Akkadian vs Hebrew - How similar is Akkadian to Hebrew? Comparing the Akkadian and Hebrew Languages
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2022
- How similar is Akkadian to Hebrew? To what extent are these two Semitic languages intelligible? Can a Hebrew speaker understand Akkadian?
Akkadian was the language used in ancient Mesopotamia by the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian communities. The language was used as the lingua franca for international correspondence throughout the ancient Near East and reached as far away as Egypt. In time Akkadian was replaced by Aramaic, which was the main language of the region for more than a thousand years after Akkadian. Hebrew on the other hand is a language of lower Canaan, spoken by the ancient Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the language used to write the Hebrew Bible, otherwise known as the Old Testament. In addition to the reach of the Akkadian language as far as Egypt, the Babylonian Empire uprooted the communities of Judah and relocated them in Babylon two generations of direct contact put the Hebrew community of exile alongside Akkadian speakers.
#Akkadian #hebrewlanguage #Polyglot
I did my Old Babylonian during 2021 - 22 and found it very interesting and graspable. It opened up many Semitic details I'd not learned eleven years earlier in my Biblical Hebrew studies, which I promptly took up again and learned the logic and basics of immediately after the course. It was so much easier than Akkadian, suddenly.
This spring, March to April 2023, I had courses on colloquial Neo Assyrian letters and Late Babylonian contracts, and oh boy. "I'll just take two nice text courses", I thought, "it'll be fine, I'm sure!"
It wasn't fine. 6 hrs of lectures and 40 hrs of translating _pro_ week, for six weeks straight, made me doubt my convictions of "loving ancient West Asian / Near Eastern languages". It also made clear my need of practice, a great need of practice.
So thanks for these videos! They seem to be nicely bite sized, although I rarely say no to an actual lecture - even to my detriment, it seems.
Feels like choosing to learn Latin first, then jumping into Spanish, French, Italian, etc. Any suggestion what would be a good language learning order for Semitic languages based on your own experience?
@@ProfessorMichaelWingert I'd say Old Babylonian first - although this is from someone who enlisted on his first Arabic course just earlier today.
I really didn't get Hebrew at first because it's so different from the Indo-European languages, although I could read it; I hadn't really realised _how_ different the Semitic languages are. Some of the essential benefits of OB for a n00b are that the case endings are still there (eg. makes _st. cstr._ a bit more understandable) and one does not have to learn a new script to delve into the grammar. One may get a good sense of the stem system in a visually familiar setting, although the root system isn't represented as intuitively as in consonantal script (oh wait, the cuneiform do not employ the _mere consonants_ idea anyway, do they now), and when one goes on to languages with later scripts the genius of the consonant writing becomes obvious.
I did enjoy learning the cuneiform system on OB1 and OB2, though, and see the benefits of learning some of the signs while on those courses. There's a sense of accomplishment when one can read the _stela_ of CH themselves. I can see the benefits of both teaching and not teaching the signs on OB1&2.
On the other languages next Hebrew & Aramaic for the ease of _corpus_ and the breadth of linguistic culture, then Syriac after Aramaic. Throw some Arabic there somewhere and stay far from Ge'ez script for one's sanity, if possible :'D the other forms of Akkadian as they become possible to take up.
Akkadian looks fun. I didn’t realize how similar it is to Hebrew.
And if you've studied Hebrew first, it makes learning Akkadian a lot easier.
Ibrahim son Sargon akkidin king of akkidin
I’m a hweb and it looks nothing like he heard to me, but it definitely sounds like Hebrew
I will definitely be learning Akkadian before Sumerian et al once I get deeper into my Mesopotamian studies.
Ty for putting out this video. I happen to know ancient Hebrew and Aramaic this is very interesting!
As a native Arabic speaker, I really appreciate your videos! Do you think the word for chair in Arabic “kursee” share the same root with Akkadian and Hebrew?
And in Quran the word ba’al بعل mentioned in the feminine plural forms بعولتهن to mean “their husbands”. The ebed in Hebrew corresponds with Abid عبد in Arabic. Looking forward for more videos!
Shukran jazilan le-kalemateka al-jamila. Yes, I would argue that kursee (cognate with Aramaic kursyā) is directly related to what we see in Akkadian and Hebrew. Thanks again!
@@ProfessorMichaelWingert ʿafwan!
Excellent. Im enjoying your videos immensely. Theyre short but to the point. Well done.
Glad you like them!
Thank you Prof.
You are very welcome. Thank you for watching.
I would love to watch your video comparing classic ethiopic vs akkadian /hebrew :) .@@ProfessorMichaelWingert
@@AgapeOTsion I am planning on putting that one together. If you also follow @POAAS Henok Elias, I will be making an appearance on his podcast to do some more Akkadian.
This channel is amazing
Many thanks!
Thanks so much!!!
Appreciate you watching.
I think I would translate the Hebrew with cognates at the beginning as:
"Im ganab awil Ben awil sa'ir yudak"
It feels more true to the meaning, and it sounds closer.
