A Grammar of the Ugaritic Language.

• Author: Segert, Stanislav
• Position: Review

By DANIEL SIVAN. Translated by A. E RAINEY. Handbuch der Orientalistik, vol. 1, no. 28. Leiden: E. J. BRILL, 1997. Pp. xxi + 327. HFl 154, $96.25.

Daniel Sivan of Ben-Gurion University wrote this grammar for advanced students and scholars of Semitic languages. They will use this work for thorough interpretation of texts. The original approaches and suggestions will incite further research, especially in those matters which still await good solutions.

In the foreword (pp. xvii-xviii) the need for an up-to-date reference grammar of Ugaritic is mentioned. Sivan produced one in Hebrew, publishing it in 1993 in Jerusalem, [Hebrew Text Omitted] (not listed on p. 236), and it was reviewed by E. Greenstein in the JAOS 117 (1997): 618-19. Sivan compares his grammar with Stanislav Segert's introductory grammar (1984), intended for students (p. xvii). An updated reprint of this book, A Basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language, is now published by the University of California Press.

Sivan considers Ugaritic to be an independent Northwest Semitic language distinct from Canaanite (pp. 2-4). Ugaritians distinguished themselves from Canaanites geographically, but their language may be characterized as archaic Northern Canaanite. Some differences from the later Canaanite dialects (see p. 3) can be explained by this archaic character.

In the introduction (pp. 1-7) Sivan gives basic information about clay tablets, the Ugaritic language, and stylistic connections with the Hebrew Bible. Chapters on orthography (pp. 919) and phonology (pp. 20-48) are followed by five chapters dealing with morphology (pp. 49-200). The final chapter is entitled "Several Syntactical Points" (pp. 201-25), although relevant material was already discussed in the chapters on morphology. In the bibliography (pp. 227-38) are listed publications in related fields which can be used for Ugaritic studies.

Most of the twenty-four text selections (pp. 227-38) are taken from poetic texts; letters are also represented. Texts are printed in lines corresponding to those in the original tablets and are accompanied by notes that mostly provide translations of Ugaritic terms. Indices list Ugaritic and other words (pp. 284-305) and give references to Ugaritic and biblical texts (pp. 305-27).

In this reference grammar Sivan cites copious examples of Ugaritic words and passages. He often refers to the opinions of scholars that differ from his or support his own interpretations. Sivan points to the need of...