Hittite language
Earliest attested Indo-European language, preserved in cuneiform from Bronze Age Anatolia.
Hittite, also called Nesite, is a dead Indo-European language that was used in Anatolia during the Bronze Age. Evidence of it comes from cuneiform writings, mostly found in the archives of Hattusa, dating from the 17th to the 13th centuries BC. Even earlier, isolated Hittite words and personal names appear in Old Assyrian documents from Kanesh, going back to the 20th century BC—making Hittite the earliest known Indo-European language on record.
By the Late Bronze Age, Hittite was losing ground to Luwian, a close relative. In the 13th century BC, Luwian seems to have been the most common language in the Hittite capital, Hattusa. After the Hittite New Kingdom fell during the broader Late Bronze Age collapse, Luwian became the main language of the Syro-Hittite states that emerged in southwestern Anatolia and northern Syria during the early Iron Age.
The modern name "Hittite" comes from identifying the Hatti kingdom with the Biblical Hittites, though this is likely a misnomer. The term "Hattian" actually refers to the earlier, non-Indo-European people who spoke Hattic. In multilingual texts from Hittite sites, passages in Hittite are marked with the adverb *nesili* (or *nasili*, *nisili*), meaning "in the speech of Neša (Kaneš)," a key city in the early Hittite Old Kingdom. One text even uses *Kanisumnili*, "in the speech of the people of Kaneš." Despite the Hittite New Kingdom's diverse population, Hittite was used for most secular writings. Arguments over the name's accuracy persist, but "Hittite" remains standard due to tradition and its Biblical link. The endonym *nešili* and its Anglicized forms (Nesite, Nessite, Neshite) never gained traction.
Linguistically, Hittite belongs to the Anatolian branch, known from cuneiform tablets and royal inscriptions. What was once called "Hieroglyphic Hittite" is now recognized as Hieroglyphic Luwian. The Anatolian group also includes Cuneiform Luwian, Hieroglyphic Luwian, Palaic, Lycian, Milyan, Lydian, Carian, Pisidian, Sidetic, and Isaurian. Unlike most Indo-European languages, Hittite lacks masculine and feminine grammatical gender, as well as subjunctive and optative moods and grammatical aspect. Several theories explain these differences. Some linguists, notably Edgar H. Sturtevant and Warren Cowgill, proposed the Indo-Hittite hypothesis, arguing Hittite is a sister language to Proto-Indo-European, with the paren
- Language family
- Indo-European, Anatolian
- Attested period
- 17th–13th century BC (earlier isolated words from 20th century BC)
- Writing system
- Adapted Peripheral Akkadian cuneiform
- Region
- Anatolia (primarily Hattusa and Kanesh)
- Known for
- Earliest attested Indo-European language; preservation of laryngeals
- Endonym
- nešili (also nasili, nisili, Kanisumnili)
Lore & Background
Hittite is the modern scholarly name for the language, based on the identification of the Hatti kingdom with the Biblical Hittites, though that name appears to have been applied incorrectly: the term Hattian refers to the indigenous people who spoke a non-Indo-European Hattic language. In multilingual texts, passages written in Hittite are preceded by the adverb nesili (or nasili, nisili), meaning 'in the speech of Neša (Kaneš)', an important city during the early Hittite Old Kingdom. The endonymic term nešili and its Anglicized variants have never caught on.
Reader's Guide
Hittite is one of the Anatolian languages, known from cuneiform tablets and inscriptions erected by Hittite kings. Unlike most other Indo-European languages, Hittite does not distinguish between masculine and feminine grammatical gender, and it lacks subjunctive and optative moods as well as aspect. Some linguists, notably Edgar H. Sturtevant and Warren Cowgill, have argued that Hittite should be classified as a sister language to Proto-Indo-European (the Indo-Hittite hypothesis), while others prefer the Schwund hypothesis, in which Hittite came from Proto-Indo-European but simplified its features. According to Craig Melchert, the current tendency is to suppose that Proto-Indo-European evolved and that the prehistoric speakers of Anatolian became isolated from the rest of the PIE speech community, preserving archaisms such as two of the three laryngeals (*h₂ and *h₃ word-initially), written as ḫ. The discovery of laryngeals in Hittite was a remarkable confirmation of Ferdinand de Saussure's 1879 hypothesis. Hittite has many loanwords, particularly religious vocabulary from the non-Indo-European Hurrian and Hattic languages.
Did You Know?
- Hittite is the earliest attested Indo-European language, with isolated words appearing in Old Assyrian documents from Kanesh as early as the 20th century BC.
- The language does not distinguish between masculine and feminine grammatical gender, and lacks subjunctive and optative moods.
- Hittite preserves two of the three laryngeals hypothesized by Ferdinand de Saussure, written as ḫ.
- The endonym for the language was nešili, meaning 'in the speech of Neša (Kaneš)', but the term Hittite remains standard due to convention.
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