This page summarises the most important rules for understanding how some consonants and vowels behave when next to each other. It is not an exhaustive list, and we have not attempted to explain why they occur. Any good textbook of Akkadian will provide details and justifications of these rules. You may find it helpful to read this in conjunction with the explanation of how Akkadian phonology is expressed in cuneiform writing.
Consonant clusters and helper vowels
- Words cannot begin or end with two or more consonants, only with a vowel or a single consonant. If necessary an extra vowel is added before the final consonant of the cluster. For instance, compare kalbum, "dog", with kalab awīlim, "the man's dog".
- Three or more consonants cannot cluster together in the middle of a word. If necessary (for instance with feminine t) an a is added before the final consonant of the cluster. Compare mārtum, "daughter", with kalbatum (not *kalbtum), "bitch".
- Conversely, short vowels between single consonants are suppressed in the middle of a word. Compare mārtum, "daughter", with mārat awīlim, "the man's daughter"; and kalbum damqum, "good dog", and kalbatum damiqtum, "good bitch". (But this doesn't always happen before the liquid consonants l and r; hence zikarum "male", for instance.)
Adjacent dentals and sibilants
- Any sibilant (s, ṣ, š, z) or dental (d, t, ṭ) followed by š often becomes ss. Compare aššatum, "wife", and ana aššatišu, "to his wife", with aššassu, "his wife" (which comes from *aššatšu).
- Two different dentals together become tt. Compare masculine mādum, "many", with its feminine counterpart mattum (which comes from *mādtum).
- But the verbal infix ta often assimilates with preceding dentals and sibilants. Compare iṭrus, "he stretches", with iṭṭaras, "he has stretched" (which is really *iṭtaras).
- And the verbal infix ta often becomes voiced da immediately after voiced consonants such as g and m Compare iktašad, "he has conquered", with igdamar, "he has completed" (which comes from *igtamar).
Nasal consonants
- The consonant n often assimilates to the following consonant. Compare inaddin, "he will give", with iddissu, "he gives it" (which comes from *indinšu).
- The consonants b and p often merge with a following m. Compare uššab, "he will dwell", with uššamma, "he will dwell and" (which comes from *uššabma).
- Aleph is often assimilated to n when it adjacent or near to n, especially in the N stem. Compare the N-stem infinitives namhuṣum, "to be beaten", and nanhuzum, "to be taken in marriage" (which comes from *naʾhuzum, so we might otherwise expect *nāhuzum).
The weak consonant ʾ (aleph)
- At the start or end of a word, aleph just disappears. For example, amārum, "to see", comes from *ʾamārum but the aleph is never written.
- The sequence of aleph between two short vowels at the start of a verb is replaced by the first short vowel alone. For instance immar, "he will see", comes from *iʾammar.
- But elsewhere the disappearance of aleph from between two vowels results in the lengthening of the second vowel (written with a circumflex). For example, the infinitive maṭûm, "to be small", comes from *maṭāʾum.
- Between a short vowel and a single consonant, aleph is replaced by the long version of the vowel, which we write with a macron. For instance, īmur, "he saw", comes from *iʾmur.
- But before a doubled consonant, the preceding vowel stays short. Compare masculine mādum, "many", with its feminine counterpart mattum.
- Loss of aleph between a consonant and a vowel often results in the lengthening of the previous vowel (written with a macron). For example dārum, "era", comes from *darʾum.
The semi-weak consonant w
- The sequence of w between two short vowels at the start of a I w verb is replaced by a short u. For instance ullad, "she is giving birth", comes from *iwallad.
- Between a short vowel and a single consonant, w is replaced by a long ū, which we write with a macron. For instance, ūlid, "she gave birth", comes from *iwlid.
- But w before the verbal infix t(a) assimilates to tt. For instance, ittalad, "she has given birth", comes from *iwtalad.
- And in the I w Š stem, the sequence šaw often becomes šē. For example, ušēbil, "he delivered" (literally "he had (something) brought") comes from *ušawbil.
- Adjacent vowels often contract to the second one. We mark this as long, with a circumflex (^) over it. For instance, idâk, "he will kill", comes from *idūak.
Mysterious e instead of a
- Some words use e throughout, where we would otherwise expect a. This is phenomenon is found only in words with root consonants aleph, h, or r (but not in all such words). Compare for instance appuš "I breathed (from napāšum (u/u), "to breathe") with ēpuš "I did" (fromepēšum (e/u), "to do", (*ʾapāšum). Likewise išappar "he will send" (from šapārum (a/u_, "to send"), with išebbir "he will break" (fromšebērum (i/i), "to break"). There are good reasons why some words do this, but unless you are very interested in historical phonology it is easiest just to learn them by heart.
Content last modified on 05 Apr 2024.
Eleanor Robson, 'Sound rules: vowels and consonants in contact', Knowledge and Power, Higher Education Academy, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/knpp/cuneiformrevealed/akkadianlanguage/soundrules/]