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Hurrian is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language spoken by the Hurrians (Khurrites), a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly vanished by 1000 BC. Hurrian was the language of the Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopotamia and was likely spoken at least initially in Hurrian settlements in modern-day Syria.
In the thirteenth century BC, invasions from the west by the Hittites and from the south by the brought the end of the Mitanni empire, which was divided between the two conquering powers. In the following century, attacks by the Sea Peoples brought a swift end to the last vestiges of the Hurrian language. It is around this time that other languages, such as the Hittite language and the Ugaritic language, also became extinct, in what is known as the Bronze Age collapse. In the texts of these languages, as well as those of Akkadian or Urartian, many Hurrian names and places can be found.
Renewed interest in Hurrian was triggered by texts discovered in Boğazköy in the 1910s and Ugarit in the 1930s. In 1941, Speiser published the first comprehensive grammar of Hurrian. Since the 1980s, the Nuzi corpus from the archive of Šilwa-Teššup has been edited by G. Wilhelm. Since the late 1980s, significant progress was made due to the discovery of a Hurrian-Hittite bilingual, edited by E. Neu (StBoT 32).
| +Consonant phonemes of Hurrian ! !Labial consonant !Alveolar !Palatal !velar consonant |
As can be seen from the table, Hurrian did not possess a voiced-voiceless distinction. There is no voiced consonant with an unvoiced counterpart, nor vice versa. However, based on evidence from the cuneiform script, there seem to have been voiced allophones of consonants other than /ts/, which occurred in certain environments: between two voiced phonemes (sonorants or vowels), and, surprisingly, also word-finally. Sometimes a voiced consonant is written in these situations, i.e. b (for p), d (for t), g (for k), v (for f) or ž (for š), and, very rarely, ǧ (for h, ḫ). All consonants except /w/ and /j/ can be long or short. The long (geminate) consonants occur only between vowels. In the cuneiform, as in the Latin transcription, geminated consonants are indicated by doubling the corresponding symbol, so ...VC-CV... Short consonants are written ...V-CV..., for example mānnatta ("I am") is written ma-a-a n-na-a t-ta.
Since /f/ was not found in the Sumerian cuneiform script, the Hurrians used the symbols representing /p/, /b/ or /w/. An /f/ can be recognised in words where this transcription varies from text to text. In cases where a word occurs only once, with a p, it cannot be known if it was originally meant to represent a /p/ or an /f/. In final syllables containing a, /f/ becomes diphthongised to /u/, e.g. tānōšau (<*tān-ōš-af)) "I did". /s/ is traditionally transcribed by /š/, because the cuneiform script adapted the sign indicating /š/ for this phoneme. /ts/ is regularly transcribed by z, and /x/ by ḫ or h. In Hurrian, /r/ and /l/ do not occur at the beginning of a word.
Vowels, just like consonants, can be either long or short. In the cuneiform script, this is indicated by placing an additional vowel symbol between the CV and VC syllables, giving CV-V-VC. Short vowels are indicated by a simple CV-VC pairing. In the Latin transcription, long vowels are indicated with a macron, ā, ē, ī, ō, and ū. For /o/, which is absent in the Sumerian script, the sign for U is used, whereas /u/ is represented by Ú.
| Root | Nominalization (for verbs) | Thematic vowel | Derivational Suffixes | Article | Clitic | Plural | Grammatical case | Anaphoric | Plural (SA) | Case (SA) | Clitic | Enclitic |
Note: (SA) indicates morphemes added through Suffixaufnahme, described below.These elements are not all obligatory, and in fact a noun can occur as a single root followed by nothing except zero-suffixes for case and number. Despite the general Agglutination structure of the language, the plural marker (5) merges with the case morphemes (6) in ways which do not seem to be entirely predictable, so singular and plural forms of the case endings are usually listed separately. The anaphoric marker (7) is formally identical to the article and anchors the Suffixaufnahme suffixes (8) and (9). While the absolutive pronoun clitics (10) attached to a noun are not necessarily connected to it syntactically, typically designating the object or intransitive subject of a nearby verb, the third plural pronoun clitic -lla can be used to signal the plural of the host noun in the absolutive.
