Nouns: Case System, Person/Gender, VOCAB.
Sept 23, 2011 17:35:14 GMT -5
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Sept 23, 2011 17:35:14 GMT -5
Orientation: On this thread we explore the Akkadian noun and some of it's key characteristics, following Huehnergard; consider how to use nouns in a sentence; collect and itemize the basic nouns of Akkadian.
Akkadian compared to English/
So the first thing to note when working with Akkadian nouns is that, like most languages, Akkadian is more complex and specific than English when dealing with people, places and things; and yet, thankfully, not as complex as say, German.
Akkadian is an inflected language, thus all nouns are marked with a suffix such as -um or -am or -im (šarrum, šarram, šarrim) - along with the basic root of the nouns (šarr = king) these suffixes will communicate information such as gender, number, and case (see below).
Gender and Number in Akkadian/
Akkadian nouns come in two genders : male and female (no neutral as in German). Nouns may be discussed in the singular, in the plural or (as in some other Semitic languages) in the dual: that is, when you are talking about two of something or a pair - although this is somewhat uncommon. Again, one can recognize whether a noun is male or female, and in what number, by the form of suffixed ending that comes at the end of root - Akkadian nouns always appear with such endings (see forms below)
Case in Akkadian vs Word Order in English/
The other information that the Akkadian noun endings convey, is case. In English the case endings have all dropped off for the most part, and so native English speakers tend to struggle with the concept of case - hence I will write these explanations for the English speaker in particular (we really just don't get it!). In English, who is doing the subject and who is receiving the action is entirely controlled by the word order of a sentence. For example:
John hit Steve in the park.
Steve hit John in the park.
The action is reversed depending on who is mentioned first. Meaning in an English sentence is thus extremely dependent on word order - in a language like Akkadian however, word order is much less important and meaning is dependent on the case system, whereby a noun is marked with an ending which indicates who is to be the doer or receiver of an action. Here is a description of the three cases of Akkadian:
Jimum threw the ballam. The ballum of Steveim.
1. Nominative (-um): Nouns with the -um ending are in the nominative case, meaning that they are the subject of the sentence. So in "Jimmy threw the ball at Steve" , Jim is the subject and in the nominative case.
2. Accusative (-am): Nouns with the -am ending are in the accusative case, meaning that they are the direct object of a sentence. The direct object is the person or thing in the sentence that directly relates to the action of the verb:.. let's take the above sentence as an example again: "Jim threw the ball at Steve." Accusative is also the "catch all" case in Akkadian, that is, for objects which don't fit in the three cases in any particular way, they will probably be accusative.
3. Genitive (-im): Nouns with the (-im) ending are in the genitive case, this may indicate possession as in English 's "the king's house" ..or in Akkadian bītum (house) ša (of) šarrakim (the king). Note that in both English and Akk. the genitive marker goes on the possessor of the house. In addition, an important rule of Akkadian is that any noun which follows a preposition (a word like 'to, from, in, at') will always be in the genitive case. So, ina nārim 'in the river' .
**Akk. root il = god (goddess with fem. ending)
**Akk. root šarr = king (queen with fem. ending)
*** In the above chart, we see that the case ending conveys the gender of the noun, how many, and what part the noun plays in the sentence. All in all, the the case system in Akkadian is quite easy! However, look carefully at the feminine - most nouns, like the male ilum, go to feminine form simply by inserting -t before the -um ending: iltum. However, if the root has a double consonant at the end, like šarr-, the feminine form must insert an a vowel (ā in plural): šarratum. There are a few other cases where this rule applies but all in all, the entire system is fairly easy.
The Akkadian Noun
Akkadian compared to English/
So the first thing to note when working with Akkadian nouns is that, like most languages, Akkadian is more complex and specific than English when dealing with people, places and things; and yet, thankfully, not as complex as say, German.
Akkadian is an inflected language, thus all nouns are marked with a suffix such as -um or -am or -im (šarrum, šarram, šarrim) - along with the basic root of the nouns (šarr = king) these suffixes will communicate information such as gender, number, and case (see below).
Gender and Number in Akkadian/
Akkadian nouns come in two genders : male and female (no neutral as in German). Nouns may be discussed in the singular, in the plural or (as in some other Semitic languages) in the dual: that is, when you are talking about two of something or a pair - although this is somewhat uncommon. Again, one can recognize whether a noun is male or female, and in what number, by the form of suffixed ending that comes at the end of root - Akkadian nouns always appear with such endings (see forms below)
Case in Akkadian vs Word Order in English/
The other information that the Akkadian noun endings convey, is case. In English the case endings have all dropped off for the most part, and so native English speakers tend to struggle with the concept of case - hence I will write these explanations for the English speaker in particular (we really just don't get it!). In English, who is doing the subject and who is receiving the action is entirely controlled by the word order of a sentence. For example:
John hit Steve in the park.
Steve hit John in the park.
The action is reversed depending on who is mentioned first. Meaning in an English sentence is thus extremely dependent on word order - in a language like Akkadian however, word order is much less important and meaning is dependent on the case system, whereby a noun is marked with an ending which indicates who is to be the doer or receiver of an action. Here is a description of the three cases of Akkadian:
Jimum threw the ballam. The ballum of Steveim.
1. Nominative (-um): Nouns with the -um ending are in the nominative case, meaning that they are the subject of the sentence. So in "Jimmy threw the ball at Steve" , Jim is the subject and in the nominative case.
2. Accusative (-am): Nouns with the -am ending are in the accusative case, meaning that they are the direct object of a sentence. The direct object is the person or thing in the sentence that directly relates to the action of the verb:.. let's take the above sentence as an example again: "Jim threw the ball at Steve." Accusative is also the "catch all" case in Akkadian, that is, for objects which don't fit in the three cases in any particular way, they will probably be accusative.
3. Genitive (-im): Nouns with the (-im) ending are in the genitive case, this may indicate possession as in English 's "the king's house" ..or in Akkadian bītum (house) ša (of) šarrakim (the king). Note that in both English and Akk. the genitive marker goes on the possessor of the house. In addition, an important rule of Akkadian is that any noun which follows a preposition (a word like 'to, from, in, at') will always be in the genitive case. So, ina nārim 'in the river' .
CASE ENDINGS CHART
**Akk. root il = god (goddess with fem. ending)
**Akk. root šarr = king (queen with fem. ending)
| MASCULINE | --- | FEMININE | |||||
| SINGULAR | Nominative | ilum | šarrum | --- | iltum | šarratum | |
| Accusative | ilam | šarram | --- | iltam | šarratam | ||
| Genitive | ilim | šarrim | --- | iltim | šarratim | ||
| DUAL | Nominative | ilān | šarrān | --- | iltān | šarratān | |
| Gen. - Acc. | ilīn | šarrīn | --- | iltīn | šarratīn | ||
| PLURAL | Nominative | ilū | šarrū | --- | ilātum | šarrātum | |
| gen. - acc. | ilī | šarrī | --- | ilātim | šarrātim |
*** In the above chart, we see that the case ending conveys the gender of the noun, how many, and what part the noun plays in the sentence. All in all, the the case system in Akkadian is quite easy! However, look carefully at the feminine - most nouns, like the male ilum, go to feminine form simply by inserting -t before the -um ending: iltum. However, if the root has a double consonant at the end, like šarr-, the feminine form must insert an a vowel (ā in plural): šarratum. There are a few other cases where this rule applies but all in all, the entire system is fairly easy.
