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Grammar

31 The Instrumental

The instrumental case indicates an object or material with which something is done or (semi-adverbially) the way in which something is accomplished. It may usually be translated in English by the prepositions "by," "with," or "by means of":

		GÌR-it		sarā		pāun
		by foot (inst.)		up		I went
		"I went up by foot."

		nu		SILÁ		wetenit		katta ānsanzi
		and		lamb		with water (inst.)		down-wipe
		"They wipe down a lamb with water."

		nu		(D)IS^TAR		GAS^AN-YA		A-NA		(M)Mursli		A.BI-YA
		and		Ishtar		lady-my		to		Mursilis		father-my
		U\-et		(M)NIR.GA\L		S^ES^-YA		wiyat
		with a dream (inst.)		Muwatallis		brother-my		sent
		"And Ishtar, My lady, sent Muwattallis, my brother, to my father in (lit. 'by means of') a dream."

		ta		kalulupu-smus		gāpinit		hul:liemi
		and		fingers-their		with thread (inst.)		I wrap
		"I wrap their fingers with thread."

31.1 Causation

The instrumental can be used to indicate the cause of some actions:

		DUMU.LÚU19LURMEŠ		DINGIRMEŠ-s-a		kistanit		harkiyanzi
		humans		gods-and		from hunger (inst.)		perish
		"Humans and gods are perishing from hunger."

31.2 Containment

In English, we might speak of transporting a substance "in" a container. In Hittite, however, the container is often rendered in the instrumental case:

		kīdanda		pattanit		ekan		utiskemi
		this (inst.)		with bucket (inst.)		ice		I keep bringing
		"I keep bringing ice with this bucket."

		nu		2		DUMUMEŠ.É.GAL		ANA		LUGAL		MUNUS.LUGAL
		and		two		sons of the palace		to		king		queen
		MĒQATI		hūparit		GUŠKIN		pēdanzi
		hand-water		with a bowl (inst.)		golden		offer
		"Two sons of the palace offer the king (and) queen hand-water in (lit 'with') a bowl."

31.3 Verbs meaning "fill"

Verbs meaning "fill" take a noun in the instrumental. Compare English "filled with water":

		anda-kan		halēnas		tessummius		tarlipit		sūwamus
		in-locatival		of clay		cups		with tarlipta-drink (inst.)		filled
		2-TAM		petumini
		twice		we bring
		"Twice, we bring in the cups of clay filled with tarlipta-drink."

31.4 Call by name

In the Hittite expression meaning "call by name," the word meaning "name" is in the instrumental:

		n-asta		DINGIRMEŠ		hūmandus		lamnit		halzai
		and-locatival		gods		all		by name (inst.)		he calls
		"And he calls all the gods by name."

31.5 Adverbs

Forms of the instrumental of some nouns are used adverbially to describe the manner in which action is performed.

		ZI-it		menahhanta		lē		kuedani		iyasi
		willfully (inst., lit. 'with soul')		towards		not		anyone		act
		"Do not act willfully towards anyone."

The adverb pangarit 'in large numbers, in force' is probably from the instrumental of an otherwise lost noun *pangar- 'large number'. Compare the verb derived from this noun pangariya- 'become widespread':

		nu-mu		LÚKÚRHI.A		ŠA		KUR		Alasiya		pangarit		zahhiya		wet
		and-me		enemy		of		country		Alasiya		in force		for battle		came
		"The Alasiyan enemy came against me in large numbers for battle."

The word nakkit 'by force' is from the instrumental of nakki- 'heavy, important'.

		nu		URUNēsan		ispandi		nakkit		dās
		and		Nesa		in the night		by force		I took
		"And I took Nesa in the night by force."

31.6 Ablative

In texts written after the earliest period, the ablative gradually takes over the function of the instrumental:

		URU-an		zahhiyaz		katta dahhun
		the city		with battle		I conquered
		"I conquered the city in (or 'with') a battle (abl.)."

