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Morphology
Overview
Akkadian is an inflected language; and as a Semitic language, its grammatical features are highly similar
to those found in Classical Arabic. And like all Semitic languages, Akkadian uses the system
of consonantal roots. Most roots consist of three consonants (called the radicals), but some roots are
composed of four consonants (so-called quadriradicals). The radicals are occasionally represented in
transcription in upper-case letters, for example PRS (to decide). Between and around these radicals
various infixes, suffixes and prefixes, having word generating or grammatical functions, are inserted. The
resulting consonant-vowel pattern differentiates the original meaning of the root. Also, the middle
radical can be geminated, which is represented by a doubled consonant in transcription (and sometimes
in the cuneiform writing itself).
The consonants , w, j and n are termed "weak radicals" and roots containing these radicals give rise to
irregular forms.
Case, number and gender
Akkadian has two grammatical genders, masculine and feminine, with many feminine forms generated
from masculine words by adding an -at suffix.
Formally, Akkadian has three numbers (singular, dual and plural) and three cases
(nominative, accusative and genitive). However, even in the earlier stages of the language, the dual
number is vestigial, and its use is largely confined to natural pairs (eyes, ears, etc.), and adjectives are
never found in the dual. In the plural numbers, the accusative and genitive are merged into a
singleoblique case.
Akkadian, unlike Arabic, has mainly regular plurals (i.e. no broken plurals), although some masculine
words take feminine plurals. In that respect, it is similar to Hebrew.
The nouns arrum (king), arratum (queen) and the adjective dannum (strong) will serve to illustrate the
case system of Akkadian.
Noun and adjective paradigms
Noun (masc.) Noun (fem.) Adjective (masc.) Adjective (fem.)
Nominative singular arr-um
arr-at-um
dann-um
dann-at-um
Genitive singular
arr-at-im
dann-im
dann-at-im
arr-im
arr-at-am
dann-am
dann-at-am
Nominative dual
arr-n
arr-at-n
arr-at-n
Nominative plural
arr-
arr-t-um
dann-t-um
dann-t-um
Oblique plural
arr-
arr-t-im
dann-t-im
dann-t-im
arrq.
Man (Masculine, nominative) he (3rd masc. personal pronoun) thief (status absolutus)
Translation: This man is a thief
(2) arrum l ann
arr-um
ann.
King (Status rectus, nominative) not (negative particle) oppose (verbal infinitive, status absolutus)
Translation: The king who cannot be rivaled
The Status Constructus is a great deal more common, and has a much wider range of applications. It is
employed when a noun is followed by another noun in the genitive, a pronominal suffix, or a verbal
clause in the subjunctive, and typically takes the shortest form of the noun which is phonetically
possible. In general, this amounts to the loss of case endings with short vowels, with the exception of
the genitive -i in nouns preceding a pronominal suffix, hence:
(3) mri-u
mri-u
Son (status constructus) + his (3rd person singular possessive pronoun
Translation: His son, its (masculine) son
but
(4) mr arr-im
mr
arr-im
kalab
bel-im
l-im
awl
Enunna
which (relative
particle)
man (status
constructus)
Enunna (genitive,
unmarked)
Translation: The alliances of the Ruler of Enunna (literally "Alliances which man of Enunna (has)")
The same preposition is also used to introduce true relative clauses, in which case the verb is placed in
the subjunctive mood.
(7) awl-um a mt-am i-kud--u
Awl-um
mt-am
i-kud--u
Man (Masculine,
nominative)
that (relative
pronoun)
land (singular,
accusative)
finite forms are injunctive where the imperative and the precative together form a paradigm for positive
commands and wishes, and the vetitive is used for negative wishes. Additionally
the periphrastic prohibitive, formed by the present form of the verb and the negative adverb l, is used
to express negative commands. The infinitive of the Akkadian verb is a verbal noun, and in contrast to
some other languages the Akkadian infinitive can be declined in case. The verbal adjective is an
adjectival form and designates the state or the result of the action of the verb, and consequently the
exact meaning of the verbal adjective is determined by the semantics of the verb itself. The participle,
which can be active or passive, is another verbal adjective and its meaning is similar to
the English gerund.
