Ugaritic grammar
- Note: vowels in this article are reconstructed via comparative Semitics.
Ugaritic is an
Ugaritic language
.
Overview
definite article
.
Grammar
Word order
The word order for Ugaritic is Subject Verb Object (SVO), Verb Subject Object (VSO), possessed–possessor (NG), and noun–adjective (NA).
Morphology
Ugaritic, like all
infixes
.
Verbs
Aspects
Verbs in Ugaritic have 2
root
RGM (which means "to say") for example:
Perfect
|
Imperfect
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||||
| 1st | STEM-tu or STEM-tī | ʼa-STEM | ||
| RaGaMtu or RaGaMtī | َʼaRGuMu | |||
| 2nd | masculine | STEM-ta | ta-STEM | |
| RaGaMta | taRGuMu | |||
| feminine | STEM-ti | ta-STEM-īna | ||
| RaGaMti | taRGuMīna | |||
| 3rd | masculine | STEM-a | ya-STEM | |
| RaGaMa | yaRGuMu | |||
| feminine | STEM-at | ta-STEM | ||
| RaGaMat | taRGuMu | |||
| Dual | ||||
| 1st | STEM-nayā | na-STEMā | ||
| RaGaMnayā | naRGuMā | |||
| 2nd | masculine & feminine |
STEM-tumā | ta-STEM-ā(ni) | |
| RaGaMtumā | taRGuMā(ni) | |||
| 3rd | masculine | STEM-ā | ya-STEM-ā(ni) | |
| RaGaMā | yaRGuMā(ni) | |||
| feminine | STEM-atā | ta-STEM-ā(ni) | ||
| RaGaMatā | taRGuMā(ni) | |||
| Plural | ||||
| 1st | STEM-nū | na-STEM | ||
| RaGaMnū | naRGuMu | |||
| 2nd | masculine | STEM-tum(u) | ta-STEM-ū(na) | |
| RaGaMtum(u) | taRGuMū(na) | |||
| feminine | STEM-tin(n)a | ta-STEM-na | ||
| RaGaMtin(n)a | taRGuMna | |||
| 3rd | masculine | STEM-ū | ya-STEM-ū(na) | |
| RaGaMū | yaRGuMū(na) | |||
| feminine | STEM-ā | ta-STEM-na | ||
| RaGaMā | taRGuMna | |||
Moods
Ugaritic verbs occur in 5 moods:
| Mood | Verb[1] |
|---|---|
Indicative
|
yargumu |
Jussive
|
yargum |
Volitive[2]
|
yarguma |
| Energic 1 | yargum(a)n |
| Energic 2 | yargumanna |
- ^ These are reconstructed for the imperfect simple active pattern (G stem).
- subjunctive.
Doubly Weak Verbs
In Ugaritic, "doubly weak verbs" refer to verbs whose roots contain two weak (or guttural) consonants. These verbs exhibit irregular patterns in their conjugation due to the inherent instability of the weak consonants, often leading to phonetic variations. This phenomenon is akin to that observed in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew.
For instance, the Ugaritic verb ḥwy, similar to Hebrew היה (h-y-h), "to be" or "to live," is an example of a doubly weak verb. Due to its weak consonants, this verb can undergo phonetic changes, such as the assimilation of waw (w) to yod (y), especially in the absence of an intervening vowel, leading to forms like ḥyy. This characteristic impacts the verb's inflection, resulting in variations that are atypical compared to regular (strong) verbs.[1]
Patterns
Ugaritic verbs occur in 10 reconstructed patterns or
binyanim
:
| Verb Patterns | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active voice | Passive voice | |||||
| Perfect (3rd sg. masc.) | Imperfect (3rd sg. masc.) | Perfect (3rd sg. masc.) | Imperfect (3rd sg. masc.) | |||
| G stem (simple) | paʻala, paʻila, paʻula | yapʻulu, yapʻalu, yapʻilu | puʻila | yupʻalu | ||
| Gt stem (simple reflexive) | ʼiptaʻala | yaptaʻalu | (?) | (?) | ||
| D stem (factitive) | paʻʻala | yapaʻʻilu | puʻʻila | yupaʻʻalu | ||
| tD stem (factitive reflexive) | tapaʻʻala | yatapaʻʻalu | (?) | (?) | ||
| N stem (reciprocal passive) | nap(a)ʻala | yappaʻilu <<(*yanpaʻilu) | n/a | |||
| L stem (intensive or factitive) | pāʻala | yupāʻilu | (?) | (?) | ||
| Š stem (causative) | šapʻala | yašapʻilu[1] | šupʻila | yupaʻilu[2] | ||
| Št stem (causative reflexive) | ʼištapʻala | yaštapʻilu | (?) | (?) | ||
| C stem (causative internal pattern) | (?) | yapʻilu | n/a | |||
| R stem (factitive) (biconsonantal roots) | paʻlala (e.g. karkara) | yapaʻlalu (e.g. yakarkaru) | (?) | (?) | ||
- ^ Gordon, Cyrus (1947). Ugaritic Handbook, I. Pontifical Biblical Institute. p. 72.