32 T-Stem Nouns

Hittite nouns with stems in final -t- are normally animate, though, depending on meaning, they may make collective plurals. For example, the noun aniyatt- 'equipment' makes the plural aniyatta. Some nouns in stem-final -t seem to be archaic. However, there is also a class of abstract nouns in -att-, such as aniyatt- from aniya- 'work, do', made from verbal stems. The nominative singular, which is a combination of the stem-final -t plus the animate ending -s is spelled -za or -az. The paradigms of kutt- 'wall', kāst- 'hunger' and the abstract nahsaratt- 'fear' beside nahsariya- 'be afraid, become afraid' are illustrative:

Singular
nom.		kūzza				kāsza				nahsaraz, nahsaraza
acc.		kutt-an				gāst-an				nahsaradd-an
gen.		kutt-as								*nahsaratt-as
dat./loc		kutt-i				kāst-i				nahsaratt-i
abl.		kutt-az				*kāst-az				nahsaratt-aza
inst.						kāst-it
Plural
nom.		kutt-es								nahsaratt-es
acc.		kudd-us								nahsarradd-us
gen.		*kutt-as								nahsaratt-as
dat./loc.		kutt-as								nahsaratt-as

33 Adverbial Temporal Clauses

Hittite makes adverbial subordinate clauses indicating the time when something happened using several different conjunctions. Since each of the conjunctions used also has non-temporal meanings, for example introducing conditional or comparative clauses, clauses indicating time are recognized in context. The conjunctions mān, māhhan, and kuwāpi are to be translated as 'when' or 'as soon as', but kuitman seems closer in meaning to English 'while' or 'until'. Mān and māhhan are usually first in their clauses, while the placement of kuwāpi seems somewhat more flexible.

33.1 Adverbial Clauses with mān 'when'

Adverbial time clauses with the conjunction mān are found in the earliest texts and in copies of early texts, suggesting both that mān is one of the earliest conjunctions used to introduce time clauses and that it fell out of use after the earliest period. The following is from the Old Hittite "Legend of the Queen of Kanesh."

		mān		MUHI.A		istarna		pāer
		when		years		meanwhile		went
		nu		MUNUS.LUGAL		namma		30		MUNUS.DUMU		hāsta
		and		queen		moreover		thirty		daughters		gave birth to
		"When the years meanwhile passed by, the queen, in addition, gave birth to thirty daughters."

In this sentence from the "Proclamation of Telepenus," the use of mān can be contrasted with the use of the conjunctions māhhan and kuwāpi in the "Annals of Mursilis" below:

		māan-san		MTelepenus		INA		GIŠGU-za		ABI-YA		ēshat
		when-locatival		Telepenus		on		throne		of-father-my		sat
		nu		URUHassuwa		lahha		pāun
		and		Hassuwa		on campaign		I went
		"When I, Telepenus, seated myself upon the throne of my father, I went on a military campaign to Hassuwa."

33.2 Adverbial Clauses with māhhan 'when'

Clauses of time with the conjunction māhhan are first attested slightly later than those with mān. Possibly māhhan could introduce time clauses in the earliest Hittite, and our lack of examples from the earliest period is accidental. It is also possible, however, that māhhan may have replaced mān in this function fairly early. Unlike the clauses with mān, clauses with māhhan are common.

		mahhan-ta		kās		tuppianza		anda wemiyazzi
		as soon as-you		this		tablet		reaches
		nu		MAHAR		DUTUŠI		liliwanuwanzi		ūnni
		and		before		my majesty		in a hurry		drive
		"As soon as this tablet reaches you, travel in a hurry to my majesty."

		mahhan-ma		hameshanza		kisat		man		INA		KUR		(URU)Azzi
		when-but		spring		became		[irrealis]		into		country		of Azzi
		taninumanzi		pāun
		to restore order		I went
		"But as soon as it became spring, I would have gone into the land of Azzi to restore order."

In texts from the period of the Hittite Empire, māhhan is often written with the Sumerogram GIM plus the phonetic complement -an:

		GIM-an-ma		ABU-YA		BA.UŠ		ŠEŠ-YA-ma-za-kan
		when-but		father-my		died		brother-my-but-reflexive-locatival
		ANA		GIŠGU.ZA		ABI-ŠU		ēsat
		on		throne		father-his		seated himself
		"But when my father died, my brother seated himself on the throne of his father."

