This biannual learning unit is being organized in 2024-2025
Teacher(s)
Language
French
Prerequisites
- For level 1 none, but knowledge of Latin is useful for Hittite.
- For level 2, the course LGLOR1613 (level 1).
Main themes
An initiation into the Akkadian and Hittite languages.
Alternately with LGLOR1613, this course is given to two distinct groups of students according to their level. The first term is devoted to Akkadian and the second to Hittite.
Alternately with LGLOR1613, this course is given to two distinct groups of students according to their level. The first term is devoted to Akkadian and the second to Hittite.
- For level 1 (beginners), it deals with cuneiform writing, basic vocabulary, and an introduction to the grammar with exercises.
- For level 2, it deals with reading of longer cuneiform texts.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | with the aid of basic tools, will be capable of translating Akkadian and Hittite texts of average difficulty. In order to achieve this goal, he will have acquired the basic cuneiform signs, the basic vocabulary, as well as the necessary grammatical structures. |
Content
Akkadian and Hittite belong to different linguistic families but both use the same cuneiform writing system.
A Semitic language, Akkadian is the principal language of Mesopotamia from the third millennium onwards and became the lingua franca of the Ancient Near East in the second half of the second Millennium B.C.
Level I.1: cuneiform writing, basic vocabulary, introduction to the grammar with exercises.
Level I.2: detailed reading of the Code of Hammurabi, of Old Babylonian letters or of other simple texts.
Hittite, an Indo-European language, is the language of the Hittite Empire which controlled Anatolia and the north of Syria from around 1650 B.C to 1190 B.C.
Level I.1: cuneiform writing, basic vocabulary, introduction to the grammar with exercises.
Level I.2: detailed reading of extracts of the Hittite law codes and historic texts.
A Semitic language, Akkadian is the principal language of Mesopotamia from the third millennium onwards and became the lingua franca of the Ancient Near East in the second half of the second Millennium B.C.
Level I.1: cuneiform writing, basic vocabulary, introduction to the grammar with exercises.
Level I.2: detailed reading of the Code of Hammurabi, of Old Babylonian letters or of other simple texts.
Hittite, an Indo-European language, is the language of the Hittite Empire which controlled Anatolia and the north of Syria from around 1650 B.C to 1190 B.C.
Level I.1: cuneiform writing, basic vocabulary, introduction to the grammar with exercises.
Level I.2: detailed reading of extracts of the Hittite law codes and historic texts.
Teaching methods
The lectures are based on manuals edited by the lecturer. The grammatical introduction is illustrated by exercises which the student prepares before each course. Next to that, te students also dispose of a lexicon, a sign list, a powerpoint presentation and verbal paradigms.
At the level I.2 the students prepare texts distributed by the lecturer, and the course allows for a joint effort to arrive at a translation with commentary.
At the level I.2 the students prepare texts distributed by the lecturer, and the course allows for a joint effort to arrive at a translation with commentary.
Evaluation methods
Written exam.
Level I.1: grammatical exercises and small phrases in cuneiform writing and in translation.
Level I.2: translation and analysis of texts in cuneiform and/or in transliteration.
Level I.1: grammatical exercises and small phrases in cuneiform writing and in translation.
Level I.2: translation and analysis of texts in cuneiform and/or in transliteration.
Other information
For level I.1, fixed by the faculty.
For level I.2, fixed by the lecturer during the first session.
For level I.2, fixed by the lecturer during the first session.
Bibliography
- Syllabus de la langue akkdienne
- Liste de signes akkadiens
- Présentation powerpoint (grammaire akkadienne)
- Lexique akkadien - français et français - akkadien
- Paradigmes du verbe akkadien
- Lexique hittite - français
- Syllabus de la langue hittite
- Paradigmes grammaticales hittites
- Liste de signes hittites
Akkadien :
' F. Malbran-Labat, Manuel de langue akkadienne (PIOL, 50), Louvain, 2001.
' R. Labat & F. Malbran-Labat Manuel d'épigraphie akkadienne (signes, syllabaire, idéogrammes), 6e éd., Paris, 1988.
' The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago, 1956'.
' F. Malbran-Labat, Manuel de langue akkadienne : Lexiques akkadien ' français et français - akkadien (PIOL, 51), Louvain, 2001.
Hittite :
' H.A. Hoffner & H.C. Melchert, A Grammar of the Hittite Language (Languages of the Ancient Near East, 1), Winona Lake, 2008.
' S. Vanséveren, Nisili : manuel de langue hittite (Lettres orientales 10), Louvain, 2006.
' E. Neu & Ch. Rüster, Hethitisches Zeichenlexikon (Studien zu den Bogazköy-Texten. Beiheft 2), Wiesbaden, 1989.
' J. Tischler, Hethitisches Handwörterbuch (Innsbrücker Beiträge zur
Sprachwissenschaft 128), Innsbruck, 2008.
Teaching materials
- Syllabus de la langue akkdienne
- Liste de signes akkadiens
- Présentation powerpoint (grammaire akkadienne)
- Lexique akkadien - français et français - akkadien
- Paradigmes du verbe akkadien
- Lexique hittite - français
- Syllabus de la langue hittite
- Paradigmes grammaticales hittites
- Liste de signes hittites
Faculty or entity
