Includes bibliographical references (pages 599-634) and indexes.

Print version record.

Objective, structure, and method -- Structure and organization in the Akkadian verbal paradigm -- The paradigm of the G-stem The impact of gemination I : the imperfective iparrVs -- The perfective and the imperative -- The -- perfect -- The stative -- The nominal forms of the verbal paradigm -- The secondary members of the verbal paradigm -- The derived verbal stems: general features -- The impact of gemination II : the D-stem -- The prefix n- -- The prefix š- -- The t-infix and its ramifications -- Verb forms with reduplicaion -- The weak verbs -- The verbs with gutturals -- The verbal paradigm of Proto-Semitic.

In this magnum opus, N. J. C. Kouwenberg presents a thoroughgoing, modern analysis of the Akkadian verbal system, taking into account all of the currently available evidence for the language during the course of the long period of its attestation. The book achieves this goal through two strategies: (1) to describe the Akkadian verbal system, as comprehensively as the data permit; and (2) to reconstruct its prehistory on the basis of internal evidence and reconstruction, comparison with cognate languages, and typological evidence. Akkadian has one of the longest documented histories of any language: data from nearly two-and-one-half millennia are available, even if the stream of data is sometimes interrupted and not always as copious as we would like. During the course of this history, numerous developments took place, illustrating how languages change over time and offering parallels for reconstruction of changes that occurred in poorly documented periods.As a result, this book will be of great interest, in the first place, for all students of Akkadian, both the language and the literature that is documented in that language; and in the second place, for all students of language and linguistics who are interested in the study of how languages are shaped, develop, and change during the course of a long history.