The Akkadian Verb and Its Semitic Background

690 Pages·2010·4.74 MB·English

by  N. J. C. Kouwenberg

THE AKKADIAN VERB
AND ITS SEMITIC BACKGROUND
L A N G U A G E S O F
T H E A N C I E N T N E A R E A S T
Editorial Board
Gonzalo Rubio, Pennsylvania State University
Editor-in-Chief
James P. allen Brown University
Gene b. GRaGG The Oriental Institute, Univ. of Chicago
John huehneRGaRd Harvard University
manfRed KRebeRniK Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
antonio loPRieno Universität Basel
h. CRaiG melCheRt University of California, Los Angeles
PiotR miChalowsKi University of Michigan
P. oKtoR sKJæRvø Harvard University
miChael P. stReCK Universität Leipzig
1. A Grammar of the Hittite Language, by Harry A. Hoffner Jr. and H. Craig Melchert
Part 1: Reference Grammar
Part 2: Tutorial
2. The Akkadian Verb and Its Semitic Background, by N. J. C. Kouwenberg
3. Most Probably: Epistemic Modality in Old Babylonian, by Nathan Wasserman
The Akkadian Verb
and
Its Semitic Background
by
n. J. C. KouwenbeRG
The University of Leiden
Winona Lake, Indiana
EisenbRauns
2010
© 2010 by Eisenbrauns Inc.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

www.eisenbrauns.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kouwenberg, N. J. C.
The Akkadian verb and its Semitic background / by N. J. C. Kouwenberg.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-57506-193-1 (alk. paper)
1. Akkadian language—Verb. I. Title.
PJ3291.K678 2010
492′156—dc22
2010040187

