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Cassite language

Cassite language

9.9
An extinct language once spoken by the Kassite people in ancient Mesopotamia in the second millennium BCE
  • noun
  • Specialized
: idioma casita
  • Only a few inscriptions in the Cassite language have survived from ancient Mesopotamia.

Examples

  • The Cassite language remains only partially deciphered due to limited written records.

  • Scholars continue to study the Cassite language to better understand Kassite culture and administration.

  • The Cassite language was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia.

  • Few texts remain that are written in the Cassite language.

  • Only a few inscriptions in the Cassite language have survived from ancient Mesopotamia.

  • Scholars continue to study the Cassite language to better understand Kassite culture and administration.

  • The Cassite language remains only partially deciphered due to limited written records.

Synonyms

Kassite
vsCassite language
  • Specialized
9.9

An ancient language once spoken in Babylonia that is now extinct

specifies that this language was used in the second millennium BCE
Kassite language
vsCassite language
  • Specialized
9.9

An extinct language once spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, known from a few names and words on clay tablets

describes the language rather than focusing on limited written evidence
Cassite
vsCassite language
  • Specialized
9.9

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

states the language without noting lack of direct attestations

Surface Forms

Morphology

Cassite + language

This is a metonymic noun phrase formed by a proper adjective/noun plus 'language' that literally denotes the language of the Cassite people. If a B1 learner knows the constituent meanings (Cassite = relating to the Kassite people; language = a system of speech), the overall meaning is directly and compositionally derivable and follows a cross-linguistically common pattern.

Etymology

Cassite language gets its name from the people called the 'Kassites'; Cassite names that group and language simply means the tongue they spoke. So, Cassite language means the old language of the Kassites, and because only a few texts survive it is now considered extinct and partly unknown.