Ancient Near Eastern and European Isolates

A significant discovery in the study of ancient languages reveals that Sumerian, the first written language in Western Asia, has a distinct linguistic history characterized by animate and inanimate gender nouns and two numerical forms. This research also highlights the Hattic language, documented through nearly 360 texts from Hittite archives in central Turkey, contributing to our understanding of ancient Near Eastern and European isolates. The study leverages extensive cuneiform documents spanning from ca. 3300 BCE to the first century CE, providing a comprehensive analysis of linguistic documentation that varies in quantity and quality across different languages.

Michalowski, P. (2017). Ancient Near Eastern and European Isolates. Language Isolates, 19–58. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315750026-2