The following table shows the conjugation of the G-stem verbs derived from the root PRS ("to decide")
in the various verb aspects of Akkadian:
Preteri
Perfect
te
1st
Perso
n
aprus
singul
ar
Present
Imperati
stative
ve
aptaras
aparras
parsku
1st
Perso
niprus niptaras
n
plural
niparra
s
parsnu
2nd
Perso
n
taprus taptaras
singul
ar
masc.
taparra
purus
s
parsta
2nd
Perso
n
taptars (<
taprus
singul
*taptaras)
ar
fem.
taparra
pursi
s
parsti
Infiniti Participle
ve
(active)
Verbal
adjective
prisum (ma
parsu sc.)
pristum (fe
m
m.)
parsum (mas
c.)
paristum (fe
m.)
2nd
Perso taprus
taptars
n
plural
taparra
pursa
s
parstunu (ma
sc.)
/ parstina(fe
m.)
3rd
Perso
n
iprus
singul
ar
iparras
paris
iparras
parsat
iptaras
3rd
Perso
iptars (<
n
iprus
*iptaras)
plural
masc.
3rd
Perso
iptars(< *iptar iparras
n
iprus
as)
plural
fem.
pars (masc.)
/pars (fem.)
The table below shows the different affixes attached to the preterite aspect of the verb root PRS "to
decide"; and as can be seen, the grammatical genders differ only in the second person singular and third
person plural.
G-Stem
D-Stem
-Stem
N-Stem
tu-apris-
ta-ppars-
i-prus-
i-prus-
u-parris-
u-apris-
i-ppars-
i-prus-
u-parris-
u-apris-
i-ppars-
Verb moods
Akkadian verbs have 3 moods:
Indicative, used in independent clauses, is unmarked.
Subjunctive, used in dependent clauses. The subjunctive is marked in forms which do not end in a vowel
by the suffix -u (compare Arabic and Ugaritic subjunctives), but is otherwise unmarked. In the later
stages of most dialects, the subjunctive is indistinct, as short final vowels were mostly lost
Ventive or allative. The ventive is not a mood in the strictest sense, being a development of the 1st
person dative pronomial suffix -am/-m/-nim. With verbs of motion, it often indicates motion towards an
object or person (e.g. illik, "he went" vs. illikam, "he came"). However, this pattern is not consistent,
even in earlier stages of the language, and its use often appears to serve a stylistic rather than
morphological or lexical function.
The following table demonstrates the verb moods of verbs derived from the root PRS ("to decide","to
separate"):
Preterite.[t4 1] Stative.[t4 1]
Indicative
iprus
paris
Subjunctive iprusu
parsu
Ventive
parsam
iprusam
Furthermore, reflexive and iterative verbal stems can be derived from each of the basic stems. The
reflexive stem is formed with an infix -ta, and the derived stems are therefore called Gt, Dt, t and Nt,
and the preterite forms of the Xt-stem are identical to the perfects of the X-stem. Iteratives are formed
with the infix -tan-, giving the Gtn, Dtn, tn and Ntn. Because of the assimilation of n, the /n/ is only
seen in the present forms, and the Xtn preterite is identical to the Xt durative.
An alternative to this naming system is a numerical system. The basic stems are numbered using Roman
numerals so thet G, D, and N become I, II, III and IV, respectively, and the infixes are numbered
using Arabic numerals; 1 for the forms without an infix, 2 for the Xt, and 3 for the Xtn. The two numbers
are separated using a solidus. As an example, the tn-stem is called III/3. The most important user of this
system is the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary.
There is mandatory congruence between the subject of the sentence and the verb, and this is expressed
by prefixes and suffixes. There are two different sets of affixes, a primary set used for the forms of the G
and N-stems, and a secondary set for the D and -stems.
