ambjörn Sjörs

Chapter 8. Akkadian Lexicography: New Discoveries

Michael P. Streck

Chapter 9. The Akkadian of the King of Beirut in the Late

Bronze Age

Juan-Pablo Vita

List of Contributors

Index of Authors

Subject Index

Download a PDF sample chapter here: Introduction