Ugaritic

Not to be confused with Ugric languages.

Ugaritic
Clay tablet of Ugaritic alphabet
Native to	Ugarit
Extinct	12th century BC
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Central Northwest (unclassified) Ugaritic
Writing system	Ugaritic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-2	uga
ISO 639-3	uga
Linguist List	uga
Glottolog	ugar1238

Ugaritic (/ˌjuːɡəˈrɪtɪk, ˌuː-/) is an extinct Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit, including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycle.

Ugaritic has been called "the greatest literary discovery from antiquity since the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mesopotamian cuneiform".

Corpus

Main article: Ugaritic texts

The Ugaritic language is attested in texts from the 14th through the 12th century BC. The city of Ugarit was destroyed roughly 1190 BC.

Literary texts discovered at Ugarit include the Legend of Keret, the legends of Danel, the Myth of Baal-Aliyan, and the Death of Baal. The latter two are also known collectively as the Baal Cycle. All reveal aspects of ancient Northwest Semitic religion.

Edward Greenstein has proposed that Ugaritic texts might help solve biblical puzzles such as the anachronism of Ezekiel mentioning Daniel in Ezekiel 14:13–16 actually referring to Danel, a hero from the Ugaritic Tale of Aqhat.

Phonology

Ugaritic had 28 consonantal phonemes (including two semivowels) and eight vowel phonemes (three short vowels and five long vowels): a ā i ī u ū ē ō. The phonemes ē and ō occur only as long vowels and are the result of monophthongization of the diphthongs аy and aw, respectively.

Ugaritic consonantal phonemes

		Labial	Interdental	Dental/Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
				plain	emphatic
Nasal		m		n
Stop	voiceless	p		t	tˤ		k	q		ʔ
	voiced	b		d			ɡ
Fricative	voiceless		θ	s	sˤ	ʃ	x		ħ	h
	voiced		ð	z	ðˤ	(ʒ)	ɣ		ʕ
Approximant				l		j	w
Trill				r

The following table shows Proto-Semitic phonemes and their correspondences among Ugaritic, Classical Arabic and Tiberian Hebrew:

Proto-Semitic	Ugaritic		Classical Arabic		Tiberian Hebrew		Imperial Aramaic
b [b]	𐎁	b	ب	b [b]	ב	b/ḇ [b/v]	ב	b/ḇ [b/v]
p [p]	𐎔	p	ف	f [f]	פ	p/p̄ [p/f]	פ	p/p̄ [p/f]
ḏ [ð]	𐎏	d; sometimes ḏ [ð]	ذ	ḏ [ð]	ז	z [z]	ד (older ז)	d/ḏ [d/ð]
ṯ [θ]	𐎘	ṯ [θ]	ث	ṯ [θ]	שׁ	š [ʃ]	ת	t/ṯ [t/θ]
ṱ [θʼ]	𐎑	ẓ [ðˤ]; sporadically ġ [ɣ]	ظ	ẓ [ðˤ]	צ	ṣ [sˤ]	ט	ṭ [tˤ]
d [d]	𐎄	d	د	d [d]	ד	d/ḏ [d/ð]	ד	d/ḏ [d/ð]
t [t]	𐎚	t	ت	t [t]	ת	t/ṯ [t/θ]	ת	t/ṯ [t/θ]
ṭ [tʼ]	𐎉	ṭ [tˤ]	ط	ṭ [tˤ]	ט	ṭ [tˤ]	ט	ṭ [tˤ]
š [s]	𐎌	š [ʃ]	س	s [s]	שׁ	š [ʃ]	שׁ	š [ʃ]
z [dz]	𐎇	z	ز	z [z]	ז	z [z]	ז	z [z]
s [ts]	𐎒	s	س	s [s]	ס	s [s]	ס	s [s]
ṣ [tsʼ]	𐎕	ṣ [sˤ]	ص	ṣ [sˤ]	צ	ṣ [sˤ]	צ	ṣ [sˤ]
l [l]	𐎍	l	ل	l [l]	ל	l [l]	ל	l [l]
ś [ɬ]	𐎌	š	ش	š [ʃ]	שׂ	ś [ɬ]→[s]	שׂ/ס	s/ś [s]
ṣ́ [(t)ɬʼ]	𐎕	ṣ [sˤ]	ض	ḍ [ɮˤ]→[dˤ]	צ	ṣ [sˤ]	ע (older ק)	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]
g [ɡ]	𐎂	g	ج	ǧ [ɡʲ]→[dʒ]	ג	g/ḡ [ɡ/ɣ]	ג	g/ḡ [ɡ/ɣ]
k [k]	𐎋	k	ك	k [k]	כ	k/ḵ [k/x]	כ	k/ḵ [k/x]
q [kʼ]	𐎖	q	ق	q [q]	ק	q [q]	ק	q [q]
ġ [ɣ]	𐎙	ġ [ɣ]	غ	ġ [ɣ]	ע	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]	ע	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]
ḫ [x]	𐎃	ḫ [x]	خ	ḫ [x]	ח	ḥ [ħ]	ח	ḥ [ħ]
[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]	𐎓	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]	ع	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]	ע	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]	ע	[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʕ]
ḥ [ħ]	𐎈	ḥ [ħ]	ح	ḥ [ħ]	ח	ḥ [ħ]	ח	ḥ [ħ]
[ʾ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʔ]	𐎛	[ʾ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʔ]	ء	[ʾ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʔ]	א	[ʾ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help) [ʔ]	א/∅	[ʾ/∅] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 3) (help) [ʔ/∅]
h [h]	𐎅	h	ﻫ	h [h]	ה	h [h]	ה	h [h]
m [m]	𐎎	m	م	m [m]	מ	m [m]	מ	m [m]
n [n]	𐎐	n	ن	n [n]	נ	n [n]; total assimilation before a consonant	נ	n [n]
r [r]	𐎗	r	ر	r [r]	ר	r [r]	ר	r [r]
w [w]	𐎆	w	و	w [w]	ו	w [w]; y [j] initially	ו	w [w]
y [j]	𐎊	y [j]	ي	y [j]	י	y [j]	י	y [j]
Proto-Semitic	Ugaritic		Classical Arabic		Tiberian Hebrew		Imperial Aramaic

Writing system

Main article: Ugaritic alphabet

Table of Ugaritic alphabet

The Ugaritic alphabet is a cuneiform script used beginning in the 15th century BC. Like most Semitic scripts, it is an abjad, where each symbol stands for a consonant, leaving the reader to supply the appropriate vowel.

Although it appears similar to Mesopotamian cuneiform (whose writing techniques it borrowed), its symbols and symbol meanings are unrelated. It is the oldest example of the family of West Semitic scripts such as the Phoenician, Paleo-Hebrew, and Aramaic alphabets (including the Hebrew alphabet). The so-called "long alphabet" has 30 letters while the "short alphabet" has 22. Other languages (particularly Hurrian) were occasionally written in the Ugarit area, although not elsewhere.

Clay tablets written in Ugaritic provide the earliest evidence of both the Levantine ordering of the alphabet, which gave rise to the alphabetic order of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin alphabets; and the South Semitic order, which gave rise to the order of the Ge'ez script. The script was written from left to right.

Grammar

Main article: Ugaritic grammar

Ugaritic is an inflected language, and its grammatical features are highly similar to those found in Akkadian, Classical Arabic and, to a lesser extent, Biblical Hebrew. It possesses two genders (masculine and feminine), three grammatical cases for nouns and adjectives (nominative, accusative, and genitive), three numbers (singular, dual, and plural), and verb aspects similar to those found in other Northwest Semitic languages. The word order for Ugaritic is verb–subject–object (VSO) and subject–object–verb (SOV), possessed–possessor (NG), and noun–adjective (NA). Ugaritic is considered a conservative Semitic language, since it retains most of the phonemes, the case system, and the word order of the ancestral Proto-Semitic language.

