SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Ugaritic, a North-west Semitic language known only from alphabetic tablets dating to about 1300 BCE, displays many features in common with classical Semitic and is generally considered a fairly conservative language. This thesis is an investigation of number and gender concord in Ugaritic nouns, verbs, and numerals, in various syntactic structures, and with reference to related phenomena in other Semitic languages, prompted by the many phrases which are apparent exceptions to the presumed 'rules' governing concord and which are too numerous to be attributed to scribal error. The difficulties inherent in the consonantal system of orthography affect the recognition of concord. Determination of number and/or gender of individual nouns is further complicated by occasionally insufficient textual evidence. While many nouns use the morphemes O, -m, -m for masculine singular, dual, and plural, and -t, -tm,-t for feminine singular, dual, and plural, as is the case generally throughout Semitic, there are many which do not fit this pattern. In the concord of verbs, Ugaritic appears unique in preferring a tQBR(n) form of the prefix conjugation with 3mpl subjects, particularly in the order subject-verb. In the suffix conjugation, Ugaritic allows a QBR form to precede feminine singular subject nouns and pronouns and the first person subject pronoun ank. The numeral 'two ' appears to have been used as expected on the basis of comparative Semitics. Numerals 3-10 ending in O are attested with masculine and feminine nouns; those ending in -t occur mostly with masculine nouns. Ugaritic is unique among the Semitic languages in having three forms of the teen numeral: sr and srh occur with masculine nouns; there is not sufficient indication that srt is the preferred form with feminine nouns.