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

Letters 71
Canaanite Shift.” 32 It is one of the important characteristics that
has been used in classifying the branches of the Semitic languages.
So, ipso facto, Ugaritic is not a Canaanite language.
Second, notice the double -tt- in /}adaœttiniyaœ/. The second t is
the usual marker of the feminine gender. The first t comes from
assimilation of the final nun of the word, }adn, “lord” (cp. Hebrew
Nwda). Such assimilation is a common feature of Semitic languages
in general and of Ugaritic in particular. When n directly precedes
another consonant without an intervening vowel, it assimilates to
the following consonant, resulting in the doubling, or lengthening,
of the remaining consonant (nC >CC). Of course, the scribe of this
letter, in good Ugaritic orthographic style, did not explicitly
indicate the double tt in his script. Alternatively, this could simply
be the feminine of the alternate form }ad, “lord.”
Line 2. See KTU 2.10, line 3.
2.11:3–4
thm.tlmyn w.}ah˙tmlk.{bdk
/tahmu talmiyana wa-}ah˙atimalki {abdeœki /
The message of Talmiyana and of Ah˙ati-malki, your two servants.
Line 3
If this is simply a reorganization of the Type II heading, then thm
should be nominative, as the title of the letter. However, since thm
follows the imperative rgm, one may argue that thm should be
construed in the accusative. According to the evidence of the
32 The so-called “Canaanite Shift,” i.e., aœ >oœ, has not taken place in Ugaritic;
e.g., Aram. MDlv and Heb. MOwlDv, “peace”; Heb. rOwa and Ugar. }ar, “light”; Heb.
hDmOwj, Amarna h˙u-mi-tu, and Syllabic Ugaritic h˙a-mi-ti, “wall”; Heb. NEkOws,
Amarna su-ki-nu, and Syllabic Ugaritic sa-ki-nu, “governor”; Amarna a-dunu,
and Syllabic Ugaritic }a-da-nu, “lord.”