Saturday, 20 April 2024

Našite

Hittite language  was by Hittites called "nešili, našili, nišili"

This, presumably means "the language of Neša", an important Hittite Old Kingdom city...

But I have my doubts about this etymology...

Here is why:

In South Slavic languages:

Naš means "our"

Naši, Našite, Našinci, means "our people, our compatriots"

Naški, Našinski means "our language"

Now I can already hear you all shouting: "WTF DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HITTITE LANGUAGE?!?! F*UCKING SERBIAN NATIONALIST!!!"

Well...Hittite dictionary, page 396...

So is it possible that the Hittites called their language

Našili = Naš + ili = Our + adverbial suffix

Just like in South Slavic languages we call our languages

Naški = Naš + ski = Our + adverbial suffix

Which is why, in bilingual inscriptions, Našites used "našili" to mark lines written in "our language"...

After all, Našite (the alternative name for the Hittite language that never caught on) was an Indo-European language 🙂


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