The stems, their nomenclature and examples of the third-person masculine singular stative of the
verb parsum (root PRS: 'to decide, distinguish, separate') is shown below:
#
Stem Verb
Description
Correspondence
I.1
PaRiS
II.1 D
PuRRuS
gemination of the second radical, indicating the Arabic stem II (faala) and
intensive
Hebrew piel
III.1
uPRuS
IV.1 N
naPRuS
I.2
PitRuS
II.2 Dt
PutaRRuS
III.2 t
utaPRuS
Gt
IV.2 Nt
itaPRuS
I.3
Gtn
II.3 Dtn
III.3 tn
IV.3 Ntn
itaPRuS
Stative
A very often appearing form which can be formed by nouns, adjectives as well as by verbal adjectives is
the stative. Nominal predicatives occur in the status absolutus and correspond to the verb "to be" in
English. The stative in Akkadian corresponds to the Egyptian pseudo-participle. The following table
contains an example of using the noun arrum (king), the adjective rapum (wide) and the verbal
adjective parsum (decided).
arrum
rapum
parsum
arr-ku
rap-ku
pars-ku
arr-nu
rap-nu
pars-nu
rap-ta
pars-ta
rap-ti
pars-ti
rapa-
paris-
arr-at
rap-at
pars-at
arr-
rap-
pars-
arr-
rap-
pars-
Thus, the stative in Akkadian is used to convert simple stems into effective sentences, so that the
form arr-ta is equivalent to: "you were king", "you are king" and "you will be king". Hence, the stative
is independent of time forms.
Derivation
Beside the already explained possibility of derivation of different verb stems, Akkadian has numerous
nominal formations derived from verb roots. A very frequently encountered form is the maPRaS form. It
can express the location of an event, the person performing the act and many other meanings. If one of
the root consonants is labial (p, b, m), the prefix becomes na- (maPRaS >> naPRAS). Examples for this
are: makanum (place, location) from KN (set, place, put), maraum (splendour) from R (be
splendid), maarum (guards) from NR (guard), naparum (sum) from PR (summarize).
A very similar formation is the maPRaSt form. The noun derived from this nominal formation is
grammatically feminine. The same rules as for the maPRaS form apply, for example makattum(deposit)
from KN (set, place, put), narkabtum (carriage) from RKB (ride, drive, mount).
The suffix - t is used to derive abstract nouns. The nouns which are formed with this suffix are
grammatically feminine. The suffix can be attached to nouns, adjectives and verbs,
e.g. abtum(paternity) from abum (father), rabutum (size) from rabum (large), watum (leaving) from
WY (leave).
Also derivatives of verbs from nouns, adjectives and numerals are numerous. For the most part, a Dstem is derived from the root of the noun or adjective. The derived verb then has the meaning of "make
X do something" or "becoming X", for example: dum (let sprout) from diu (grass), ulluum (to do
something for the third time ) from al (three).
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Independent personal pronouns
Independent personal pronouns in Akkadian are as follows:
Nominative
Oblique
Person
singular
Singular
Plural Singular
Plural
1st
yti
niti
niim
Plural
Dative
yim
kunti kim
kunim
kinti kim
kinim
2nd
masculine "he"
feminine "she"
ina "they"
unim
3rd
iti (uti;ti) inti iim (im, im) inim
Accusative
Person
singular
1st
-ni
-niti
Dative
Singular Plural
-am/-nim -niim
masculine -ka
-kunu -ka
-kunti -kum
-kunim
feminine -ki
-kina -ki
-kinti -kim
-kinim
masculine -
-unu -
-unti -um
-unim
feminine -a
-ina -i
-inti -im
-inim
2nd
3rd
^ -ni is used for the nominative, i.e. following a verb denoting the subject.
Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns in Akkadian differ from the Western Semitic variety. The following table shows
the Akkadian demonstrative pronouns according to near and far deixis:
Deixis
Proximal
Distal
ull "that"
ulltu "that"
Masc. plural
Fem. plural
Relative pronouns
Fem. Singular t
ti
Dual
Masc. plural
Fem. plural
Unlike plural relative pronouns, singular relative pronouns in Akkadian exhibit full declension to case.
However, only the form a (for the accusative masculine singular) survived, while the other forms
disappeared in time.
Interrogative pronouns
The following table shows the Interrogative pronouns used in Akkadian:
Akkadian English
mannu
who?
mn
what?
ayyu
which?
