Hittite phonology

Last updated

Hittite phonology is the description of the reconstructed phonology or pronunciation of the Hittite language. Because Hittite as a spoken language is extinct, thus leaving no living daughter languages, and no contemporary descriptions of the pronunciation are known, little can be said with certainty about the phonetics and the phonology of the language. Some conclusions can be made, however, by noting its relationship to the other Indo-European languages, by studying its orthography and by comparing loanwords from nearby languages.

Contents

Consonants

Consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar Uvular
Plosive fortis p ː t ː k ː ː
lenis p t k
Nasal fortis m ː n ː
lenis m n
Liquid fortis r ː , l ː
lenis r , l
Fricative fortis ( s ː ) ʃ ː χ ː , χʷ ː
lenis ( s ) ʃ χ , χʷ
Affricate t͡s
Approximant j w

Plosives

Hittite had two series of consonants, which may be described as fortis and lenis; one was written always geminate in the original script, and the other was always written simple. In cuneiform, all consonant sounds except for glides could be geminate. It has long been noticed that the geminate series of plosives is the one descending from Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops, and the simple plosives come from both voiced and voiced aspirate stops. This is often referred as Sturtevant's law. Because of typological implications of Sturtevant's law, the distinction between the two series is commonly regarded as one of voice. However, there is still disagreement over the subject among scholars, some of whom view both series as if they were differentiated by length, which a literal interpretation of the cuneiform orthography would suggest.

Supporters of a length distinction usually point to the fact that Akkadian, the language from which the Hittites borrowed the cuneiform script, had voicing. Hittite scribes nevertheless used voiced and voiceless signs interchangeably. Kloekhorst has also argued that the absence of assimilatory voicing is also evidence for a length distinction and points out that the word "e-ku-ud-du - [ɛ́gʷtu]" does not show any voice assimilation. If the distinction were one of voice, agreement between the stops should be expected since the velar and the alveolar plosives are known to be adjacent since the "u" in that word does not stand for a vowel but instead represents labialization. [1]

Resonants

All resonants in Hittite coincide with their respective etymological pronunciations in Proto-Indo-European, which makes it unlikely that they were pronounced differently. Just like in the parent language, in Hittite resonants were syllabic interconsonantally. [2] They were written in Hittite with cuneiform sign containing the vowel "a" ( wa-a-tar - [wáːdr̩], la-a-ma-an - [láːmn̩]). However, it is not well known if Hittite inherited the bilabial syllabic nasal. In final position, Hittite added an epenthetic vowel /ɔ/ (Hittite e-šu-un - [ɛ́ːsɔn] < Proto-Indo-European *h₁és-m̥ ). [3] Some cognates may point that Proto-Indo-European *m̥ merged with Hittite /a/ in medial and initial position. [4]

Resonants in Hittite could be geminate or simple, [5] but that distinction was not inherited from Proto-Indo-European but is instead often believed to have been caused by assimilation. [6]

Affricate

The affricate is generally assumed to have been an alveolar t͡s . [7] It is written in Hittite with signs containing a "z" and is known to have as a main phonological source the affrication of a "*t". In the prehistory of Hittite, a "*t" could be affricated if it was followed by "*s" or by "*i̯". That is known since "t"-stem nouns have a nominative ending in "z" and some verbal desinences descended from a prehistorical sequence "*ti". [8] Therefore, the following development is usually assumed [tːj] > [tːʲ] > [ t͡ɕ ] > [ t͡ʃ ] > [ t͡s ]. [9] [ failed verification ] A secondary source of the sign "z" is an early Indo-European dissimilation that occurred between two adjacent dentals, which consisted in the insertion of "*s" between them ( e-ez-du - [ɛ́ːt͡stu] < "*h₁éd-tu").