33.3 Adverbial Clauses with kuwāpi 'when'

The relative adverb kuwāpi, which usually means 'where', can also be used to signal adverbial clauses of time. In the following sentence, the conjunction is to be understood as introducing two clauses "when my father was fighting with Urhi-Tessup" and "and (when) he deposed him from kingship":

		ABU-YA		kuwapi		MHattusilis		ANA		MÚrhitessupas
		father-my		when		Hattusilis		with		Urhitessup
		DUMU		MMūwattalli		menahhanda		kururiahta
		son		Muwattallis		against		started fighting
		n-an		LUGAL-iznanni		arha tittanut
		and-him		from kingship		deposed
		ANA		M.DLAMMMA-ma-kan		wastul		ŪL kuitki		āsta
		to		Kurunta-but-locatival		blame		not any		remained
		"When my father, Hattusilis, began fighting with Urhi-Tessup, son of Muwattallis, and deposed him from kingship, no fault attached to (lit. 'remained with') Kurunta."

The following two sentences from the "Annals of Mursilis" suggest that, in introducing time clauses, māhhan and kuwāpi were essentially synonyms.

		mahhan-ma-za-kan		DUTUŠI
		when-but-reflexive-locatival		my majesty
		ANA		GIŠGU.ZA		ABI-YA		ēshat
		on		throne		father-my		seated myself
		nu-mu		arahzenas		KUR.KUR		LÚKÚR		kuyēs		kūruriyahhir
		then-on-me		surrounding		lands		hostile		that		made war
		"But when (I), my majesty, had seated himself on the throne of my father, the surrounding hostile lands that had made war on me..."

		nu-za-kan		ANA		GIŠGU.ZA		ABI-YA		kuwapi
		and-reflexive-locatival		on		throne		father-my		when
		ēshat		nu-za		kē		arahzenas		KUR.KURMEŠ
		seated myself		and-reflexive		these		surrounding		lands
		LÚKÚR		INA		MU.10.KAM		tarhhun
		hostile		in		ten years		I defeated
		"When I had seated myself on the throne of my father, I defeated these surrounding enemy lands in ten years."

33.4 Adverbial Clauses with kuitman 'while, until'

The conjunction kuitman, as noted above, means 'while' or 'until'. It is generally used to signal adverbial clauses that indicate action taking place in the background of some other action, for example:

		nu-za		kuitman		nūwa		DUMU-as		esun
		and-reflexive		while		still		child		I was
		ŠA		KUŠKA.TAB.ANŠE-za		esun
		of		donkey		I was
		"And while I was still a child, I was foolish."

		kuētman-ma		MUNUS.ŠU.GI		kēdas		kezzi
		While-but		old woman		these		from there
		EGIR-an-ma-ssan		ÍD-i		peran
		in her absence-but-locatival		river		beside
		GIŠZA.LAM.GARHI.A		ŠA		GI		karū		iyanta
		tents		of		reed		already		made
		"But while the 'old woman' is getting these (things), from there, in (her) absence, beside the river, tents of reeds have already been made."

The following passage from the Law Code, which specifies the restitution someone is to make for injuring someone else, illustrates a contrast between kuitman 'until' and mān 'when':

		nu		Éri-ssi		anniskezzi		kuitm:an-as		lāzziatta
		and		in-house-his		he keeps working		until-he		recovers
		mān-as		lāzziatta-ma
		when-he		recovers-but
		nu-ssi		6		GÍN		KÙ.BABBAR		pāi
		then-to-him		six		shekels		silver		he gives
		"He (a substitute worker provided by the offender) keeps working in his (the victim's) house until he recovers. But when he recovers, he (the offender) gives him six shekels of silver."

When used with the negative adverb nāwi 'not yet', kuitman means 'before', or literally "while ...as not yet ...":

		nu		nekuz mehur		kuitman-kan		DUTU-us		nāwi		ūpzi
		and		in the night time		while-locatival		sun		not yet		rises
		"And during the night, before the sun arises..."

		kuitman		gimmanza		nāwi		zinnattat
		while		winter		not yet		ended
		"Before winter had ended..."

34 The emphasizing particle -pat

The function of -pat is to emphasize, define, specify, or limit the element within the sentence to which it is attached. It may be attached to virtually any part of speech or to entire clauses. It is not part of the enclitic chain; indeed if a chain of enclitics is attached to a word to which -pat is also attached, the particle -pat precedes the enclitic chain (cf. ammel-pat-wa-za or aki-pat-ssan below).

