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Dead languages ||| Anatolia / Languages
Urartian language
Also called: Chaldean; Vannic
Extinct non-Indo-European language of northeastern Anatolia. It was the state language of Urartu 9th-6th century BCE.
Urartian is closely related to Hurrian, but Urartian is not its descendant, as has been suggested in early research.
Most surviving texts in Urartian used cuneiform script in the Neo-Assyrian variant. Two bilingual texts, in Assyrian and Urartian, allowed the deciphering of Urartian. Other texts in Urarian used a type of hieroglyphs. These are still undeciphered, much because of the limited amount sources.
Early research into Urartian called the language Chaldean or Vannic.
Urartian has no sharp distinction between noun and verb. To alter meanings of a word, up to several suffixes could be added onto one another in a row, but according to a rigid system.
Research history
1933: First real description of Urartian grammar is published by German Orientalist Johannes Friedrich.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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