This stem-final vowel disappears when certain endings are attached to it, such as case endings that begin with a vowel, certain derivational suffixes, or the article suffix. Examples: kāz-ōš (like a cup) from kāzi (cup), awarra (the fields) from awari (field).
A minority of Hurrian noun roots have athematic stem vowels, such as šen (brother) in the forms šena and -šenni, mad (wisdom; later becomes i-stem in the form madi), and muž (divine name). Some names of gods, heroes, persons, and places are also athematic, e.g. Teššob (Teššobi/a), Gilgaamiž, Hurriž (later Hurri). These nouns seem to occur more frequently in the earliest Hurrian texts (end of the third millennium BC).
Note: This type of thematic stem vowel is completely different in function to Indo-European stem vowels. For a discussion of those, see here and here.
Like many languages in the region, Hurrian is an ergativity language, which means that the same case is used for the subject of an intransitive verb as for the object of a transitive one; this case is called the absolutive. For the subject of a transitive verb, however, the ergative case is used. Hurrian has two numbers, singular and plural. The following table outlines the case endings (the terms used for some of the more obscure cases vary between different authors).
| -Ø, -lla |
| -(a)šuš |
| -(a)še |
| -(a)ša |
| -(a)ša, -a |
| -(a)šta |
| -(a)štan |
| unattested |
| -(a)šani, -(a)šane |
| -(a)šura |
| unattested (often extrapolated -(a)šunn(i)) |
| unattested |
| -(a)šunna |
| unattested |
In certain phonological environments, these endings can vary. The f of the genitive and dative endings merges with a preceding p or t giving pp and tt respectively, e.g. Teššuppe (of Teššup), Hepat-te (of Hepat). The associative can be combined with the instrumental, as in šēna-nn-ae (brother- ass-instr), meaning 'brotherly'.
The so-called essive case can convey the meaning "as" and a condition, but also to express direction, the aim of a demand, the transition from one condition to another, the direct object in antipassive constructions (where the transitive subject receives the absolutive case instead of the ergative), and, in the variety of Nuzi, also the dative.
| -na |
| -ne |
In Hurrian, the function of the so-called "article" is not entirely clear, inasmuch as its use does not seem to resemble closely a typical definite article. It is attached directly to the noun, but before any case endings, e.g. tiwē-na-še (object. art. gen.pl) (of the objects). The article is unmarked in the absolutive singular – e.g. kāzi 'cup'. The /n/ of the article merges with a preceding /n/, /l/ or /r/ giving /nn/, /ll/ and /rr/ respectively, e.g. ēn-na (the gods), ōl-la (the others), awar-ra (the fields). In these cases, the stem-final vowel /i/ has been dropped; the singulars of these words are ēni (god), ōli (another), awari (field). If there are two consonants preceding the final /i/, an epenthetic vowel /u/ is inserted between them, e.g. hafur un-ne-ta (heaven- art- all.sg, to heaven), the stem of which is hafurni (heaven).
Suffixaufnahme also occurs with other modifiers, such as a noun in the genitive modifying another noun, in which case the following nouns takes a possessive pronoun.
The phenomenon is also found when the head noun is in the locative, instrumental or equative. In the absolutive singular, Suffixaufnahme would be meaningless, as the case and number are unmarked. When more than two genitives occur, they are merged, so Suffixaufnahme only occurs on the innermost genitive, as in the following example:
The "morpheme chain" of the verb is as follows:
| Root | Derivational Suffixes | Tense/Aspect | Non-Present Intransitive | -imbu- | Valency | Negation | Ergative Person | Ergative Number | Clitic | Enclitic |
| Ergative 3PL -it- (OH) | ||||||||||
After these endings come the vowel of transitivity. It is -a when the verb is intransitive, -i when the verb is in the antipassive and -o (in the Mitanni letter, -i) in transitive verbs. The suffix -o is dropped immediately after the derivational suffixes. In transitive verbs, the -o occurs only in the present, while in the other tenses transitivity is instead indicated by the presence (or absence) of the aforementioned -t suffixes.
