Akkadian and Ugaritic NW Semitic Languages

  • Thread starter Thread starter GiftofMercy
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
G

GiftofMercy

Guest
Anyone learnt either of these languages, ? I would love to know of your experience of learning them if you have.

Thanks
 
I have not, but I am aware of their existence. The only Semitic languages I have knowledge of (and this is VERY little), are some Arabic (mainly religious terms), Syriac, and Hebrew. (and I know more Arabic and Syriac than Hebrew, and I still barely know these). Interesting question, I must admit.
 
I learned a little Akkadian in a course I took that covered, among others, Mesopotamian history and civilization, but it was only a few words and phrases pertaining to specific concepts and ideas. Mostly forgotten now.

I imagine it would be very difficult to find teachers for that specific language.
 
Last edited:
We have these on offer and I had heard Akkadian is the more complex of the two with a large alphabet of over 700 letters whilst Ugaritic language has 22.

I know if doing a PhD at certain institutions it takes over 10 years as these two plus a few other languages are required for Biblical studies!

Did you find Akkadian complex in the what you did of it

@billsherman have you done either.
 
Last edited:
GiftofMercy said:
have you done either.
Click to expand...
No I do not have meaningful knowledge of either of them. I have plenty of friends who do, though, and they generally agree that they are difficult.

Are you familiar with Hebrew or cuneiform? I would think that familiarity with other Semitic languages might be beneficial, because of some basic similarities.

To be fair, you probably wouldn’t need a Ph.D. and 10 years of study to be able to read either of the languages, but it would still take a decent amount of work, especially if you aren’t familiar with any similar languages.

Learning languages is fun, especially those far different than your native language. Good luck!
 
I am learning Biblical Hebrew and paleo script. I am really enjoying the ancient languages thing.

Thanks. I heard they were difficult so that will translate to time intensive.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top