Book Review: Nisili. Manuel de langue Hittite. Volume II. Le système verbal hittite

Abstract

Unfortunately, the latter description was published too late to be incorporated into the standard Hittite grammar (H.A. Hoffner and H.C. Melchert, A Grammar of the Hittite Language I. Reference Grammar, Winona Lake, 2008), which led to the current, confusing, situation where the best synchronic description is not to be found in the most detailed grammar, but in an etymological dictionary. [...]the author's project, a thorough Hittite grammar in French, the second part of which is reviewed here, provides an excellent opportunity to overcome this problem. A major problem of the book is the sometimes inconsistent rendering of Hittite orthography, even though it is phonologically relevant. [...]the geminated spelling was entirely neglected for the endings, in many cases distorting their representation: all endings starting with geminated dental or laryngeal (mi-conjugation: 3sg pres., 2pl. The presentation of the endings has further shortcomings, such as neglecting some attested variants (e.g. medial °Äri-endings in New Hittite) but containing unattested (though expected) forms (*-wastari [1pl.pres.med] is not "rare" (p. 19), but unattested, *-ddumati [2pl.pret.med]), without notifying the reader. Since the present volume neither adopts nor adapts a pre-existing classificatory system, but proposes its own without refuting the earlier ones, it does not replace them.

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Sylvie Vanséveren : Nisili. Manuel de langue Hittite. Volume II. Le système verbal hittite . (Lettres Orientales et Classiques 19.) x, 251 pp. Leuven : Peeters , 2014. [euro]34. ISBN 978 90 429 3018 6 .

Reviews: The ancient Near East

Hittite verbal morphology is one of the most complex parts of the Hittite grammar owing to the diversity of inflectional types and ongoing changes throughout the attested period of Hittite. The classic description was provided by N. Oettinger, Die Stammbildung des hethitischen Verbums (Nuremberg, 1979, reprinted Dresden, 2002 with slight revisions), which was superseded only by A. Kloekhorst's treatment (Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Leiden, 2008, esp. pp. 117-52). Unfortunately, the latter description was published too late to be incorporated into the standard Hittite grammar (H.A. Hoffner and H.C. Melchert, A Grammar of the Hittite Language I. Reference Grammar, Winona Lake, 2008), which led to the current, confusing, situation where the best synchronic description is not to be found in the most detailed grammar, but in an etymological dictionary. Thus the author's project, a thorough Hittite grammar in French, the second part of which is reviewed here, provides an excellent opportunity to overcome this problem.

The preface and abbreviations are followed by a short description of the categories of the Hittite verb and its Indo-European background (chapter 1, pp. 1-12), as well as a synchronic description of the Hittite verbal endings (active indicative, medial indicative, imperative), and its PIE precursors (chapters 2-4, pp. 13-24). The bulk of the volume is devoted to a description of inflectional types (the so-called mi- and hi-conjugations, as well as the middle conjugation, chapters 5-7, pp. 25-171), followed by non-finite verbal forms (chapter 8, pp. 172-84). The descriptions follow a general scheme: they are introduced by concordances with the systems of Oettinger, Kloekhorst, and Hoffner and Melchert as well as a short definition of the class. Their paradigm is illustrated by the attested forms of selected verbs, followed by a list of the remaining ones with short etymological notes containing sometimes short, mainly semantic criticism (the etymologies are of course open to discussion: e.g. Vanséveren explains kuwaske/a- from "*g^wen-sk[COMBINING INVERTED BREVE]- > g^wansk- > g^wask-" [p. 101], despite the phonologically regular explanation from the morphologically expected *g^whn-sk[COMBINING INVERTED BREVE]é/ó- in Kloekhorst, "The Hittite syllabification of PIE *CuR and *K^wR", in D. Groddek and M. Zorman (eds), Tabula Hethaeorum. Hethitologische Beiträge Silvin Kosak zum 65. Geburtstag, Dresden, 2007, 455-7, not quoted by the author). Eventual subtypes are discussed in a similar fashion. The descriptions close with a useful presentation of the secondary formations within the history of Hittite and a list of verbs of uncertain class.

The volume closes with an overview of the usage of different verbal categories and constructions (chapter 9, pp. 185-207) as well as a bibliography of texts quoted and works cited; indexes of the Hittite verbs and the cited words and texts. All sections of the book contain ample up-to-date bibliographic references, which is one of its strengths, and to which little can be added (nevertheless, M. Meier-Brügger, Indo-European Linguistics, Berlin and New York, 2003 [p. 3] should be quoted in the revised, latest (ninth) edition, Indogermanische Sprachwissenschaft, Berlin and New York, 2010; for another case see above).

As suggested above, the most convenient decision for a manual would have been to adopt, or rather adapt, one of the existing classificatory systems. Instead, the author elaborated her own (which is closest to Oettinger's system); thus there are currently four different classifications of Hittite verbs. The merits and possible shortcomings of the author's classificatory system obviously deserve a detailed discussion (especially in comparison with the others), but for reasons of space this cannot be accomplished here. One important point, however, must be mentioned: the author divides medial verbs into root verbs and derived verbs (pp. 149-58), though what is morphologically relevant (i.e. what is needed to produce a grammatically correct paradigm) is the type of 3sg endings they select (in present -a(ri), -tta(ri), -Äri), since this is lexically determined. This difference appears in all categories of the middle (present, past, imperative) and has, contra the author (pp. 18-9), nothing to do with the distinction between the mi- and hi-conjugations.

A major problem of the book is the sometimes inconsistent rendering of Hittite orthography, even though it is phonologically relevant. Thus the geminated spelling was entirely neglected for the endings, in many cases distorting their representation: all endings starting with geminated dental or laryngeal (mi-conjugation: 3sg pres., 2pl. pres. and pret., hi-conjugation: 1sg pres., 2sg pres., medial ind. and imp. 1sg, 2sg, 3sg (-tta-type), 2pl. pres., 2sg, 2sg, 3sg, 2pl. pret.) are quoted with a single consonant, i.e. according to Hittite orthography, with a different initial phoneme. Sometimes another phonologically relevant practice, the so-called scriptio plena, is also neglected (e.g. tamÄss-/tame/iss- 'to (op)press' appears as damass-/damess- [p. 48]), leading occasionally to erroneous classifications (e.g. Ärs-/ars- 'to flow' as a non-ablauting stem ars-, p. 29). The presentation of the endings has further shortcomings, such as neglecting some attested variants (e.g. medial °Äri-endings in New Hittite) but containing unattested (though expected) forms (*-wastari [1pl.pres.med] is not "rare" (p. 19), but unattested, *-ddumati [2pl.pret.med]), without notifying the reader.

Since the present volume neither adopts nor adapts a pre-existing classificatory system, but proposes its own without refuting the earlier ones, it does not replace them. However, because of its reference style and the amount of information compiled here, it serves as a useful starting point for a first encounter with the Hittite verbal system. Yet it is precisely this reference style (and partly the above-mentioned shortcomings) that means that anyone interested in more precise accounts and details still has to consult Kloekhorst's handbook.