| CODE | NES2019 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Introduction to Akkadian 1 | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Oriental Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will introduce Akkadian as a spoken and written language in the ancient cultures of the Near East. It will introduce students to the grammatical structures that will facilitate the description and acquisition of the language and it will show them how to start writing in the basic and most frequently occurring cuneiform signs. It will also enable students to transliterate and translate passages that use standard Babylonian and Assyrian. Finally, the students will learn how to use this basic knowledge of the language to carry out research work in primary sources (display texts as well as archival documents) and how to start translating the cuneiform writing on clay tablets in museums around the world from high definition photography. Study-unit Aims: To: - introduce students to the lingua franca of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC in the ancient Near East; - teach students the grammatical forms that describe the language in its known extent; - enable students to manipulate grammatical knowledge to construct phrases and sentences in Akkadian; - enable students to transliterate and translate Akkadian to English; - use the knowledge to carry out research with primary sources (archival tablets and display inscriptions from high definition museum images); - contribute to analyses of comparative semitic languages. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - recognise difference between syllabic and sumerographic writing; - show how to transliterate and translate appropriately; - identify the grammatical construction of Akkadian nouns and adjectives and their case, number and gender; - recognise agreement of the case, number, and gender or nouns and adjectives; - identify the construct state in its basic and complex formulations; - show the appropriate use of the possessive suffix, the dual forms, and propositions; - identify the Four verbal systems; - predict meaning from theme radicals and theme vowels; - distinguish between the present, preterite and perfect forms of the verb; - contrast stative and verbal adjectives; - identify and distinguish between the imperative, precative, and infinitive verbal forms. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - spell and write Akkadian words syllabically and sumerographically; - transliterate and translate words from Akkadian to English; - construct phrases in Akkadian; - write basic sentences to show ability to place nouns and adjectives in the right word order and in case, number, and gender agreement; - formulate phrases using the construct state; - write phrases that show the use of the suffix, duals, and prepositions in context; - explain the four verbal systems and write the verbs appropriately; - write basic sentences in Akkadian that use the present, preterite, perfect, imperative, precative, and infinitive verbal configurations correctly; - explain the difference between stative and verbal forms appropriately; - carry out dictionary work; - transcribe, transliterate, and translate from high definition images documents from Akkadian to English. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Caplice, R. 2002. Introduction to Akkadian. 4th Ed. Istituto Pontificio Biblico, Rome. - Huehnergard, J. 2011. A Grammar of Akkadian. 3rd Ed. Brill [PJ3521.H84 2011] |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Omar N'Shea |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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