Some advocates of a voice/voiceless series propose a voiced counterpart, which is rather controversial, and claim that whenever "z" was geminate, it represented [t͡s] and that when it was simple, it was pronounced [d͡z]. [10]

Fricatives

Hittite is believed to have had a sibilant, a uvular fricative and a labialized uvular fricative. They were written in the original script with signs containing "š" and "ḫ". In Akkadian cuneiform, they originally stood for a voiceless alveolar fricative and a voiceless velar fricative, respectively. [11]

It can be said with confidence that "š" stood for a single phoneme. [12] Although the exact place of articulation of the Hittite phoneme written with signs having an "š" cannot be determined with absolute certainty, there are various arguments for assuming it to have been an alveolar sibilant. Typologically, if a language has fricatives, it almost certainly has / s /, and languages that lack both phonemes are rare. [13] Moreover, / s / is known to descent from Proto-Indo-European *s, which is uncontroversially reconstructed as a voiceless alveolar sibilant. [14]

Furthermore, the signs that the Hittite scribes adopted for "š" stood in Akkadian for [s] as well. It has been noted also that "š" appears in Ugaritic loanwords as , such as the Hittite royal name "Šuppiluliuma", which is written in Ugaritic as ṯpllm". [15] Given that Semitic *ṯ merged with in Ugaritic, also suggesting a pronunciation of [ s ]. It has also been noted that Hittite royal names containing an "š" are written in Egyptian Hieroglyphs with the sign that is conventionally transcribed as "s". [16] Finally, it is believed among scholars that Indo-European diphthongs *oi and *ou changed to Hittite "ē" and "ū", respectively, unless an alveolar consonant followed them, one of which is /š/, which reinforces the idea that it was alveolar in Hittite. [17] [18]

It can be held with certainty that /ḫ/ was a form of fricative, but its place of articulation is not so well understood. There is some evidence that may point towards a uvular/velar place of articulation. In Akkadian, the signs for "ḫ" had a velar place of articulation, and the sound was always voiceless. [19] Furthermore, Ugaritic borrowings from Hittite commonly transcribe "ḫ" as "ġ", which stands for a voiced velar fricative (e.g., dġṯ < duḫḫuiš, tdġl < mTudḫaliya, trġnds< URUTarḫuntašša). However, it has also occasionally been transcribed as a voiceless pharyngeal fricative ("ḥtṯ < ḫattuš"). [20] Some scholars have interpreted it as a velar fricative. [21] [22] Nonetheless, neither language could distinguish velar from uvular fricatives. Other scholars have suggested that the Ugaritic evidence may show that "ḫ" represented more than one phoneme. [23]

Known to descend from Proto-Indo-European "*h₂", "ḫ" is believed to descend from "*h₃" as well according to the laryngeal theory. In Proto-Indo-European, "*h₂" is known for coloring *e to *a. [24] It has also been shown that "ḫ" colors neighboring /u/ to /ɔ/. [25] Its coloring qualities in Hittite and Proto-Indo-European suggest a uvular place of articulation since uvular consonants are usually incompatible with advanced tongue root since they cause retraction of adjacent vowels. [26] Moreover, a velar place of articulation could be dismissed since they do not typically color vowels but are instead more commonly influenced by vowels. [27] Similarly, that evidence precludes the possibility of "ḫ" being a pharyngeal fricative, which usually triggers the fronting, rather than retraction, of vowels (e.g., Proto-Semitic *ḥarāṯum > Akkadian erēšum). [28]

The natural outcome of "*h₂" is a geminate "ḫḫ", indicating a voiceless manner of articulation. [29] Nevertheless[ clarification needed ], the scholars who support the fortis/lenis framework usually interpret it as a fortis consonant. [30] [31] Notably, it is also subject to Eichner's voicing rules. [32] In other words, if a voiceless "ḫ" occurred intervocalic position between two unaccented syllables or after a long accented syllable, it would be regularly voiced. Therefore, a phonemic distinction between "ḫḫ" and "ḫ" can be observed in the Hittite lexicon, just like in the stop system. [33] [34] Eichner's voicing law has also been observed in other Anatolian languages like Lycian (compare the verbal desinence Hittite -ḫḫaḫari and Lycian -χagã). [35]

Labialization

Hittite had four labialized obstruents: two velar plosives and two uvular fricatives.

