Accent in Hittite: A Study in Plene Spelling, Consonant Gradation, Clitics, and Metrics.

• Author: Melchert, H. Craig
• Position: Book review

Accent in Hittite: A Study in Plene Spelling, Consonant Gradation, Clitics, and Metrics. By ALWIN KLOEKHORST. Studien zu den Bogazkoy-Texten, vol. 56. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2014. Pp. xxv+ 716. [euro]98.

This very ambitious attempt to present a comprehensive analysis of Hittite accent (primarily, but not exclusively, word accent) consists of parts of quite unequal size. After a short introduction setting forth his premises, working methods, and database, Kloekhorst treats in detail in five chapters comprising over five hundred pages the evidence for word accent provided by synchronic vowel length--which in turn is deduced primarily from the distribution of so-called "plene" and "non-plene" spellings. Three shorter supplementary chapters follow: chapter 6 discusses what may be inferred about Hittite accent from the effects of prehistoric lenition and fortition of consonants; chapters 7 and 8 treat aspects of accent at the clause level as reflected in the behavior of clitics and in poetic meter. The volume is completed by an "accentuated" word list of Hittite plus indices of words cited from other languages and of text passages discussed.

Space limitations preclude any remotely adequate engagement with Kloekhorst's many specific arguments and conclusions, and in any case serious differences in working premises would render any list of "hits and misses" so subjective as to be largely useless. The following review will focus on larger methodological issues with necessarily very selective illustrations. For a far more thorough review see Kimball 2015.

I begin with marked strengths of the work. First, the philological foundation is excellent. One may differ with the reading or analysis of a handful of examples, but I found virtually nothing that may rightfully be termed an error. Careful rechecking of the autographs and photographs of some examples also allows Kloekhorst to identify likely ghost forms. Second, the material basis for the heart of the analysis, that involving the spelling of vowels, is impressively broad, and it is unlikely that any further overlooked examples will materially change the picture.

Third, Kloekhorst is gratifyingly explicit about his assumptions regarding the relative dating of each example in terms of both the composition and the manuscript, something too often lacking in longitudinal studies of Hittite grammar. Fourth, the prose style is direct and uncluttered, and the argumentation linear. This is...