References

• Bordreuil, Pierre & Pardee, Dennis (2009). A Manual of Ugaritic: Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic 3. Winona Lake, IN 46590: Eisenbraun's, Inc. ISBN 978-1-57506-153-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
• Cunchillos, J.-L. & Vita, Juan-Pablo (2003). A Concordance of Ugaritic Words. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-258-7.
• del Olmo Lete, Gregorio & Sanmartín, Joaquín (2004). A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-13694-6. (2 vols; originally in Spanish, translated by W. G. E. Watson).
• Gibson, John C. L. (1977). Canaanite Myths and Legends. T. & T. Clark. ISBN 978-0-567-02351-3. (Contains Latin-alphabet transliterations of the Ugaritic texts and facing translations in English.)
• Gordon, Cyrus Herzl (1965). The Ancient Near East. W. W. Norton & Company Press. ISBN 978-0-393-00275-1.
• Greenstein, Edward L. (1998). Shlomo Izre'el; Itamar Singer; Ran Zadok (eds.). "On a New Grammar of Ugaritic" in Past links: studies in the languages and cultures of the ancient near east: Volume 18 of Israel oriental studies. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-035-4. Found at Google Scholar.
• Huehnergard, John (2011). A Grammar of Akkadian, 3rd ed. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-5750-6941-8.
• Moscati, Sabatino (1980). An Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages, Phonology and Morphology. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-00689-7.
• Parker, Simon B. (ed.) (1997). Ugaritic Narrative Poetry: Writings from the Ancient World Society of Biblical Literature. Atlanta: Scholars Press. ISBN 978-0-7885-0337-5. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Pardee, Dennis (2003). Rezension von J. Tropper, Ugaritische Grammatik (AOAT 273) Ugarit-Verlag, Münster 2000: Internationale Zeitschrift für die Wissenschaft vom Vorderen Orient. Vienna, Austria: Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO). P. 1-404.
• Schniedewind, William M. & Hunt, Joel H. (2007). A Primer on Ugaritic: Language, Culture and Literature. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-5217-0493-9.
• Segert, Stanislav (1997). A Basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03999-5.
• Sivan, Daniel (1997). A Grammar of the Ugaritic Language (Handbook of Oriental Studies/Handbuch Der Orientalistik). Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-10614-7. A more concise grammar.
• Tropper, J. (2000). Ugaritische Grammatik, AOAT 273. Münster, Ugarit Verlag.
• Woodard, Roger D. (ed.) (2008). The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Further reading

• Pardee, Dennis. “UGARITIC PROPER NOUNS”. In: Archiv Für Orientforschung 36/37 (1989): 390–513. UGARITIC PROPER NOUNS.
• Josef Tropper, Juan-Pablo Vita (2020). Lehrbuch der ugaritischen Sprache. Münster: Zaphon. ISBN 978-3-96327-070-3.
• Watson, Wilfred G.E. "From Hair to Heel: Ugaritic Terms for Parts of the Body". In: ''Folia Orientalia'' Vol. LII (2015), pp. 323–364.
• Watson, Wilfred G.E. "Terms for Occupations, Professions and Social Classes in Ugaritic: An Etymological Study". In: Folia Orientalia Vol. LV (2018), pp. 307–378. DOI: 10.24425/for.2018.124688
• Watson, Wilfred G.E. "Terms for Textiles, Clothing, Hides, Wool and Accessories in Ugaritic: An Etymological Study". In: Aula Orientalis 36/2 (2018): 359–396. ISSN 0212-5730.
• Watson, Wilfred G. E.. "Ugaritic Military Terms in the Light of Comparative Linguistics". In: At the Dawn of History: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of J. N. Postgate. Edited by Yağmur Heffron, Adam Stone and Martin Worthington, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2021. pp. 699–720. coaccess

External links

• Ugarit and the Bible. An excerpt from an online introductory course on Ugaritic grammar (the Quartz Hill School of Theology's course noted in the links hereafter). Includes a cursory discussion on the relationship between Ugaritic and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible literature.
• "El in the Ugaritic tablets" on the BBCi website gives many attributes of the Ugaritic creator and his consort Athirat.
• Abstract of Mark Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Text.
• Unicode Chart.
• RSTI. The Ras Shamra Tablet Inventory: an online catalog of inscribed objects from Ras Shamra-Ugarit produced at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.