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A Grammar of Akkadian (Harvard Semitic Studies 45)

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John Huehnergard's 'Grammar of Akkadian' is an excellent book for learning a difficult ancient language. Akkadian is not a language most schools (even most seminaries) offer as part of the curriculum; hence, many people who learn this language do so via self-study -- a key to the exercises is crucial in this event, and this is available as a separate volume. Huehnergard's Grammar is divided into 38 lessons (with sub-parts), with exercises for translation.

Akkadian is a major language of the ancient world, the earliest attested language among the Semitic languages. However, all of the Semitic languages present in the modern world (Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, etc.) derive from the Western Semitic branch; only Akkadian and Eblaite were major Eastern Semitic branches, both now extinct. The demise of Akkadian is somewhat surprising, given that it was the language of Empire for a very long time -- Akkadian most likely originated in Akkad, capital of Sargon's empire in 2300 BCE in the Fertile Crescent; it remained a primary language for over a thousand years in the region, and was continued as a literary language until the first century CE. As is natural with any long-standing and wide-spread language, there are dialects of Akkadian (think of the progress of English from Beowulf through Chaucer and Shakespeare to the present). Huehnergard's text addressses this issues, concentrating on the Old Babylonian dialect, but giving information of the Assyrian dialect. Huehnergard's introduction discusses the different dialects, as well as Akkadian's relationship to the older but linguistically unrelated language of Sumerian, with which it coexisted for many centuries.

Huehnergard recognises that self-study is a distinct possibility, so the 38 lessons are prepared in such as way that an instructor's assistance is beneficial and preferable, but not strictly necessary. In each of the lessons, there are sub-topics such that two or three grammar points are covered. Beginning at chapter 9, actual cuneiform script is introduced alongside the transliterations; ten or so cuneiform signs are presented with each subsequent lesson. Each lesson also presents new vocabulary and vocabulary drills to reinforce earlier words.

Huehnergard's method asks students to learn to compose in Akkadian in addition to reading -- while most of those using this text to learn will be doing so for reading purposes only, Huehnergard feels that actually writing in the language helps reinforce the language skills. About a third of the way through the text, Huehnergard introduces actual Akkadian texts for translation, which eventually include portions of Hammurabi's code, religious texts and royal inscriptions. Huehnergard acknowledges that he has provided an 'overabundance' of exercises, which is useful for instructors to select among different texts, and for self-learners to get extra practice.

After lesson 38, there are additional readings,taken from portions of Gilgamesh; a glossary of Akkadian words, logograms, determinatives; an English-Akkadian word list; cuneiform signs lists; and several appendices. Huehnergard's introduction provides bibliographic listings of dictionaries, alternative grammars, and journal articles that is quite extensive.

This is a great text for learning this ancient and complex language. Whether your interest is history, religion, literature, or languages, this book is a good guide for elementary mastery of this important language.

If you're studying (or thinking of studying) Akkadian in a university setting, you don't need anyone to recommend a text for you. But if you're thinking about studying Akkadian on your own, look no further.

This book is just about perfect for the student learning on his/her own. (To get full benefit, you really need to buy the companion "Key to a Grammar of Akkadian", by the same author.) The grammar is divided into graded lessions, and each lesson introduces 2 or 3 grammatical points. These are followed by vocabulary and exercises to test your command of the grammar just learned. Translation exercises from Akkadian to English, and English to Akkadian follow. The format is very similar to that used by Lambdin in his excellent grammars of Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, and Ge'ez. Again, the "Key to the Grammar" is indispensable; by checking your answers against the key, you'll know if you've mastered the grammar. No previous knowledge of linguistics or any other Semitic language is assumed.

After about 10 lessons, he introduces cuneiform signs, and thereafter, each lesson has a number of short readings provided in cuneiform. It's a little daunting at first...in my earlier stabs at Akkadian, I had only seen the (simpler) Neo-Assyrian versions of the signs. The author gives 3 varieties of each sign: the Old Babylonian lapidary form, the OB cursive form, and the Neo-Assyrian form.

Learning Akkadian is no easy task. This is a big book, and it's probably going to take me over a year to get through it. But the material is presented in a very accessible and straightforward manner, and each lesson builds on the material learned before. If you enjoy the intellectual challenge of learning a dead language, you'll love this book.

English-speaking students of Akkadian have for a long time had to pick and mix their textbooks. Something out of Caplice here, something out of Marcus there, with an occasional dip into Riemschneider in translation. All of these books are admirable in many ways but at times the student is left with conflicting interpretations and, most importantly, wondering whether their answers to the examples are correct. Now, at last, there is a single volume which leads the student from the simplest aspects of the Akkadian - mostly Old Babylonian - to a level at which original research can begin. The cuneiform script is, rightly, only introduced after a basic understanding of the grammar is acquired but is otherwise mixed freely with transliterations. The appendices include an extensive wordlist, glossaries of logograms and determinatives, notes on other dialects and phonology and extensive paradigm tables. The answers to nearly all of the exercises are available in a separate volume. Now all we need is for someone to do the same for Sumerian....

If you're studying (or thinking of studying) Akkadian in a university setting, you don't need anyone to recommend a text for you. But if you're thinking about studying Akkadian on your own, look no further.