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. †Ê
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
List of Abbreviations, Symbols, and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Part one
Preliminaries
Chapter 1. Objective, Structure, and Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1. Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2. Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1. (Diachronic) Typology 2
1.2.2. Grammaticalization 3
1.2.3. The structure of paradigms 5
1.3. The Structure of the Present Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4. Akkadian, Semitic, and Afroasiatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.1. Akkadian 9
1.4.1.1. Third-Millennium Akkadian 11
1.4.1.2. Babylonian 12
1.4.1.2.1. Archaic Babylonian 13
1.4.1.2.2. Old Babylonian 13
1.4.1.2.3. Middle Babylonian 15
1.4.1.2.4. Neo-Babylonian 15
1.4.1.2.5. Late Babylonian 16
1.4.1.2.6. Standard Babylonian 16
1.4.1.3. Assyrian 17
1.4.1.3.1. Old Assyrian 17
1.4.1.3.2. Middle Assyrian 18
1.4.1.3.3. Neo-Assyrian 19
1.4.2. Semitic 19
1.4.3. Afroasiatic 20
1.5. Excursus: The Dialect Classification of Third-millennium Akkadian . . . . . . 21
Chapter 2. Structure and Organization in the Akkadian Verbal Paradigm . . . . . . . 28
2.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2. The Organization of the Verbal Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.1. The basic structure 29
2.2.2. Derivational categories related to the verb 33
2.2.3. Lexicalization and grammaticalization 35
2.3. The Structure of Individual Verb Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.3.1. The root-and-pattern system 37
2.3.2. The rise of vowel alternation in Semitic 38
v
vi Contents
2.3.3. The root and the radicals 40
2.3.4. The pattern and the base 44
2.4. Vowel Syncope and Vowel Assimilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.5. The Personal Affixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Part two
the Basic stem
Chapter 3. The Paradigm of the G-Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2. The G-stem as the Basis of the Verbal Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.3. Distinctions in Aktionsart: Fientive, Stative, and Adjectival Verbs . . . . . . . 54
3.3.1. Fientive verbs with a stative meaning 55
3.3.2. Adjectival verbs 58
3.3.3. List of adjectival verbs 60
3.3.4. Deviating adjectives in Assyrian 64
3.4. Transitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.5. The Vowel Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.5.1. Form and function 68
3.5.2. The individual vowel classes 71
3.5.2.1. The vowel class I/i 71
3.5.2.2. The A/u or Ablaut class 72
3.5.2.3. The vowel class U/u 73
3.5.2.4. The vowel class A/a (including E/e) 74
3.5.2.5. The vowel class A/i 75
3.5.3. Changes in vowel class 75
3.6. Appendix: List of G-stem Verbs Arranged according to Vowel Class . . . . . 81
Chapter 4. The Impact of Gemination I: The Imperfective iparrVs . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.2. The Imperfective: Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.3. The Imperfective: Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.4. The Historical Background of iparrVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.4.1. The controversy about the Proto-Semitic imperfective 97
4.4.2. The emergence of iparrVs 100
4.4.3. Evidence 103
4.4.3.1. Historical evidence from Akkadian 103
4.4.3.2. Comparative evidence from Afroasiatic 104
4.4.3.3. Typological evidence 107
4.5. From Proto-Semitic *yiqattal- to Akkadian iparrVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4.5.1. The development of a variable imperfective vowel 109
4.5.2. The pluractional of the derived verbal stems and
the quadriradical verbs 112
4.5.3. The ending(s) of Proto-Semitic *yiqattal- 115
4.6. Akkadian iparrVs and the South Semitic Imperfective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.6.1. iparrVs and yəqattəl 117
Contents vii
4.6.2. The quadriradical and quinqueradical verbs
in South Semitic 123
Chapter 5
The Perfective and the Imperative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.2. The Perfective: Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.3. The Perfective: Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.4. The Historical Background of the Perfective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.5. The Imperative: Form and Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter 6. The t-Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
6.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.2. The t-Perfect: Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.3. The t-Perfect: Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.3.1. The t-perfect in Old Babylonian 141
6.3.2. The t-perfect in third-millennium Akkadian 149
6.3.3. The t-perfect in Old Assyrian 150
6.3.4. The t-perfect in the later dialects 153
6.4. The Historical Background of the t-Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 7. The Stative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
7.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
7.2. The Stative: Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
7.3. The Stative: Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
7.3.1. Statives derived from adjectives and nouns 165
7.3.2. Statives derived from verbs 168
7.3.3. Marginal and secondary uses of the stative 174
7.4. The Prehistory of the Stative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
7.4.1. The formal background of the stative 176
7.4.2. The relationship with the West Semitic perfect 181
7.4.3. The suffixed stative conjugations of Afroasiatic 189
Chapter 8. The Nominal Forms of the Verbal Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
8.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
8.2. The Infinitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
8.2.1. Form and function 194
8.2.2. Historical background 199
8.3. The Past Participle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
8.3.1. Form and function 200
8.3.2. Historical background 202
8.4. The Present Participles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
8.4.1. The simple present participle 203
8.4.2. The present participle with the suffix -ān- 207
8.4.3. Historical considerations 209
viii Contents
Chapter 9. The Secondary Members of the Verbal Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
9.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
9.2. The Irrealis Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
9.2.1. The precative 212
9.2.1.1. Form and function 212
9.2.1.2. Historical background 213
9.2.2. The vetitive: form and function 217
9.2.3. The prohibitive 219
9.3. The Subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
9.3.1. The form of the subjunctive 220
9.3.2. Other subjunctive-like suffixes 224
9.3.3. The function and the historical background of the subjunctive 227
9.4. The Ventive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
9.4.1. The form of the ventive 232
9.4.2. The function of the ventive 233
9.4.2.1. The ventive as allative 234
9.4.2.2. The ventive as dative 235
9.4.2.3. Other ventives 236
9.4.2.4. The ventive as a linking morpheme 238
9.4.3. The ventive in a historical perspective 240
Part three
the Derived Verbal stems
Chapter 10. The Derived Verbal Stems: General Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
10.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
10.2. Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
10.3. Formal Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
10.4. Functional Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
10.5. The Relationship between the G-Stem and the Derived Stems . . . . . . . . . 250
10.6. Oppositions between Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
10.7. Diachronic Aspects of the Derived Verbal Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
10.8. The Grammatical Functions Expressed by the Derived Verbal Stems . . . 256
10.8.1. Verbal plurality 256
10.8.2. Causative and factitive 256
10.8.3. Voice 257
10.8.3.1. Passive 259
10.8.3.2. Mediopassive 260
10.8.3.3. Direct reflexive 261
10.8.3.4. Indirect reflexive or autobenefactive 263
10.8.3.5. Reciprocal 263
10.8.3.6. The middle voice and “middle verbs” in Akkadian 265
Chapter 11. The impact of gemination II: the D-stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268
11.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
11.2. The Form of the D-Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Contents ix
11.3. The Function of the D-Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
11.3.1. D-stems of intransitive process verbs 272
11.3.2. D-stems of intransitive action verbs 274
11.3.3. D-stems of transitive process verbs 274
11.3.4. D-stems of transitive action verbs 274
11.4. D tantum Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
11.5. The Essence of the D-Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
11.6. The D-Stem in Historical Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
11.6.1. The D-stem in Semitic and Afroasiatic 280
11.6.2. The development of the factitive function 282
Chapter 12. The Prefix n- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288
12.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
12.2. The N-Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
12.2.1. The form of the N-stem 288
12.2.2. The function of the N-stem 294
12.2.2.1. The N-stem of transitive verbs 294
12.2.2.2. The N-stem of intransitive verbs 297
12.2.2.3. The N tantum verbs 298
12.2.3. The essence of the N-stem 299
12.3. The naparraru Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
12.4. The Verb mēlulu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
12.5. The Quadriradical Verbs of the nabalkutu Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
12.6. The Historical Background of the Prefix n- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
12.6.1. The prefix n- as an original “light verb” 314
12.6.2. The development of the N-stem 321
Chapter 13. The Prefix š- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324
13.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
13.2. The Š-stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
13.2.1. The form of the Š-stem 324
13.2.2. The function of the Š-stem 327
13.2.2.1. The Š-stem as causative of transitive verbs 327
13.2.2.2. The Š-stem as causative or factitive of intransitive verbs 328
13.2.2.3. The “elative” use of the Š-stem 331
13.2.2.4. The denominal function of the Š-stem 332
13.2.2.5. The relation of the Š-stem to the D-stem and the N-stem 333
13.3. The ŠD-stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
13.4. The Quadriradical Verbs with the Prefix š- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
13.4.1. The šubalkutu group 338
13.4.2. The šuparruru group 340
13.4.3. The šuḫarruru group 341
13.4.4. Šukennu and šupellu 346
13.5. The Š-stem in Other Semitic Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
13.6. The Historical Background of the Sibilant Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Chapter 14. The t-Infix and Its Ramifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355
14.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355