What are the characteristics of the akkadians?

Answer 1

Characteristics. Continuous linguistic changes occurred during the long history of Akkadian. Old

Akkadian is a practical, collective term for the writings of the 3rd millennium which are not linguistically uniform. Compared to later dialects, Old Akkadian still preserved more of the original Semitic

consonants and archaic forms. Most of the Old Assyrian texts were unearthed in modern Kültepe

(eastern Turkey) because of the intensive Assyrian

trading activity in the area. Contrary to Old Babylonian and later dialects, Old Assyrian preserved certain adjacent vowels uncontracted. On the other

hand, most of the modern grammars of Akkadian

are based on Old Babylonian. It is considered the

classical and ideal form of the language whereupon, from Middle Babylonian onward, a literary

Akkadian was based called Standard Babylonian or

Hymnal-Epic Dialect. Myths, epics, and many royal

inscriptions are written in Standard Babylonian.

Thousands of Old Babylonian letters discovered in

Mari in modern Syria form one of the major archives written in Akkadian cuneiform. In Middle

Babylonian and Middle Assyrian, which are both

less well-known dialects than those of the preceding and successive periods, case endings lose distinction, final m is lost from nominal forms, and

phonetic changes occur. Increasing Aramaic influence is attested in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian, and it is possible that only the urban elite

spoke Akkadian at the end of this era. Early late

Babylonian, at least, was in all probability a living

and spoken language.