Hittite:Glossing recommendations

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Examples for common forms[edit | edit source]

For examples of glossings of common Hittite forms, see here.


Extra Glossing transcription line[edit | edit source]

Traditional scholarly transliteration as well as bound transcription of Hittite uses punctuation, too. This punctuation is in conflict with the punctuation as defined by the Glossing Rules.

Compare the following table:

Puctuation Meaning in scholarly
transliterations of Hittite
Meaning in scholarly
bound transcription of Hittite
Meaning in
Glossing transcription line
Meaning in
Glossing line
. Separates cuneiform signs used in Sumerograms Portmanteau morpheme
: Glossenkeil Morpheme separator
- Separates cuneiform signs used in Akkadograms and in syllabic spelling Affix
= Clitic Clitic
( ) Non-overt phonemes,
scholarly reconstruction
Inherent category
[ ] Completely destroyed text (lacuna),
potentially with reconstructed content
‘Zero’ morpheme
⌈ ⌉ Partially destroyed text,
usually with reconstructed content
{ } Erasure
< > Emendation of a scribal error (addition) Infix
<< >> Emendation of a scribal error (deletion)
~ Reduplication morpheme
\ Transfix
_ Fixed phrase Fixed phrase
\ Ablaut phenomenon
/ (Options) Ambigous morpheme

In order to prevent any confusion, it is strongly advisable or, as far as “-” and “< >” are concerned, even mandatory not to use these symbols in their traditional meaning in the Glossing transcription line (directly above the Glossing line). Keep in mind that the number and sequence of “-”, “=”, “~”, and “< >” in the Glossing transcription and the gloss needs to match exactly.

Problematic examples
Transliteration LUGAL URUKu--ša-<ra> URU-az kat-ta [pa-]an-ga-ri-it ụ́[-it]
Glosses king TOPN city:ABL down mass:INSTR come:PRT.3SG.ACT
‘The king of Kussara [came] down from the city with great (power).’
 
Bound transcription LUGAL URUKussa<ra> URU-az katta [pa]ngarit u[et]
Glosses king TOPN city:ABL down mass:INSTR come:PRT.3SG.ACT
‘The king of Kussara [came] down from the city with great (power).’
 

Consequently, the encoder needs to add an extra ‘Glossing transcription line’ between the traditional Transliteration line (or traditional Bound transcription line) and the Glossing line.

Examples
Transliteration LUGAL URUKu-uš-ša-<ra> URU-az kat-ta [pa-]an-ga-ri-it ụ́[-it]
Glossing transcription LUGAL Kussara URUaz katta pangarit
Glosses king TOPN city:ABL down mass:INSTR come:PRT.3SG.ACT uet
‘The king of Kussara [came] down from the city with great (power).’
 


Bound transcription LUGAL URUKussa<ra> URU-az katta [pa]ngarit u[et]
Glossing transcription LUGAL Kussara URUaz katta pangarit uet
Glosses king TOPN city:ABL down mass:INSTR come:PRT.3SG.ACT
‘The king of Kussara [came] down from the city with great (power).’
 

In the Glossing transcription line, all symbols need to be used according to the Glossing Rules. In the Traditional transliteration line, however, the encoder may use all the symbols according to his/her scholarly tradition.


Hands-on transcription transformation guidelines[edit | edit source]

To derive a valid Glossing transcription line from a traditional transliteration or transcription line, the follwoing hand-on rules may help.

Compare the following table:

Traditional
transliteration
line
Traditional
transcription
line
Glossing
transliteration line
Examples
. make bound transcription
keep it (if bound transcription impossible) LUGAL.GAL → LUGAL.GAL king:great ‘Great King’
: leave out
- make bound transcription of either the underlying Hittite word or of the Akkadogram, i.e. the Akkadian word Ku-uš-ša-ra → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara
URU-az → URUaz city:ABL ‘from (the) city’
- like “.”, but with sumerograms;
keep italics for sumerogram
GAL-ŠUNU → GAL.ŠUNU great:POSS.3PL.C ‘their leader’
= keep it (clitic) me-e-ni-im-me-et → mēni=mmet face:ACC.SG.N=POSS.1SG.NOM/ACC.SG.N ‘my face’
( ) leave parentheses
and content out
n(u)=an → n=an CNJ=3SG.ACC.C ‘and him’
(superscript) leave classifiers out URUKussara → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara
< > leave brackets out;
keep content
URUKussa<ra> → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara
{ } leave brackets and content out URUKussa{sa}ra → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara
[ ] leave brackets out;
keep content or leave it out
URU[Kussa]ra → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara
URU[Kussa]ra → [__]ra ‘[destroyed]’
⌈ ⌉ leave brackets out;
keep content
URU⌈Kussa⌉ra → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara



Problems with the Cuneiform Script: Syllabic and Logographic spelling[edit | edit source]

The Hittite language was written in the cuneiform script that ultimately derived from Southern Mesopotamia. The cuneiform script consists of syllabic and logographic signs. Since the script was originally not invented to write an Indo-European language such as Hittite, it is not the best suitable script to write such a language. The Hittite cuneiform script uses consonant-vowel (CV) and vowel-consonant (VC) signs as well as single vowel (V) signs and consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) signs. This syllabic writing system masks the exact phonetics of the Hittite language. For example, it makes it impossible to write consonant clusters which are common in Indo-European languages. Logograms in Hittite texts are signs or combinations of signs that designate a specific Hittite word. Two types of logograms are distinguished in Hittite texts: Sumerograms and Akkadograms. Sumerograms are words from the Sumerian language whereas Akkadograms are words from the Akkadian language.

In transliterations of Hittite texts it is custom to distinguish between the different logographic and syllabic spellings. Syllabic signs, which reflect the Hittite language directly, are written in italics and separated by hyphens (-). Sumerograms are written in capital letters and uses dots (.) to separate the different signs, whereas Akkadograms are written in italicized capital letters and uses hyphens (-) to separate the different signs. In addition, one finds syllabic endings attached to logographically written words. Akkadographic endings can also be attached to a Sumerogram, these are written in superscript. Examples:

Transliteration Glossing transcription Gloss
MUNUS.LUGAL MUNUS.LUGAL queen
DUMU DUMU son
DUMU- DUMU son:GEN.SG
A-BU ABU or attaš father:NOM.SG.C
DINGIRLIM-iš DINGIRLIMiš god:NOM.SG.C

These logograms can complicate glossing a Hittite text, especially when the Hittite word underlying the Sumerogram or Akkadogram is unknown. We suggest to do the following when one is glossing a Hittite text or text passage. If possible, write the underlying Hittite word(s) in its correct form in the glossing transliteration line. When the underlying word or its correct form is unknown, leave the logogram in its capitalized format. For Sumerograms one should also leave the separating dots. For Akkadograms one should make a bound transcription of the Akkadian word and, hence, remove the separating hyphens, but leave the italics. The hyphen that connects the syllabically written endings may be removed.

One should be cautious to gloss the underlying Hittite language and not the script. For example, unlike Hittite Akkadian does distinguish between masculine and feminine and this can be reflected in Akkadograms such as in DUMU=ŠU ‘his son’. Nonetheless one should not gloss it as masculine (M), since that does not reflect the Hittite language (DUMU=ŠU son=his.POSS.3SG.C (not M!)). In addition, a Hittite construction may differ from that of a logographically written one. For example, Akkadograms, in accordance with the Akkadian language, make use of prepositions, whereas Hittite uses postpositions or perhaps a case ending instead.

On the Hittite cuneiform script, Hittite writing conventions and modern transcription conventions, see Hoffner & Melchert 2008: pp. 9-24.