34.1 Previous mention

A common use of -pat is to refer back to an item or action that has been mentioned immediately before. It can often be translated as 'the very' (noun), 'the same', or 'the very same':

		A.BU-YA-nnas-za		MMurslis		4		DUMUMEŠ		...		hasta
		father-my-us-reflexive		Mursilis		four		children		...		fathered
		humandas-pat		EGIR-izzis		DUMU-as		esun
		of-all-very		last		child		I was
		"My father, Mursilis, fathered us four children ... (and) I was the very last (i.e., 'the youngest') of all the children."

		n-as		seszi		kuwapi		nu-za-kan
		and-he		sleeps		where		and-reflexive
		apiya-pat		warpzi
		in the place-very-same		he bathes
		"And he sleeps in the very same place where he bathes."

		EGIR-pa-ma-as		kuwapi		wezzi		n-as
		back-but-he		when		goes		and-he
		āppa-ya-pat		apūn		KASKAL-an		wezzi
		back-and-very		that		route		he goes
		"But when he returns, he also returns by the very same route as before."

34.2 Reflexive, etc.

When attached to a noun, -pat may add the sense of a reflexive pronoun or it may be translated by 'own' or 'only':

		MMadduwattas-pat		nekumanza		isparzasta
		Madduwattas-himself		naked		escaped
		"Madduwattas himself escaped naked."

		ammel-pat-wa-za		GU4		dahhi
		my-own-quotative-reflexive		ox		I take
		"I will take my own ox."

		nu		sumās		DINGIRMEŠ-as		URUHattusas-pat
		and		for you		gods		Hatti-only
		handān		parkui		KUR-e
		true		pure		land
		"Only Hatti is a true, pure land for you, gods."

34.3 Clauses

When -pat modifies a clause, it can have meanings such as "in addition, instead, rather, even though," and "surely," or "certainly":

		namma		tuzziyas-mis		hwettiyanun-pat
		then		army-my		drew up-in addition
		"Then, in addition, I drew up my army."

		n-as		KUR		URUHattusi		ŪL		hūisuwezzi
		and-he		land		Hattusas		not		lives
		aki-pat-ssan
		he dies-instead-locatival
		"He will not go on living in Hattusas; instead, he will die there."

		nu-mu		kappin-pat		DUMU-an		DIŠTAR		URUSamuha
		and-me		small-although		child		Ishtar		Samuha
		ANA		ABU-YA		wēkta
		dative		father-my		demanded
		"Even though I was a small child, Ishtar of Samuha demanded me from my father."

		n-at		akkandu-pat
		and-they		die-surely
		"And they shall surely die."

		n-an-kan		ŪL-pat		wahnunun
		and-it-locatival		not-certainly		I turned
		"And certainly I did not alter it (a tablet)."

This sentence has the irrealis particle man used to express a wish of the speaker, and -pat used to emphasize the wish:

		iyami-man-pat-wa		kuitki
		I do irrealis-surely-quotative		something
		"I certainly would like to do something."

35 Coordinating Conjunctions

Hittite has a number of both independent words and enclitics that may be used to conjoin sentences, clauses, phrases, and words.

35.1 Nu

The loosest sort of connection between clauses is signaled by the sentence-initial particle nu, and, indeed, the translation of nu often depends as much upon the interpretation of individual readers of the logical relationship between sentences or clauses as it does on outside evidence. In translating a Hittite text into idiomatic English, it is often neither necessary nor desirable to translate nu, and it has, in fact, been suggested that nu is often used as a more or less empty prop to which clause-initial enclitics are attached. Nu was not the only sentence-initial connective in Hittite, In early texts, it is found beside the rarer su and ta, which also take the clause-initial enclitics, and which presumably shared functions with nu, but su and ta were eventually eliminated from the language. In texts from the Empire period, nu very frequently begins sentences, though by no means all sentences begin with nu.

Nu may begin an independent sentence following another independent sentence, and its function in such sequences is similar to that of English and as a connector of independent sentences:

		nu-war-an		ammuk		parā pāi
		and-quotative-him		to me		give
		nu-war-as-mu		sankunis		ēsdu
		and-quotative-he-to-me		priest		let him be
		"Give him to me, (and) he will be my priest."

The particle may occur at the beginning of a clause that describes action that follows the action of the initial clause temporally or action that is the logical result of the action of the initial clause, and in such sequences, it may be translated as 'then' or 'so'. Again, nu should be considered a coordinating conjunction in such sequences of sentences.

		nu-mu		apppatar		hatrāttin		nu		seggalu
		and-to-me		receipt		write		so		I may know
		"Write me a receipt, so that I may know."