Labialized velars are known to have developed from the Proto-Indo-European labiovelars. A classic example is the Proto-Indo-European root verb "*h₁égʷʰti ~ *h₁gʷʰénti" > "ekuzi ~ akuanzi". The idea that Hittite preserved Indo-European labiovelars as labialized velars instead of a velar + w, like in other centum languages, is supported by various anomalies in verbal roots containing labialized obstruents. For example, the first-person singular aorist of ekuzi "to drink" is "e-ku-un - [ɛ́gʷɔn]". However, if the "u" is vocalic, the expected *e-ku-nu-un occurs, as in Hittite vocalic stemmed verbs. That view is also strengthened by the first-person plural present form "a-ku-e-ni - [agwɛ́ni]", instead of the expected *a-ku-me-ni, as in Hittite true verbal u-stems.

It has also been noted that it can be written as "e-uk-zi - [ɛ́gʷt͡si]", which has been pointed out as an argument for assuming labialization as well, in which case the rounding happened with at the same time as the plosive instead of following it as a semivowel. [36] [37] The phenomena have also been attested in other verbs such as tarukzi/tarkuzi "he/she dances". [38]

Similar observations can be made about the verb taruḫḫu- [tr̩χʷ-] "to overpower". Like the verb "eku-", "taruḫḫu-" also has an irregular first-person aorist for an u-stem noun (ta-ru-uḫ-ḫu-un instead of *ta-ru-uḫ-ḫu-un-un) and an irregular first person-plural aorist (tar-ḫu-u-en instead of *tar-uḫ-me-en). That would suggest that the Proto-Indo-European sequence "h₂u̯" became Hittite ḫu-u [χʷ]. Evidence of laryngeal labialization has been found outside Hittite: Lycian has Trqqñt- "Stormgod" < tr̥h₂u̯ént- "powerful", the "q" most likely representing a labialized velar plosive descending from the Proto-Indo-European segmental sequence "h₂u̯". Therefore, some scholars have regarded it to be an Anatolian feature, not exclusive to Hittite. [39] [40] [41]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i , i ː ( ɨ ) u , u ː
Open-mid ɛ , ɛ ː ɔ , ɔ ː
Open a , a ː

It was debated by scholars whether Hittite had a vowel phoneme /ɔ(ː)/, distinct from the vowel /u(ː)/. The idea that the sign "u" stood for /ɔ(ː)/ and "ú" for /u(ː)/ was first proposed by Weidner since such a practice was paralleled in Hurrian and Akkadian. [42] It received mainstream support only when Kloekhorst published in 2008 a detailed analysis of the distribution of both signs and found significant evidence for their being contrastive. [43]

Plene spelling

Plene spelling is the practice of writing a vowel redundantly. Its use was never consistent at any stage of Hittite, but it was generally more common in earlier texts. [44] It certainly must have represented some phonemic features, most obviously vowel length, as in ne-e-pí-iš, which should be analyzed phonologically as [nɛ́ːbis]. It has been argued that it could represent stress as well.

See also

Notes

  1. Kloekhorst (2008:36)
  2. Kloekhorst 2008:42
  3. Melchert (2015:15)
  4. Melchert (2015:11)
  5. Melchert (1994:99)
  6. Kloekhorst (2008:103)
  7. Kloekhorst (2008:26)
  8. Melchert (1994:62)
  9. Kloekhorst (2008:113)
  10. Yoshida (2001:721–729)
  11. Huehnergard (2011:586)
  12. Hoffner, Melchert (2008:28)
  13. Maddieson (1984:41)
  14. Kloekhorst (2008:89)
  15. Hoffner, Melchert (2008:38)
  16. Gardiner (1957:507)
  17. Kimball (1994)
  18. Kloekhorst (2008:123)
  19. Huehnergard (2011:586)
  20. Hoffner (1964)
  21. Hoffner, Melchert (2008:39)
  22. Melchert (2013:9)
  23. Hoffner (1964)
  24. Ringe (2006:14)
  25. Kloekhorst (2008:69)
  26. Vaux (1999)
  27. Stroud (2013)
  28. Huehnergard (2011:587)
  29. Hoffner, Melchert (2008:39)
  30. Kloekhorst (2008:94–102)
  31. Melchert (1994:68)
  32. Melchert (1994:68)
  33. Kloekhorst (2008:83)
  34. Melchert (1994:60)
  35. Melchert (1994:68)
  36. Kloekhorst (2008:281)
  37. Hoffner, Melchert (2008:188)
  38. Kloekhorst (2008:38)
  39. Kloekhorst (2008:41)
  40. Melchert (2015:7)
  41. Melchert (2013)
  42. Weidner 1917
  43. Melchert (2015:8)
  44. Kimball (1999:54–68)

Related Research Articles

Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no turbulence. This class is composed of sounds like and semivowels like and, as well as lateral approximants like.

