Hittite:Glossing recommendations

Extra Glossing transcription line

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 Sumerograms		—	Portmanteau morpheme
-	Seperates syllabograms	Seperates Akkadograms	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		—
{ }	Emendation of a scribal error (deletion)		—
< >	Emendation of a scribal error (addition)		Infix
~	—		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-uš-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

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’
-		make bound transcription	Ku-uš-ša-ra → Kussara TOPN ‘Kussara’ URU-az → URUaz city:ABL ‘from (the) city’
	-	“.” (like with Sumerograms)	GAL-ŠUNU → GAL.ŠUNU great:POSS.3PL.M ‘their leader’
	=	keep it (clitic)	me-e-ni-im-me-et → mēni=mmet face:ACC.SG=POSS.1SG.ACC.SG.N ‘my face’
	( )	leave parentheses out; keep content	(Please contribute)
< >		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’

Common forms

(Please contribute) You might want to take Akkadian:Glossing of common Akkadian forms as a model.