In some sequences of independent sentences, nu may have a mildly adversative sense and can be translated by 'but':

		mān-us-kan		MHuzziyas		kuenta		nu		uttar		isduwāti
		irrealis-them-locatival		Huzziyas		killed		but		plan		became known
		"Huzziyas would have killed them, but the plan became known."

		man		INA		URUHayasa		pāun-pat
		irrealis		into		Hayasa		I went-also
		nu-za		MU.KAM-za		ser tēpauēssanza
		and-reflexive		year		had become short
		"I would also have gone to Hayasa (to attack it), but the year had become short."

Nu may also be used to connect clauses clauses that amplify or qualify dependent temporal, result, or relative clauses:

		māan-san		MTelepenus		INA		GIŠGU-za		ABI-YA		ēshat
		when-locatival		Telepenus		on		throne		father-my		sat
		nu		URUHassuwa		lahh		pāun
		and		Hassuwa		on campaign		I went
		"When I, Telepenus, seated myself upon the throne of my father, then I went on a military campaign to Hassuwa."

		kuis		ammel		āppan		LUGAL-us		kīsari
		who		me		after		king		becomes
		nu		URUHattus-an		āppa		asasi
		and		Hattusas		again		settles
		n-an		nepisas		DIŠKUR-as		hazziettu
		and-him		of heaven		the Stormgod		let him smite
		"Whoever becomes king after me and settles Hattusas again, may the Stormgod of Heaven smite him!"

35.2 namma 'when'

The adverbial conjunction namma, 'then', 'next', 'moreover' or 'furthermore', can have the effect of indicating that one action follows closely upon another, or that action is being resumed. It often, though not inevitably, comes at the beginning of a clause or sentence, indicating the resumption or continuation of some action. It may also introduce the end of an on-going activity, having a meaning something like 'finally'. Like its English counterparts, it does not begin texts, but it may be used to begin a paragraph within a text, indicating a connection with the previous paragraph. The following sentences from the "Ritual of Tuwananni" follow a spell which the ritual practioner recites and indicate that she is now performing further actions designed to benefit the patient:

		namma		wappuwas		IM-an		dāi
		moreover		of the spring		clay		she takes
		namma-as		sakuniya		paizzi
		moreover-she		to the spring		goes
		"Moreover, she takes clay of the river bank (and), moreover, she goes to the spring."

Namma may also be used to indicate a series of consecutive actions:

		namma		LÚKUR		ispandaza		anda ari
		Then		enemy		by night		arrived
		namma-as		arha sarrattari
		then-they		split up
		"Then the enemy arrived by night and (then they) split up."

It may follow a sentence particle such as nu with or without attached enclitics. In this sentence, the nominative enclitic personal pronoun is necessary, because the verb is an intransitive verb that requires an explicit subject:

		n-as		namma		aruni		zahhiya		pait
		and-he		then		to the sea		to battle		went
		"Then he went to the sea to battle."

35.3 nasma and nassu 'or'

The conjunctions nasma and nassu, both of which mean 'or' or 'either', are disjunctive in force. They may be used to contrast clauses, for example:

		nu-ssi-kan		É		ABI-ŠU		arha danzi
		and-to-him-locatival		estate		father-his		take away
		n-at		nassu		damēdani		kuedanikki		pianzi
		and-it		either		to another		to anyone		they give
		nasma-at		INA		É.GAL		danzi
		or-it		for		palace		they take
		"They take his father's estate from him and either give it to someone else or take it for palace (i.e. confiscate it for the palace's use)."

nasma and nassu are also used to oppose elements within a phrase:

		takku		LÚ-an		nasma		MUNUS-an		sullanaz		kuiski		kuenzi
		if		man		or		woman		quarrel		someone		kills
		"If someone kills a man or a woman as the result of a quarrel."

		takku		ÌR-as		nasma		GEME-as		huwāi
		if		male slave		or		female slave		runs
		"If (either) a male slave or a female slave runs away..."

The particle m:an may be used as a conjunction in the sense 'whether':

		mān		hargaēs		mān		dankuwaēs		ŪL kuitki		duqqāri
		whether		white		or whether		black		not at all		is important
		"Whether (the rams) are white or black is not at all important."

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