A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in the case of German ; or the side of the tongue against the molars, in the case of Welsh. This turbulent airflow is called frication.

Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anatolian languages</span> Extinct branch of Indo-European languages

The Anatolian languages are an extinct branch of Indo-European languages that were spoken in Anatolia, part of present-day Turkey. The best known Anatolian language is Hittite, which is considered the earliest-attested Indo-European language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laryngeal theory</span> Hypothesis that Proto-Indo-European had phonemes beyond those reconstructed through comparison

The laryngeal theory is a theory in historical linguistics positing that the Proto-Indo-European language included a number of laryngeal consonants that are not reconstructable by direct application of the comparative method to the Indo-European family. The 'missing' sounds remain consonants of an indeterminate place of articulation towards the back of the mouth, though further information is difficult to derive. Proponents aim to use the theory to:

A labialized velar or labiovelar is a velar consonant that is labialized, with a -like secondary articulation. Examples are, which are pronounced like a, with rounded lips, such as the labialized voiceless velar plosive and labialized voiced velar plosive, obstruents being common among the sounds that undergo labialization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pharyngealization</span> Articulation of consonants or vowels

Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound.

Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve the lips, they are called rounded.

In phonetics, ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated, voiced and tenuis consonants. Some languages have glottalized sonorants with creaky voice that pattern with ejectives phonologically, and other languages have ejectives that pattern with implosives, which has led to phonologists positing a phonological class of glottalic consonants, which includes ejectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hittite language</span> Extinct Bronze Age Indo-European language

Hittite, also known as Nesite, is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people of Bronze Age Anatolia who created an empire centred on Hattusa, as well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia. The language, now long extinct, is attested in cuneiform, in records dating from the 17th to the 13th centuries BC, with isolated Hittite loanwords and numerous personal names appearing in an Old Assyrian context from as early as the 20th century BC, making it the earliest attested use of the Indo-European languages.

Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward in addition to expelling air from the lungs. Therefore, unlike the purely glottalic ejective consonants, implosives can be modified by phonation. Contrastive implosives are found in approximately 13% of the world's languages.

Doubly articulated consonants are consonants with two simultaneous primary places of articulation of the same manner. They are a subset of co-articulated consonants. They are to be distinguished from co-articulated consonants with secondary articulation; that is, a second articulation not of the same manner. An example of a doubly articulated consonant is the voiceless labial–velar plosive, which is a and a pronounced simultaneously. On the other hand, the voiceless labialized velar plosive has only a single stop articulation, velar, with a simultaneous approximant-like rounding of the lips. In some dialects of Arabic, the voiceless velar fricative has a simultaneous uvular trill, but this is not considered double articulation either.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proto-Anatolian language</span> Reconstructed ancestor of the Anatolian languages

Proto-Anatolian is the proto-language from which the ancient Anatolian languages emerged. As with almost all other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Anatolian languages as well as other Indo-European languages.

The phonology of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) has been reconstructed by linguists, based on the similarities and differences among current and extinct Indo-European languages. Because PIE was not written, linguists must rely on the evidence of its earliest attested descendants, such as Hittite, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, and Latin, to reconstruct its phonology.

Abkhaz is a language of the Northwest Caucasian family which, like the other Northwest Caucasian languages, is very rich in consonants. Abkhaz has a large consonantal inventory that contrasts 58 consonants in the literary Abzhywa dialect, coupled with just two phonemic vowels.

This article discusses the phonology of the Inuit languages. Unless otherwise noted, statements refer to Inuktitut dialects of Canada.

This glossary gives a general overview of the various sound laws that have been formulated by linguists for the various Indo-European languages. A concise description is given for each rule; more details are given in their articles.

This article discusses the phonological system of the Greenlandic language.

References