Ugaritic

U·ga·rit·ic

U0003800 (o͞o′gə-rĭt′ĭk, yo͞o′-)n. The Semitic language of Ugarit.

Ugaritic

(ˌuːɡəˈrɪtɪk) n1. (Languages) an extinct Semitic language of N Syria2. (Historical Terms) an extinct Semitic language of N Syriaadj3. (Languages) of or relating to this language4. (Historical Terms) of or relating to this language[C19: after Ugarit (modern name: Ras Shamra), an ancient Syrian city-state]

U•ga•rit•ic

(ˌu gəˈrɪt ɪk, ˌyu-)

adj. 1. of or pertaining to Ugarit, its people, or their language. n. 2. the western Semitic language of the inhabitants of Ugarit, written in a cuneiform alphabet. [1935–40]

Thesaurus

Noun

Ugaritic - an extinct Semitic language of northern SyriaCanaanitic, Canaanitic language - a group of Semitic languages

Translations

ugarítico

Ugaritic

the language of ancient Ugarit, recorded in written texts from the 14th and 13th centuries B.C. and in a few later inscriptions. Ugaritic belongs to the Northwestern group of Semitic languages and closely resembles the Canaanite languages, such as Phoenician and Hebrew, within which subgroup some scholars classify it. The Ugaritic texts are inscribed on clay tablets and in stone in the Ugaritic consonantal cuneiforms. This alphabet, in addition to consonantal letters, contained syllabic markings for the combinations ’a, ’i, and ’u, which makes it possible to draw conclusions about the vowels and their grammatical functions.

The texts contain three varieties of Ugaritic: archaic, classical, and vulgar, all of which differ phonetically. The consonant system of archaic Ugaritic differs only slightly from that of Proto-Semitic, lacking only lateral sibilants as separate phonemes. Classical and vulgar Ugaritic show a tendency toward loss of interdental consonants. The morphology of Ugaritic is typically Western Semitic: it preserves cases and the ancient moods and has a highly developed system of verb forms. The lexicon is Semitic, with loanwords from the Hurrian language.

REFERENCES

Segert, S. Ugaritskii iazyk. Moscow, 1965. (Translated from German.)
Aistleitner, J. Wörterbuch der ugaritischen Sprache, 3rd ed. Berlin, 1967.
Gordon, C. H. Ugaritic Textbook, [parts 1–3]. Graz, 1967.

Ugaritic

U·ga·rit·ic

Ugaritic

U•ga•rit•ic

Ugaritic

Ugaritic

REFERENCES

Ugaritic

Words related to Ugaritic

noun an extinct Semitic language of northern Syria

Related Words