Very nice video!!
To be fair though... Husband in English means master of the house.. not much better. 🙂
😅 Haha good point!
And in German it's the same as in Hebrew actually 😊
Awesome but one of the first things that popped out to me in terms of modern semitic cognates with Akkadian is the word miskin مسكين which is also in Hebrew.
Speaking of which I wonder if the Akkadians had some equivalent of khara....
There are plenty of words for excrement, and ḫara could be associated with digging a hole... perhaps a crap hole. I haven't seen that in the literature yet, but if I run across it, I'll try to comment here again to let you know!
@@ProfessorMichaelWingert ah I see so it would be related to Hebrew חור as in hole? I always assumed it would be related to the Arabic for falling خرّ
@@stevenv6463 To be honest, I've never thought about it. I think the root is חרר so that would (potentially) be different. I always thought that the word was onomatopoeia given how I learned it from Surayt (Turoyo Neo-Aramaic).
I want to self-study some Akkadian as an eventual way into Ugaritic.
Both great languages. If you want to do Akkadian, I recommend getting John Huehnergard's "A Grammar of Akkadian." That's the introductory text that I use when I teach it.
Any recommendations for a curious layman to get into Akkadian? I know فصحى and can read a little biblical Hebrew. Akkadian just doesn't seem super accessible plus the problem with the dialects is even worse than learning ancient Greek.
I recommend getting professor Huehnergard's A Grammar of Akkadian and the key. You'd be learning on your own, but it's a fine resource for beginners and comparative Semiticists. Huehnergard basically introduces students to the Old Babylonian dialect, which is the most manageable among the dialects (with fewer exceptions and developments than the others), so it is a good starter for the language before going down the dialect rabbit hole. If you can read German, Von Soden's Grundriss der akkadischen Grammatik remains the industry standard. You can email me and I will let you know the next time I do an open-enrollment online course.
@@ProfessorMichaelWingert Excellent, I'll shoot you an email and look forward to possibly enrolling. I'll try to get that book.
But what is that email?
@@stevenv6463 professor wingert at gmail dot com (typed this way so I don't get spammed).
@@ProfessorMichaelWingert How long are your online Akkadian courses usually and by the end of it will the participants reach B1/B2 or is it more introductory?
@@sarah37452 Hi Sarah. I'm presently teaching introductory Akkadian over the course of two 10 week quarters at Fuller Theological Seminary. I will also be doing something similar at Agora University in the near future that will be in either 16 week semester (or 8 week half semester) format. Because the CEP framework is designed for speaking and reading function, I think it would be tough to pin down Akkadian into that format (it might be an interesting project for me to undertake though). Serious students should be able to read Akkadian texts well after 32 weeks. The line for functioning as A2/B1 in non-spoken languages is a little fuzzy. I'd call reading texts in cuneiform B2 and above, which may or may not take another semester (or two). My approach is to teach the language first, then the cuneiform afterwards. There are important reasons for that. Thanks for asking!
What is the equivalent of (of and if) in Akkadian, Ugaritic
What like ING in Akkadian?
Could you ask this question another way? I'm not sure I'm understanding what your question is about the Akkadian language.
@@ProfessorMichaelWingert
What is the equivalent of (ING) in Akkadian, Ugaritic?
What is ING? You mean the sound or is it an acronym? @@yonj3269
He is asking what the conjugate for present simple perfect word would be. Unfortunately- Hebrew and Aramaic as well as akkadean have a different structure. In Hebrew it’s the root and paal - binyanim system. Easy answer is look for binyan “poel” or “poalim” aka adding o after the first letter of the root
Which language appeared to be the closest to Akkadian? Maybe Eblaite?
Could be... if only we knew more about Eblaite!
The root for the words Akk. innakkis , Heb. Yeqasses and Arb. Yaqqos is QS ( Cut )
Hi. Great series. Some feedbaks. Shanoo is also means in hebrew to repeat text, mishna, leshanen; to know by heart. In hebrew its called by mouth. Be-al-pe
Walla beemet dome
Hi
Abraham son Sargon akkidin king number 4 son
هنا العبريه جاءت بعد هاذه اللغات واخدت من الحميريه والسباءيه والسريانيه القديمه وفي اللغه العبربه بعض الكلمات للغه الجءزيه القديمه وهي لغه يتكلم بها الي الان في ارتريا ومنها التقري والتقرنيا وكذالك من اللغه الحاميه الموجوده في ارترياوهي لغت الحضارب مثل اليم للماء وكذالك ايلات ومن التقري يقولون بالعبريه بشلا او ابشلا او ابشل هذه لغاتنا العبريه خليط من جميع اللغات من الشرق الاوسط ومن شرق افريقيا من هنا وهناك وهذا يدل انها جديده وجاءت بعد هذه اللغات القديمه❤❤❤
The Hebrew Bible was already written centuries before Arabic even had an Alphabet 😊
That doesn't sound at all like what would an akkadian say and have imprinted for generations to come.