A Primer on Ugaritic: Language, Culture, and Literature - enenuru

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Ugaritic <strong>Primer</strong>
root consonants to break up the consonant cluster. This vowel is
the same as the original theme vowel, the vowel between
consonants two and three. This is called vowel harmony and is
common for imperatives in Semitic languages. Additionally, as in
Hebrew, there was potentially a longer form of the ms impv
(Müq/M…wq//hDm…wq or NE;t//hÎnV;t). Some scholars think that the final -h of
the longer form was originally “emphatic,” though the precise
nuance of this emphasis remains ellusive.
Below line 3 is a scribal line, which was used to separate
different parts of the texts. Pay careful attention to such markings
since they represent the ancient scribes’ understanding of the
structure of a text.
2.10:4 ysûlm.lk
/yisûlam le-ka/
May it be well to you!
The second verb of the letter begins the Type II Greeting, and it is
marked off by a line drawn on the tablet. 10 In contrast to the
imperative rgm of line 3, this form has a prefixed y- preceding the
consonants of the root word sûlm. ysûlm is a short form of a G
prefixed conjugation, called a jussive. 11 There are a variety of
prefixed verb forms, but this “shortened” form—the jussive—is
used for wishes and blessings. The parsing can be abbreviated G
juss 3ms of sûlm; compare the simple nonverbal expressions,
Kl Mwlv (in Hebrew) or luœ sûulmu ana muh˙h˙ika (in Akkadian),
“May there be peace to you.”
ysûlm could also be a D conjugation (compare with the Hebrew
Piel) instead of a G. Like other Semitic languages, Ugaritic has a
10 Note that there is no obeisance formula. This formula referring to the speaker
falling down before the addressee occurs only with the Type I Heading.
11 We use the descriptive terms “prefixed conjugation” and “suffixed
conjugation” rather than the typical Hebrew terms “imperfect” and “perfect.”