Die Akkadies van Hatti: 'n Grammatikale studie met besondere verwysing na die Akkadiese tekste gevind by Ugarit

Abstract

In this investigation the Akkadian dialect of Jjatti, the country of the Hittites, has been studied in the form in which this dialect can be retrieved through Akkadian texts excavated since 1929 at Ugarit (at present Ras Shamra). Out of a total of about 71 texts which came into being in Jjatti and which were excavated at Ugarit, 21 well-preserved texts were chosen to base the study on. All these texts have been published by Nougayrol (1956) and Nougayrol et al. (1968). The Akkadian dialect which was used in tfatti is one of the so-called Western peripheral dialects of the language Akkadian, the cradle of which is Mesopotamia. Scientists are at the moment engaged in doing research on all the peripheral dialects in order to define and compare the different .dialects with one another. It will then become apparent how the various dialects developed in the areas in which they were found, and which influences were exercised on them by neighbouring languages. In this respect this study follows that of Durham (1976) in the description of the Akkadian language of tJatti. This study has, however, bearing only on the texts which were found at U garit. This study, for the sake of easy re_ference and comparison, structurally follows closely Huehnergard's studies (1979, 1989) with reference to the Akkadian dialects of Ugarit and Carchemish. The results of this study have been represented by means of a comparison between the Akkadian dialect of ijatti and the Akkadian dialects of a number of other areas. From this it is clear thet the Akkadian dialect of tfatti definitely reveals distinctive characteristics, although it has much in common with other Akkadian dialects which are derived from a number of border areas.