A Grammar of the Hittite Language: Part 1: Reference Grammar(Languages of the Ancient Near East)

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.

Table of Contents:
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

Review :
“[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