Hattic, or Hattian, was a non-
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
agglutinative
In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes, each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglutinative langu ...
language spoken by the
Hattians
The Hattians () were an ancient Bronze Age people that inhabited the land of ''Hatti'', in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). They spoke a distinctive Hattian language, which was neither Semitic nor Indo-European. Hattians are attested by arch ...
in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
in the
2nd millennium BC. Scholars call the language "Hattic" to distinguish it from
Hittite, the Indo-European language of the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
. The Hittites referred to the language as ''"hattili"'' (there are no attestations of the name of the language in Hattic itself). The name is doubtlessly related to the
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
and
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
designation of an area west of the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
as "Land of the Hatti" (Khatti).
The heartland of the oldest attested language of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, before the arrival of Hittite-speakers, ranged from
Hattusa
Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of t ...
, then called "Hattus", northward to
Nerik
Nerik ( Hittite: ''Nerik(ka)''"Nerik(ka)." ''Reallexikon der Assyriologie.'') was a Bronze Age settlement to the north of the Hittite capitals Hattusa and Sapinuwa, probably in the Pontic region. Since 2005–2009, the site of Nerik has been id ...
. Other cities mentioned in Hattic include Tuhumiyara and Tissaruliya. Hittite-speakers conquered Hattus from
Kanesh to its south in the 18th century BC. They eventually absorbed or replaced the Hattic-speakers (
Hattians
The Hattians () were an ancient Bronze Age people that inhabited the land of ''Hatti'', in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). They spoke a distinctive Hattian language, which was neither Semitic nor Indo-European. Hattians are attested by arch ...
) but retained the name ''Hatti'' for the region. The name of the inhabitants of that area is likewise identified with the
Biblical Heth, from which, in turn, the English word ''Hittite'' is derived.
Corpus
![Hittite Cuneiform Tablet- Cultic Festival Script](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Hittite_Cuneiform_Tablet-_Cultic_Festival_Script.jpg)
No document has been found in which native Hattic-speakers wrote their own language. Scholars must rely on indirect sources or mentions by their neighbours and successors, the Hittites. Some Hattic words can be found in religious tablets of Hittite priests that date from the 14th and the 13th centuries BC. The passages contained, between the lines of the text signs, the explanation "the priest is now speaking in Hattic".
Roots of Hattic words can also be found in the names of mountains, rivers, cities and gods. Other Hattic words can be found in some mythological texts. The most important of these is the myth "The Moon God who fell from the Sky", written in both Hattic and Hittite.
All published Hattic documents are catalogued in the
Catalogue des textes hittites The corpus of texts written in the Hittite language is indexed by the ''Catalogue des Textes Hittites'' (CTH, since 1971). The catalogue is only a classification of texts; it does not give the texts. One traditionally cites texts by their numbers in ...
(CTH). Documents from
Hattusa
Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of t ...
span CTH 725–745. Of these CTH 728, 729, 731, 733, and 736 are Hattic/Hittite bilinguals. CTH 737 is a Hattic incantation for the festival at
Nerik
Nerik ( Hittite: ''Nerik(ka)''"Nerik(ka)." ''Reallexikon der Assyriologie.'') was a Bronze Age settlement to the north of the Hittite capitals Hattusa and Sapinuwa, probably in the Pontic region. Since 2005–2009, the site of Nerik has been id ...
. One key, if fragmentary, bilingual is the story of "The Moon God Who Fell from the Sky". (There are additional Hattic texts in
Sapinuwa
Sapinuwa (sometimes Shapinuwa; Hittite: ''Šapinuwa'') was a Bronze Age Hittite city at the location of modern Ortaköy in the province Çorum in Turkey. It was one of the major Hittite religious and administrative centres, a military base and ...
, which had not been published as of 2004.)
Classification
The conservative view is that Hattic is a
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
, different from the neighbouring
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
and
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...
. Based on
toponyms
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
and
personal names
A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known, ...
, however, it may have been related to the otherwise-unattested
Kaskian language
Kaskian (Kaskean) was the language of the Kaskians (Kaska) of northeastern Bronze Age Anatolia in the mountains along the Black Sea coast. The ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'' lists the Kaskians as non–Indo-European. There are a numbe ...
. Certain similarities between Hattic and both
Abkhazo-Adyghean and
Kartvelian languages
The Kartvelian languages (; ka, ქართველური ენები, tr; also known as South Caucasian, Kartvelic, and Iberian languagesBoeder (2002), p. 3) are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primari ...
have led to proposals by some scholars about the possibility of a linguistic bloc from central
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
to the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
. According to Alexey Kassian, there are also possible lexical correspondences between Hattic and
Yeniseian languages
The Yeniseian languages (sometimes known as Yeniseic or Yenisei-Ostyak;"Ostyak" is a concept of areal rather than genetic linguistics. In addition to the Yeniseian languages it also includes the Uralic languages Khanty and Selkup. occasionally ...
, as well as
Burushaski language
Burushaski (; ) is a language isolate spoken by Burusho people, who reside almost entirely in northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, with a few hundred speakers in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. In Pakistan, Burushaski is spoken by people i ...
; for instance, "tongue" is ''alef'' in Hattic and ''alup'' in
Kott, "moon" is ''kap'' in Hattic and ''qīp'' in
Ket, "mountain" is ''ziš'' in Hattic and ''ćhiṣ'' in Burushaski (compare also with ''*čɨʔs'' – a Proto-Yeniseian word for "stone").