- ^ yušapʻalu?
Nouns
accusative), state (absolute and construct), gender (masculine and feminine), and number (singular, dual, and plural
).
Case
Ugaritic has three
accusative
. Using the word malk- (king) and malkat- (queen) for example:
Nominative |
Genitive |
Accusative
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | malku | malki | malka |
| Feminine | malkatu | malkati | malkata |
As in
genitive. There is no Ugaritic equivalent for Classical Arabic nunation
or Akkadian mimation.
State
construct
.
If a .
Gender
nouns do not have a feminine marker
. However, these denote feminine beings such as ʼumm- (mother). /-t/ is the feminine marker which is directly attached to the base of the noun.
Number
Ugaritic distinguishes between
if there are three or more.Singular
The
case
.
Dual
The marker for the
construct state
, it is /-ā/ and /-ē/ respectively.
Plural
Ugaritic has only regular
construct state
.
Adjectives
.Personal pronouns
Independent personal pronouns
Independent
personal pronouns in Ugaritic are as follows (some forms are lacking because they are not in the corpus of the language
):
| Person | singular | dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ʼanā, ʼannāku "I" | ʾanaḥnu "we" | ||
| 2nd | masculine | ʼatta "you" | ʼattumā "you two" | ʼattumu "you all" |
| feminine | ʼatti "you" | ʼattina "you all" | ||
| 3rd | masculine | huwa[1] "he" | humā "they" | humu[1] "they" |
| feminine | hiya[1] "she" | hinna "they" | ||
- ^ accusative but are suffixedwith a /-t/.
Suffixed (or enclitic) pronouns
accusative
) are as follows:
| Person | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | -ya[1] "my" | -nayā "our" | -na, -nu "our" | |
| 2nd | masculine | -ka "your" | -kumā "your" | -kum- "your" |
| feminine | -ki "your" | -kin(n)a "your" | ||
| 3rd | masculine | -hu "his" | -humā "their" | -hum- "their" |
| feminine | -ha "her" | -hin(n)a "their" | ||
Numerals
The following is a table of Ugaritic numerals:
| Number | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ʼaḥḥadu | ʼaḥattu |
| 2 | ṯinā[1] | ṯittā[1] |
| 3 | ṯalāṯu | ṯalāṯatu |
| 4 | ʼarbaʻu | ʼarbaʻatu |
| 5 | ḫam(i)šu | ḫam(i)šatu |
| 6 | ṯiṯṯu | ṯiṯṯatu |
| 7 | šabʻu | šabʻatu |
| 8 | ṯamānu | ṯamānītu |
| 9 | tišʻu | tišʻatu |
| 10 | ʻaš(a)ru | ʻaš(a)ratu |
| 20 | ʻašrāma [2] | |
| 30 | ṯalāṯūma [2] | |
| 100 | miʼtu | |
| 200 | miʼtāma | |
| 1000 | ʼalpu | |
| 10000 | ribbatu[2] | |
- ^ ISBN 9780520039995.
- ^ a b c Ibid., p. 54
Ordinals
The following is a table of Ugaritic ordinals:
| Number | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | prʿ | prʿt |
| 2 | ṯanū | ṯanītu[1] |
| 3 | ṯalīṯu | ṯalīṯatu |
| 4 | rabīʻu | rabīʻatu |
| 5 | ḫamīšu | ḫamīšatu |
| 6 | ṯadīṯu | ṯadīṯatu |
| 7 | šabīʻu | šabīʻatu |
| 8 | ṯamīnu | ṯamīnatu |
| 9 | tašīʻu | tašīʻatu |
- ^ These are reconstructed for the imperfect simple active pattern (G stem).
See also
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- Ugarit
- Ugaritic language
- Ugaritic alphabet
- Northwest Semitic languages
- Central Semitic languages
- Semitic Languages
- Proto-Semitic language
Notes
- ISBN 88-7653-238-2.
References
- Huehnergard, John (2011). A Grammar of Akkadian, 3rd ed. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-5750-6941-8.
- Moscati, Sabatino (1980). An Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages, Phonology and Morphology. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 3-447-00689-7.
- Segert, Stanislav (1997). A Basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03999-8.
- Woodard, Roger D. (2008). The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9.
- Hasselbach-Andee, Rebecca (2020). A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-1119193296.
- Tropper, Josef (2000). Ugaritische Grammatik. Ugarit Verlag. ISBN 978-3927120907.
- Sivan, Daniel (2005). A Grammar Of The Ugaritic Language. Parlux. ISBN 978-1589832855.
External links
- Ugarit and the Bible (An excerpt from an online introductory course on Ugaritic grammar (the Quartz Hill School of Theology's course noted in the links below); includes a cursory discussion on the relationship between Ugaritic and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible literature.)
- Introduction to Ugaritic Grammar (Quartz Hill School of Theology)
- Introduction to Ugaritic Grammar (University of Chicago)
- Unicode Chart