Abstract:
In this investigation the Akkadian dialect of Hatti, the country of the Hittites, was studied in the form in which it can be retrieved through Akkadian texts excavated since 1929 at Ugarit (at present Ras Shamra). The Akkadian dialect once used in Hatti is one of the so-called western peripheral dialects of the Akkadian language, the cradle of which is Mesopotamia. Scientists are at the moment engaged in doing research on all the peripheral dialects in order to define and compare them. It will then become apparent how they developed in the areas in which they were found, and what influences were exercised on them by neighbouring languages. The results of this study have been represented in the form of a comparison between the Akkadian dialect of Hatti and the Akkadian dialect of a number of other areas. From this it is clear that the Hatti dialect reveals distinctive characteristics, although it has much in common with those derived from a number of border areas.