I'm not an academic, and I have no professional qualifications to judge this work. But I enjoy languages, and I know what works for me. This book is just about perfect for the student learning on his/her own. (To get full benefit, you really need to buy the companion "Key to a Grammar of Akkadian", by the same author.) The grammar is divided into graded lessons, and each lesson introduces 2 or 3 grammatical points. These are followed by vocabulary and exercises to test your command of the grammar just learned. Translation exercises from Akkadian to English, and English to Akkadian follow. (The format is very similar to that used by Lambdin in his excellent grammars of Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, and Ge'ez.) Again, the "Key to the Grammar" is indispensable; by checking your answers against the key, you'll know if you've mastered the grammar. No previous knowledge of linguistics or any other Semitic language is assumed.

After about 10 lessons, he introduces cuneiform signs, and thereafter, each lesson has a number of short readings provided in cuneiform. It's a little daunting at first...in my earlier stabs at Akkadian, I had only seen the (simpler) Neo-Assyrian versions of the signs. The author gives 3 varieties of each sign: the Old Babylonian lapidary form, the OB cursive form, and the Neo-Assyrian form.

Learning Akkadian is no easy task. This is a big book, and it's probably going to take me over a year to get through it. But the material is presented in a very accessible and straightforward manner, and each lesson builds on the material learned before. If you enjoy the intellectual challenge of learning a dead language, you'll love this book.

This is the cleanest presentation of Akkadian for the student that I have yet seen. It is a masterful presentation that provides a sound and solid footing for further education and research, considerably delaying continuing students' need to subject themselves to the far more opaque (and less current) works of Ungnad and Gelb. The availability of a key to the exercises in this book makes learning Akkadian available even to those who wish to master this language on their own. (q.v., ISBN: 0788504274) For learning Akkadian, this is THE text!

If you really want to learn Akkadian to show up all your friends that say its a useless dead language(you can be like I don't care I'm learning it anyway, that will really show 'em), this is a great book for you. The grammar is presented in a fairly clear way(okay sometimes, it took me a few readings to learn some of the concepts, but still it is fairly clear), eventually you get to read actual texts(in their actual scripts no less, you don't have the Neo Assyrian scripted Old Babylonian document thing going on). The book is about Old Babylonian grammar, but Appendices deal with modifications for Assyrian and Standard Babylonian grammar. The Intro also is fascinating, detailing the numerous dialects of Akkadian, where they were spoken, and the documents that survive in those dialects. One of the greatest things about this book is it comes with a key. The key you have to purchase seperately, but still if you buy this book I would definitely buy A Key to a Grammar of Akkadian, its companion volume. These two books are inseperable like Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, Castor and Pollux. I've recieved a few books on Akkadian and this is the best one I got, it's a little pricier than some, but totally worth it, if you are serious about learning Akkadian. I try to learn it if I got free time and grade myself using the key, so far I'm a C Akkadian student, but I feel I have Akkadian potential. If you feel the same way and want to unleash that potential I highly recommend buying this book as soon as possible.

Let's be clear, nothing will make Akkadian an easy language to learn - a verbal morphology of a complexity typical of Semitic languages, combined with a script of several hundred characters, each with several variant forms, adds up to an arduous and often frustrating challenge than only a highly-motivated autodidact will want to attempt.

All that can be asked for is a text that is succinct, unambiguous and well-structured, and on this Huehnergard cannot be faulted. There is not a word wasted here, nor there is there a single unclear sentence. Grammatical concepts are introduced rapidly with plenty of exercises (which other reviewers have rightly praised).

The one thing I felt could have been done better is the introduction to the cuneiform script - on its introduction in chapter nine, the reading exercises are brief to the point of desultory (in contrast to the latin-script grammar exercises), whilst the reader is expected to learn ten new signs per lesson more or less in a vacuum - including the lapidary, cursive and Neo-Assyrian forms (effectively 10 new signs translates to 30+ forms to memorise). When a genuine Babylonian text is finally introduced in chapter 16, it just seems way too hard, and quite demoralising (I had been looking forward to it for a while..).

Much better, I think, would have been to get the reader comfortable with the straightforward lapidary inscriptions of Hammurabi and then introduce the messy contracts later, and also to have many more cuneiform reading exercises early on.

However, I've spent too many words on a negative point that shouldn't detract from the overall outstanding quality of this work.

John Huehnergard's Grammar of Akkadian makes a profoundly complex (especially for moderns) ancient language accessible to a wide range of students. The diligent reader of any language background will find Huehnergard's text lucid and inviting. He presents some of the most grilling concepts--e.g. verb morphology--in a way that perfectly balances their seemingly ponderous complexity with strong pedagogical aims. As a college sophomore and amateur in the study of Ancient Near Eastern philology, I highly recommend this text to anyone looking to study Akkadian independently.

- Very easy to study.
- Nice simple language.
- Makes you feel you are making progress quickly. I'm in lesson8 now, and I already have the feeling that I can speak Akkadian.
- Smart and well prepared exercises.

Many thanks for Dr.Huehnergard for this awesome work!!

This grammar is quite complete, but for a novice self learner, its a little daunting and requires some effort on the part of the student. There are no answers to the exercises, which would help immensely if they existed. Also, the dictionaries in the back could be more extensive. The root of a word is difficult to find at times. This might be because of my inexperience with the language but that should be anticipated in a basic grammar by the authors. All in all, a good but somewhat difficult book.