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Hittite language
Hittite:
nesili
Language used by the Hittites, an ancient people that lived in Anatolia in modern Turkey.
The name the Hittites used for their language was nesili, "language of Nesa." Nesa being one of the Anatolian cities.
Hittite language was introduced to Anatolia and northern Syria in the beginning of the 19th century BCE. Hittite language was an Indo-European language, but was soon exposed to influences from local languages. Elements from Proto-Indo-European languages did survive for centuries, however.
The most important changes to the language came with lexical and phonetic changes. Vowels and new terms were borrowed from local languages.
Numerous books and tablets in the Hittite language have been preserved. The sources to Hittite language occur in 2 variations, cuneiform and hieroglyphic. Cuneiform provides the oldest, dating back to 1600 BCE. These texts represent the oldest written examples of any Indo-European language. There are no sources for Hittite that are more recent than 3000 years.
Modern approaches to the language were initiated by the Norwegian, J. A. Knudtzon, who in 1902 pointed out that the language had Indo-European characteristics. Since cuneiform writing had been deciphered, he and another important scholar to Hittite language, the Czech Bedrich Hrozný, were able recreate the sounds of Hittite language.
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Text: Tore Kjeilen
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