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1 results

  • 1 - Ancient Near Eastern Linguistic Traditions: Mesopotamia, Egypt

  • from Part I - Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Periods
  • Edited by Linda R. Waugh, University of Arizona, Monique Monville-Burston, Cyprus University of Technology, John E. Joseph, University of Edinburgh
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Linguistics
    Published online:
    20 July 2023
    Print publication:
    10 August 2023, pp 35-53

  • Summary

    This two-part chapter deals with traditions linked to the two main languages of Ancient Mesopotamia, Sumerian and Akkadian (discussed by Woods), and the language of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian-Coptic (by Stauder). In both, the texts giving linguistic information are word lists, lexical and/or grammatical. The scripts (cuneiform in Mesopotamia and hieroglyph in Egypt) were mainly logo-syllabic and required scribal training. Plurilingualism was widespread in Mesopotamia. In Egypt there was written diglossia, the 'traditional Egyptian' being the variety associated with high culture and ritual. Though there is evidence of linguistic awareness, no general linguistic descriptions are present: interest in language was more practical than theoretical.