Prepositions
Akkadian has prepositions which consist mainly of only one word. For example: ina (in, on, out, through,
under), ana (too, for, after, approximately), adi (to), au (because of), eli (up, over),itu/ultu (of,
since), mala (in accordance with), itti (also, with)). There are, however, some compound prepositions
which are combined with ina and ana (e.g. ina maar (forwards), ina balu(without), ana r (up to), ana
maar (forwards). Regardless of the complexity of the preposition, the following noun is always in
the genitive case.
Examples: ina btim (in the house, from the house), ana dummuqim (to do good), itti arrim (with the
king), ana r mru (up to his son).
Numerals
Since numerals are written mostly as a number sign in the cuneiform script, the transliteration of many
numerals is not well ascertained yet. Along with the counted noun, the cardinal numeralsare in
the status absolutus. Because other cases are very rare, the forms of the status rectus are known only by
isolated numerals. The numerals 1 and 2 as well as 2129, 3139, 4149 correspond with the counted in
the grammatical gender, while the numerals 320, 30, 40 and 50 show gender polarity, i.e. if the
counted noun is masculine, the numeral would be feminine and vice versa. This polarity is typical of
the Semitic languages and appears also in classical Arabic for example. The numerals 60, 100 and 1000
don't change according to the gender of the counted noun. Counted nouns more than two appear in the
plural form. However, body parts which occur in pairs appear in the dual form in Akkadian.
e.g. epum (foot) becomes epn (two feet).
The ordinals are formed (with a few exceptions) by adding a case ending to the nominal form PaRuS (the
P, R and S. must be substituted with the suitable consonants of the numeral). It is noted, however, that
in the case of the numeral "one", the ordinal (masculine) and the cardinal number are the same.
A metathesis occurs in the numeral "four". The following table contains the masculine and feminine
forms of the status absolutus of some of the Akkadian cardinal numbers, as well as the corresponding
ordinals.
Cardinal
numeral (masc.)
Cardinal
numeral (fem.)
Congruence (Gender
agreement of the cardinal
numeral)
itn
iteat,
itt
itn
iteat
in
itt
Congruent
anm
antum
al
alat
Gender polarity
alum
alutum
erb
erbt
Gender polarity
rebm
rebtum
ami
amat
Gender polarity
amum
amutum
edi
iet
Gender polarity
eum
edutum
seb
sebt
Gender polarity
sebm
sebtum
samn
samnat
Gender polarity
samnum,
samnm
samuntum
te
tit
Gender polarity
tim,
titum,
10
eer
60
eeret
Gender polarity
tem
tetum
erum
eurtum
No gender distinction
100 meat, mt
No gender distinction
1000 lm
No gender distinction
Examples: erb atum (four wives) (male numeral), meat ln (100 towns).
Syntax
Nominal phrases
Adjectives, relative clauses and appositions follow the noun. While numerals precede the counted noun.
In the following table the nominal phrase erbt arr danntum a lam pu abya 'the four strong
kings who built the city are my fathers' is analyzed:
Word
Meaning
Analysis
erbt
four
Numeral
arr-
king
nominative plural
Noun (Subject)
dann-tum strong
Adjective
which
relative pronoun
l-am
city
accusative singular
pu-
built
ab--ya
Relative clause
Sentence syntax
Akkadian sentence order was Subject+Object+Verb (SOV), which sets it apart from most other ancient
Semitic languages such as Arabic and Biblical Hebrew, which typically have a verbsubjectobject
(VSO) word order. (Modern South Semitic languages in Ethiopia also have SOV order, but these
developed within historical times from the classical verbsubjectobject (VSO)language Ge'ez.) It has
been hypothesized that this word order was a result of influence from the Sumerian language, which
was also SOV. There is evidence that native speakers of both languages were in intimate language
contact, forming a single society for at least 500 years, so it is entirely likely that a sprachbund could
have formed. Further evidence of an original VSO or SVO ordering can be found in the fact that direct
and indirect object pronouns are suffixed to the verb. Word order seems to have shifted to SVO/VSO
late in the 1st millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD, possibly under the influence of Aramaic.