In the next position, the suffix of negation can occur; in transitive sentences, it is -wa, whereas in intransitive and antipassive ones it is -kkV. Here, the V represents a repetition of the vowel that precedes the negative suffix, although when this is /a/, both vowels become /o/. When the negative suffix is immediately followed by a clitic pronoun (except for =nna), its vowel is /a/, regardless of the vowel that preceded it, e.g. mann-o-kka=til=an (be- intr- neg- 1.pl.abs-and), "and we are not...". The following table gives the tense, transitivity and negation markers:
| intransitive | affirmative | -a | -ōšta | -ētta |
| negative | -okko | -ōštokko | -ēttokko | |
| antipassive | affirmative | -i | -ōši | -ēti |
| negative | -ikki | -ōšikki | -ētikki | |
| transitive without derivational suff. | affirmative | Mari/Hattusha -o Mitanni -i | Mari/Hattusha -ōšo Mitanni -ōši | Mari/Hattusha -ēto Mitanni -ēti |
| negative | Mari/Hattusha -owa Mitanni -iwa | Mari/Hattusha -ōšowa Mitanni -ōšiwa | Mari/Hattusha -ētowa Mitanni -ētiwa | |
| transitive with derivational suff. | affirmative | -Ø | Mari/Hattusha -ōšo Mitanni -ōši | Mari/Hattusha -ēto Mitanni -ēti |
| negative | -wa | Mari/Hattusha -ōšowa Mitanni -ōšiwa | Mari/Hattusha -ētowa Mitanni -ētiwa |
After this, in transitive verbs, comes the ergative subject marker. The following forms are found:
| with -i (transitive) (only Mitanni) | -af, -au | -auša | -i-o | -*aššo, -*aššu | -i-a |
| with -wa (negated) | -uffu | -uffuš(a) | -wa-o | -uššu | -wa-a |
| with other morphemes (no merging) | -...-af, -...-au | -...-auša | -...-o | -...-aššo, -...-aššu | -...-a |
The suffixes of the first person, both plural and singular, and the second person plural suffix merge with the preceding suffixes -i and -wa. However, in the Mari and Hattusha dialects, the suffix of transitivity -o does not merge with other endings. The distinction between singular and plural in the third person is provided by the suffix -t, which comes directly after the tense marker. In the third person, when the suffix -wa occurs before the subject marker, it can be replaced by -ma, also expressing the negative: irnōhoš-i-ā-ma, (like- trans- 3rd- neg) "He does not like it".
In the Old Hurrian of Hattusha the ending of the third person singular ergative subject was -m. A third person plural ergative subject was marked with the suffix -it-, which, however, unlike the other ergative endings, occurred before instead of after the transitivity vowel: contrast uv-o-m "she slaughtered" with tun-it-o "they forced".: Igor Diakonoff cites the suffix as -ido-, but also located it before the slot of the transitivity vowel -o- – an interpretation which is also justified by the place of the corresponding suffix in the related Urartian language. In the intransitive and antipassive, there was also a subject marker, -p for the third person but unmarked for the others. It is unknown whether this suffix was also found on transitive objects.
If a verb form is nominalised, e.g. to create a relative clause, then another suffix is used: -šše. Nominalised verbs can undergo Suffixaufnahme. Verb forms can also take other enclitic suffixes; see the section Enclitic particles below.
For a list of the enclitics that mark the person and number of the absolutive participant, see the section Personal pronouns above.
1 In the optative forms of the third person, the /n/ ending is present in the Mari/Hattuša dialect when the following word begins with a consonant.
The so-called final form, which is needed to express a purpose ("in order to"), has different endings. In the singular, the suffixes -ae, -ai, -ilae and -ilai are found, which after /l/ and /r/ become -lae/ -lai and -rae/ rai respectively. In the plural the same endings are used, although sometimes the plural suffix -ša is found as well, but this is not always the case.
To express a possibility, the potential form must be used. For intransitive verbs, the ending is -ilefa or olefa ( -lefa and -refa after /l,r/), which does not need to agree with the subject. Transitive potential forms are formed with -illet and -allet, which are suffixed to the normal endings of the transitive indicative forms. However, this form is only attested in Mitanni and only in the third person. The potential form is also occasionally used to express a wish.
The desiderative form is used to express an urgent request. It is also only found in the third person, and only with transitive verbs. The ending for the third person singular is -ilanni, and for the plural, -itanni.
