𒉈𒅆𒇷

Hittite

Anatolian (Indo-European) · historical / hidden variety

FamilyAnatolian (Indo-European) SpeakersExtinct ScriptCuneiform / Hieroglyphic Luwian CountriesHatti (central Anatolia) Official inHittite Empire Vitalityextinct ISO 639-3hit

Hittite (Nešili) is the earliest attested Indo-European language (c. 1650-1178 BCE), the official language of the powerful Hittite Empire centered on Hattusa (modern Boğazkale, central Anatolia, Turkey). Its decipherment by Bedřich Hrozný in 1915 revolutionized Indo-European studies — it preserves laryngeal consonants reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European but lost in nearly every other branch, confirming Saussure's 1879 theoretical reconstruction. Written in cuneiform borrowed from Akkadian on clay tablets, with around 30,000 surviving tablets from the royal archives.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Hittite

Water

𒉿𒀀𒋻

/waːtar/

Fire

𒉺𒄩𒄴𒄯

/paxːur/

Sun

/—/

Moon

𒀀𒅈𒈠

/arma/

Mother

𒀭𒈾

/anːa/

Father

𒀜𒋫

/atːa/

Eat

𒅕𒀀𒀜

/ed/

Drink

𒅔𒆪

/eku/

Love

𒀸𒅆𒅀𒀭

/asːijant/

Heart

𒆗𒁕

/kard/

Tree

𒋫𒊒

/taru/

House

𒉺𒅕

/per/

Dog

𒆪𒉿𒀭

/kuwan/

Cat

/—/

Hand

𒆠𒅖𒊭𒅈

/kesːar/

Eye

𒊭𒆪𒉿

/ʃakuwa/

Hello

/—/

Thank you

/—/

One

𒁹

/as/

Good

𒀸𒋗

/asːu/

Words compared

Compared with related Anatolian (Indo-European) languages

Meaning HittiteLuwianMycenaean GreekOld PersianAvestanBabuza (Favorlang)Tocharian A
Water 𒉿𒀀𒋻 /waːtar/ 𔓷𔗬𔖻𔑯 /wadar/ 𐀓𐀈 /hudɔːr/ 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ zalum /zalum/ 𑀯𑀭𑁆 /wær/
Fire 𒉺𒄩𒄴𒄯 /paxːur/ 𔑭𔖖𔖖𔗬 /paːhːur/ 𐀢 /pyːr/ 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ apoi /apoi/ 𑀧𑁄𑀭𑁆 /por/
Sun /—/ 𔖻𔗬𔑯 /tiwad/ 𐀀𐀺𐀂𐀍 /haːwelios/ 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ /—/ 𑀓𑁄𑀁 /kom/
Moon 𒀀𒅈𒈠 /arma/ 𔓯𔗬 /arma/ 𐀕 /mɛːn/ 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ zilias /siliəs/ 𑀫𑀜𑁆 /mæɲ/
Mother 𒀭𒈾 /anːa/ 𔑯𔑯 /anna/ 𐀔𐀳 /maːtɛːr/ 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ tina /tina/ 𑀫𑀸𑀘𑀭𑁆 /maːtsar/
Father 𒀜𒋫 /atːa/ 𔑯𔑯𔗬 /tati/ 𐀞𐀳 /patɛːr/ 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ tama /tama/ 𑀧𑀸𑀘𑀭𑁆 /paːtsar/
Eat 𒅕𒀀𒀜 /ed/ 𔑯𔗬 /ad/ 𐀁𐀈𐀕𐀙 /edmenai/ 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ maan /maːn/ 𑀰𑀯𑁆 /ɕæw/
Drink 𒅔𒆪 /eku/ 𔑯𔓷 /aku/ 𐀡𐀜 /piːnɔː/ 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ minum /minum/ 𑀬𑁄𑀓𑁆 /jok/
Page 1/3

Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Hittite
uk sakhi washi wasippa kuin uskun anda happiriyati peran ašušanni
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.