Hittite (Nesite, Neshite) - the most important of the extinct Indo-European languages of Anatolia

According to “Encyclopedia Britannica” Hittite is one the most important of the extinct Indo-European languages of ancient Anatolia. The history shows that the Hittite language changed the way we perceive the Indo-European language family and pass the information about the way of living in Anatolia. This essay describes the history of the ancient language and depicts the importance of this language.

According to “Omniglot” the Hittite language is also well known by belonging to the Anatolian branch of Indo-European languages and is well known because of the first written language which delivers lots of information about the past times. This language was passed through several generations through cuneiform tablets that been used between approximately 1650 and 1500 BC. The significant value the language has as the texts preserve the earliest examples of an Indo-European language that have been found. The “Encyclopedia” refers to Bedrich Hrozny who found the similarity of Hittite with Indo-European languages through its endings for nouns and verbs. The cultural as well as linguistic value Hittite plays linguistically as it provides significant information about the early Indo-European sound system and the structure of the Proto-Indo-European parent languages.

The “Ancient History” reveals that prior to 1700 BC the Hittites resided in ancient Anatolia, which is modern Turkey. Cuneiform tablets were interpreted considerably quickly and changed the understanding of the Indo-European languages. The journal illustrates the process of interpretation of the Hittite cuneiform tablets. According to the article, Bedrich Hrozny analyzed the ancient word “ezzateni” and found that it is similar to “ezza” in English, in Greek (edein), Latin (edere) and in German (essen). So, the linguist defined that the Hittite must be related to the above mention languages as the meaning and the spelling is similar to each other. Another example with the word “vatar” justified the similarity of the modern languages to the Hittite. In English it is “water” in German “wasser”. So, the researcher found that the Hittite was the language of Indo-European origin. This discovery makes the Hittite language the most important languages of the extinct languages of Anatolia.

Beckman (1996) delivers one more importance of the Hittite language as a representative of Indo-European family languages. The author declares that Anatolian consists of three principal languages Hittite, Luwian and Lydian. It is regarded that the most important language is the Hittite since the large number of documents some dating back as far as 1300 BC. Woods (2010), declares that the Hittite language was settled as an official language of communication in external and internal relations in that society. Consequently, the fall of the Hittite language was due to political instability.

As it was mentioned above,the Hittite language is important as the first Indo-European language that appeared in writing. We can suppose that if the language is the first, it probably will show more information about the culture, the way of living, the political and economic settings of those people. So, the Hittite language is the key to the ancient Indo-European languages.

References: 

Beckman, G. (1996). The Hittite language and its decipherment. 
Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/268173/Hittite-language

Woods, C. (Ed.). (2010). Visible language: Inventions of writing in the ancient Middle East and beyond. Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

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