Apart from (more or less) pure Neo-Assyrian, represented by the texts listed above, and by nos. 5, 7, 17, 34, 35, 51, the other languages involved are Standard Babylonian and Late Babylonian. The latter is represented most strongly in no. 25 ( along with nos. 26-28), in a complex form, where the problem arises from the admixture of dialects. The work is written in what is essentially Standard Babylonian, but with many Late Babylonianisms (forms such as lid-di-nu-uʾ, grammatically impossible -ši-na-a-ta) and also a definite Assyrianism (obv. i 11 is-si-lim). In this case the deviations cannot be explained away by saying that the scribe was influenced by his own dialect, since two dialects are involved and the problem may be associated with the redaction of the text. More usually, it is a question of Standard Babylonian with varying degrees of Assyrianization. In the first place infiltrate small items of vocalization, secondly Assyrian grammatical forms, and finally idiom and vocabulary which are exclusively Neo-Assyrian. In addition to this, within the Standard Babylonian material there is considerable variation in the complexity of the language, and the extent to which Sumerianisms and archaisms are resorted to.
In the list of genuinely Neo-Assyrian poetical texts given in the previous section the prominence of the northern cities of Nineveh and Huzirina (albeit some 400 km to the west) is noticeable. However, the relevance of geographical and chronological factors in the extent of Assyrianization in linguistically mixed texts remains to be investigated. A related question is whether many Standard Babylonian texts in Assyrian libraries were consciously or subconsciously Assyrianized. In no. 5, obv. 8, an unnecessary sign seems to have been inserted to guarantee an Assyrian pronounciation. Was there a conscious attempt to Assyrianize, but without going the whole way? An analogy can be given from the point of view of actual content. In association with religious reforms referred to below apropos of the Marduk Ordeal (nos. 34 and 35) the name of Aššur was inserted in place of that of Marduk in certain Assur manuscripts of the Babylonian epic of creation Enuma Eliš (KAR 117 rev. 3-4 [Tablet One] and KAR 173 obv. 1, 10, 13, rev. 19 [Tablet Three] ). In spite of the inconsistencies caused by this change, there was reluctance to tamper with the text of the work to the extent of producing a consistently Assyrian epic, with Assur playing the part of Marduk.
Alasdair Livingstone
Alasdair Livingstone, 'The Language of the Other Texts', Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea, SAA 3. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1989; online contents: SAAo/SAA03 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa03/natureandcontent/languageoftheothertexts/]