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Glite Dictionary
Kassite language

Kassite language

9.9
An extinct language once spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, known from a few names and words on clay tablets
  • noun
  • Specialized
: lengua kassita
  • Some personal names in Babylonian records are believed to be derived from the Kassite language.

Examples

  • The Kassite language remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of surviving texts.

  • Scholars have found only limited evidence of the Kassite language in cuneiform tablets.

  • The Kassite language was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia.

  • What do we know about the Kassite language?

  • Scholars have found only limited evidence of the Kassite language in cuneiform tablets.

  • Some personal names in Babylonian records are believed to be derived from the Kassite language.

  • The Kassite language remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of surviving texts.

Synonyms

Cassite
vsKassite language
  • Specialized
9.9

An ancient language once used in Babylon, now known only from a few words

is attested more widely through personal names and cuneiform terms
Cassite language
vsKassite language
  • Specialized
9.9

An extinct language once spoken by the Kassite people in ancient Mesopotamia in the second millennium BCE

is known mainly from names and terms rather than by exact dating
Kassite
vsKassite language
  • Specialized
9.9

An ancient language once spoken in Babylonia that is now extinct

is attested through personal names and terms in cuneiform texts

Surface Forms

Kassite language singular
Kassite languages plural

Morphology

Kassite + language

The meaning 'the language of the Kassites' is directly and compositionally derived from combining the ethnonym 'Kassite' with the noun 'language'. This follows the common cross-linguistic pattern (ethnonym + language), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Kassite language comes from the people called the Kassites, who ruled parts of ancient Mesopotamia long ago. Because scholars find only a few personal names and words written on clay tablets, the 'Kassite language' is known only in small pieces and remains hard to understand today.