Vocabulary
Some known Hattic words include:
* ''alef'' = "tongue"
* ''ashaf'' = "god"
* ''fa-zari'' = "humankind, population"
* ''fel'' = "house"
* ''*findu'' = "wine" (found in the compound ''findu-qqaram'' "wine-ladle")
* ''fur'' = "land"
* ''
Furun-Katte'' = "King of the Land", the Hattic war god
* ''
Furu-Semu'' = Hattic sun goddess
* ''
Hanfasuit'' = Hattic throne goddess
* ''hilamar'' = "temple"
* ''
Kasku'' = the Hattic moon god
* ''katte'' = "king"
* ''-nifas'' = "to sit"
* ''pinu'' = "child"
* ''zari'' = "mortal"
* ''-zi'' = "to put"
Grammar
Hattic formed conventional plurals with a ''le-'' prefix: "children" = ''le-pinu''. It formed a collective plural by attaching the
prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
''fa-'': ''fa-shaf'' "gods".
The
genitive case
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
was declined with the suffix ''-(u)n'' (''fur'' "land" but ''furun'' "of the land"). Some linguists like Polomé and Winter have claimed that the
accusative case
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
was marked with ''es-'' and give the example of ''ess-alep'' "word",
[Polomé, Winter. ''Reconstructing languages and cultures'', 1992]
p.455
/ref> but that has been identified by others as a pronominal clitic, meaning "their".
References
Sources
* Akurgal, Ekrem – ''The Hattian and Hittite Civilizations''; Publications of the Republic of Turkey; Ministry of Culture; 2001; 300 pages;
*Ardzinba, Vladislav. (1974): Some Notes on the Typological Affinity Between Hattian and North-West Caucasian (Abkhazo-Adygian) Languages. In: ''"Internationale Tagung der Keilschriftforscher der sozialistischen Länder"'', Budapest, 23.-25. April 1974. ''Zusammenfassung der Vorträge'' (Assyriologica 1), p. 10-15.
*Ardzinba, V.G. (1979): “Nekotorye sxodnye strukturnye priznaki xattskogo i abxazo-adygskix jazykov”. ''Peredneasiatskij Sbornik III: istorija i filologija stran drevnego vostoka'', 26-37. Moscow: Nauka
*Chirikba, Viacheslav (1996): ''Common West Caucasian. The Reconstruction of its Phonological System and Parts of its Lexicon and Morphology.'' Leiden: CNWS Publications, 452 pp. hapter XI. ''The relation of West Caucasian to Hattic'', p. 406-432
*Dunaevskaja, Irina. (1973): ''Bemerkungen zu einer neuen Darstellung altkleinasiatischer Sprachen. 2. Zum Hattischen.'' In: ''Orientalische Literaturzeitung'' 68, Leipzig, 1/2.
* Дунаевская И. М. О структурном сходстве хаттского языка с языками северо-западного Кавказа. – ''Сборник в честь академика'' Н. А. Орбели. – М.-Л., 1960.
*Dunaevskaja, I. M. & D´jakonov, I. M. 1979. “Xattskij (protoxettskij) jazyk”. In: ''Jazyki Azii i Afriki, III. Jazyki drevnej perednej Azii (nesemitskie), Iberijsko-Kavkazskie jazyki, Paleoaziatskie jazyki, ed. by G. D. Sanžeev'', p. 79-83. Moskva. Nauka.
*Girbal, Christian. (1986): ''Beiträge zur Grammatik des Hattischen'' (Europäische Hochschulschriften Reihe XXI, Bd. 50). Frankfurt am Main, Bern, New York: Verlag Peter Lang, V+201 pages.
*Ivanov, Vyacheslav V., "On the Relationship of Hattic to the Northwest Caucasian Languages," in B. B. Piotrovskij, Vyacheslav V. Ivanov and Vladislav G. Ardzinba, eds., Drevnyaya Anatoliya – Ancient Anatolia, Moscow: Nauka (1985) 26-59. In Russian with English summary.
*Kammenhuber, Annelis (1969): ''Das Hattische.'' In: ''Handbuch der Orientalistik'', Abteilung I, Bd II, Abschn. 1/2.
*Klinger, Jörg. (1996): (StBoT 37)'' Untersuchungen zur Rekonstruktion der hattischen Kultschicht.'' Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, xx+916 p.
*Rizza, Alfredo. (2007): ''I pronomi enclitici nei testi etei di traduzione dal Hattico''. Pavia. (Studia Mediterranea 20).
*Schuster, H.-S. (1974): ''Die hattisch-hethitischen Bilinguen. I. Einleitung, Texte und Kommentar. Teil 1.'' Leiden: E.J. Brill.
*Soysal, Oğuz (2004): ''Hattischer Wortschatz in hethitischer Textüberlieferung'', Leiden/Boston: Brill.
*Taracha, P. (1995): ''Zum Stand der hattischen Studien: Mögliches und Unmögliches in der Erforschung des Hattischen.'' In: ''Atti del II Congresso Internaziomale di Hittitologia a curo di Onofrio Carruba Onofrio is an Italian surname derived from Onuphrius. Notable people with the surname include:
*Vincent D'Onofrio
*Al Onofrio
*Beverly Donofrio
*Elizabeth D'Onofrio
*Francesco Onofrio Manfredini
*Marco Onofrio
See also
*Sant'Onofrio (disambiguatio ...
'' – Mauro Giorgieri – Clelia Mora. Studia mediterranea. 9. Gianni Iuculano Editore. Pavia, p. 351-358.
*Kevin Tuite (Université de Montréal): ''The rise and fall and revival of the Ibero-Caucasian hypothesis''
text on line
External links
by Igor Diakonov
Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (occasionally spelled Diakonov, russian: link=no, И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов; 12 January 1915 – 2 May 1999) was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert on th ...
Hattic grammar
by ''A. S. Kassian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hattic Language
Hattians
Agglutinative languages
Extinct languages of Asia
Language isolates of Asia
Cuneiform
Languages of ancient Anatolia
Languages attested from the 2nd millennium BC