The infinitive, which can also be found nominalised, is formed with the suffix -umme, e.g. fahrumme, "to be good", "the state/property of being good"
| manella |
| -l(la), -lle |
| manšoš |
| manša |
| manšura, manšora |
The variant forms -me, -ma and -lle of the third person absolutive pronouns only before certain conjunctions, namely ai (when), inna (when), inu, unu (who), panu (though), and the relative pronouns iya and iye. When an enclitic personal pronoun is attached to a noun, an extensive system of sound changes determines the final form. The enclitic -nna of the third person singular behaves differently from the other pronouns: when it is preceded by an ergative suffix it, unlike the other pronouns, combines with the suffix to form šša, whereas with all other pronouns the š of the ergative is dropped. Moreover, a word-final vowel /i/ changes to /e/ or /a/ when any enclitic pronoun other than -nna is attached.
| -yaš |
| -yaš |
| -yaš |
The final vowel of the noun stem is dropped before an attached possessive pronoun, e.g. šeniffe ("my brother", from šena "brother"). It remains, however, when a consonant-initial pronoun is attached: attaif ("your father", from attai, "father")
Some examples: N-fa āyita or N-fenē āyē (in the presence of; from āyi "face"). N-fa etīta or N-fa etīfa (for, because of; from eti "body, person"), N-fenē etiyē (concerning), N-fa furīta (in sight of; from furi, "sight, look"), and only in Hattusha N-fa āpita (in front of; from āpi, "front"). Besides these, there is ištani "space between," which is used with a plural possessive pronoun and the locative, for "between us/you/them", e.g. ištaniffaša (between us, under us).
Distributive numbers carry the suffix -ate, e.g. kikate (by threes), tumnate (by fours). The suffix -āmha denotes multiplicatives, e.g. šināmha (twice), ēmanāmha (thrice). All cardinal numbers end in a vowel, which drops when an enclitic is attached.
Geoffrey K. Pullum (1977) is doubtful of Speiser's analysis. He argues that the available corpus of Hurrian text is not large enough to definitively determine its word order, and that it can only be identified as generally verb-final (i.e. either OSV or SOV). Pullum gives the following example of a Hurrian sentence with SOV order:
Maria Polinsky (1995) notes that the structure of Hurrian's ditransitive clauses is subject–object (as in SOV) rather than object–subject (as in OSV). Specifically, the order is subject–indirect object–direct object–verb. However, she still refers to Hurrian as an example of an OSV language.
Within , the noun regularly comes at the end. Adjectives, numbers, and genitive modifiers come before the noun they modify. , however, tend to surround the noun, which means that the noun the relative clause modifies stands in the middle of the relative clause. Hurrian has at its disposal several paradigms for constructing relative clauses. It can either use the relative pronouns iya and iye, which has already been described under 'pronouns' above, or the nominalising suffix -šše attached to a verb, which undergoes Suffixaufnahme. The third possibility is for both these markers to occur (see example 16 below). The noun, which is represented by the relative clause, can take any case, but within the relative clause can only have the function of the absolutive, i.e. it can only be the subject of an intransitive relative clause or the object of a transitive one.
As has been outlined above, Hurrian transitive verbs normally take a subject in the ergative and an object in the absolutive (except for the antipassive constructions, where these are replaced by the absolutive and the essive respectively). The indirect object of ditransitive verbs, however, can be in the dative, locative, allative, or with some verbs also in the absolutive.
Notably, in addition to the prototypical cuneiform vowel inventory consisting of , , , and , the syllabary of the Mitanni Letter also includes the vowel . In this respect it is unique among all forms of cuneiform writing. The scribe of the Mitanni Letter also frequently employs independent vowel signs in order to disambiguate the readings of uncertain CV signs through a technique called "plene spelling." For example, the sign () can be read as either or . When necessary, the syllable could be written unambiguously as () and the syllable as (). It is uncertain whether plene-spelling was also used to mark vowel length.
| + Hurrian cuneiform syllabary (Mitanni Letter) |
Important finds were made at Ortaköy ( Sapinuwa) in the 1990s, including several bilinguals. Most of them remain unedited as of 2007.
No Hurrian texts are attested from the first millennium BC (unless considering Urartian a late Hurrian dialect), but scattered loanwords persist in Assyrian, such as the goddess Savuska mentioned by Sargon II.
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