Akkadian Influence on English

(June 5, 2023) Akkadian is the earliest attested language of Europe being the language of the Neolithic farmers who migrated out of Mesopotamia. These farmers began to enter Europe around 6700 BCE. The culture and language of Europe began to change with the arrival of Indo-European speaking invaders beginning in 3500 BCE. Indo-European was a high prestige language which came to dominate the European landscape. This mixing of Indo-European with Akkadian to various degrees formed the main European language classes of Latin, Greek, Celtic, and Germanic. Akkadian only survived in civilizations on the margins of Europe (Minoan, Etruscan, Phoenician, Israelite, Iberian, Pre-Viking Nordic) where it is attested on stone and gold tablets, and on clay pottery shards. English is a result of a later secondary mixing between Germanic and Latin language groups. Yet despite all this some Akkadian words survive in English to this day.

Spread of Akkadian by Neolithic Farmers

Matrilineal genetic closeness (green) of Neolithic farmers to a 5000 BCE Neolithic reference sample from central Anatolia

Left image shows the matrilineal genetic closeness (green) of Neolithic farmers to a 5000 BCE Neolithic reference sample from central Anatolia. Right image shows the genetic closeness of modern populations to that sample.  This and other studies show that northern Mesopotamian genetics spread along with the farming culture and that means their native Akkadian language spread with them. This is further supported by survivals of their Akkadian writing on archaeological texts found in Europe. The Minoans were the first European Akkadian writers as evidenced by their 1800 BCE Phaistos Disk. (Map from Haak and all 2010)

Haak, Wolfgang and all (2010) Ancient DNA from European Early Neolithic Farmers Reveals Their Near Eastern Affinities. Online at: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000536)
Spread of farming as determined by archaeology from Mesopotamia and Levant through Anatolia and into Europe.

Image shows the spread of farming as determined by archaeology from Mesopotamia and Levant through Anatolia and into Europe. These farmers started to migrate starting around 8500 BCE and the southern group reached Britain through Minoan Crete, Etruscan Italy, and Brittany around 4100 BCE. Akkadian is the native language of northern Mesopotamia so that language traveled with the farmers. (Map from Gronenborn and Horejs 2021) 

Gronenborn, Detlef and Barbara Barbara (2021) Expansion of farming in western Eurasia, 9600 - 4000 cal BC (update vers. 2021.2. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/9424525/Map_Expansion_of_farming_in_western_Eurasia_9600_4000_cal_BC_update_vers_2021_1_

Spread of Indo-European

Image above shows the spread of the Indo-Europeans and their language who originated on the northern steppes. These invasions of Europe began around 3500 BCE. The Indo-European Bell Beaker culture did not reach Britain until around 2400 BCE just after the building of the last phase of Stonehenge was built. Were they settled they replaced 90% to 60% of the farmer genetics. (Image from: 

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indo-European_expansions.jpg)

Akkadian Words Found in English

The "Celtic" written language is now known to be Akkadian. The "Celtic" language spoken by most people would have been various mixtures Akkadian and Indo-European which in time became the various national languages.
Etymology is the study of word origin and transmission through time. It is not to be confused with Entomology which is the study of insects. Those who do not know the difference bug me (old joke!).
Image (2014) from Les Murry at: https://triangulations.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/the-history-of-the-english-language-a-diagram/
Various Akkadian words entered English via Latin and Frisian. Both languages in turn probably adopted them from the Etruscan civilization. This is a very good introduction from the Langfocus channel on YouTube.

Akkadian Words Found in English

(September 27, 2023) Many English words come from Akkadian as does the grammatical structures of "ongoing" or "continuous" tense and the  "do support" (Akkadian Y letter start) sentence constructions. (For a description of the problem see the section entitled "Supposed Celtic Syntax in English" at  https://www.arrantpedantry.com/2014/12/01/celtic-and-the-history-of-the-english-language/

The earliest English words came from both Latin and Old Norse/German. Latin speakers acquired their Akkadian words from their northern Akkadian speaking neighbors, the Etruscans. Many Old Norse words also derive from Etruscan whose writing spread north and ended up as the Elder Futhark Runes. This writing only ceased around by 500 CE. Significantly, Akkadian has never been considered as a word source in European etymological studies until now because no one imagined such a connection existed.  These Akkadian source words  include:

Undley Gold Bracteate From Britain (400 CE)

This text is in Akkadian and it has the word "super." This etymological connection between Akkadian and English is as good as such connections get.

(June 16, 2023) Bracteates are a pendant style jewelry usually worn on a necklace. The imagery on this one is a mix of Roman and Druid. Just under the chain ring is a Druid Spiral doublet. To the left of that is a symbol at bottom of this photo is the Roman symbol of the infants Romulus and Remous feeding at the teats of a wolf (milk is a fertility fluid as mentioned in the text). Between the two are images  for the sun (god Hu, life power) and full moon (god Su, astrological motion power) indicating this bracteate is about the integration of those two classes of spiritual powers. Notice the moon is similar to the eye in the helmeted figure which seems to indicate the figure represents the full moon god Su. The full moon had the epithet of "observer" in Alphabetic Akkadian. Diameter: 2.30 centimeters.  Weight: 2.24 grams. Letter assignments by Olmsted

 From British Museum. Museum number: 1984,1101.1. Online at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1984-1101-1

This bracteate was found at Undley Common which is a small region just southwest of the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk County, England.

Translation of Undley Bracteate

(June 16, 2023) The Akkadian text on this pendant seems to be a tongue twister. The text also uses bound-runes for the first three words. This combining of signs into words is also seen in cuneiform texts.

This text is a plea for avoiding a drought by using magic. It is claiming not enough rain is being made because the fertility-fluids needed to trigger it is not being pushed (activated) enough to get through the life network of Hu.

Translation in Akkadian (Celt Text 11)

(read right to left in the traditional Druid direction as the bracteate is rotated counter clockwise. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold)
  1. ŠaPu,  ŠaPu,  ŠaPu  ṢaPu. ŠaPu  Ṣu.  Mu  Ṣu  Ya (Celt 11.1)

(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

  1. Make-super, make-super, make-super the soaking. Make-super the activity-level.  Fertility-fluids are not being activated.
Half of the runes on this comb can't be seen well enough to read. What can be seen does not match what is written in the upper corners which is why translations based upon such letters are not trustworthy and should not even be done. Translations need to come from good photos.

Akkadian Elder Futhark Runes on Hoogebeintum Comb from Friesland (600 CE)

This comb is made out of an antler. It was found in 1928 in an inhumation grave dug in a human made coastal mound. These are known as terpen in Friesland and wierden in Groningen.

Found on page 193 of the thesis entitled "Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150-700; texts & contexts" by  Looijenga, Jantina Helena. Online at: https://pure.rug.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/3230061/thesis.pdf

A great ouline of the history by History With Hilbert. Some Old Frisian/English/Norse/Germanic place names with Akkadian roots:

  1. Hearg - "Shrine" from Akkadian ḪaR.Gi meaning "Liver Energizer" (as opposed to astrological energy). Livers were the source of human emotions and hence a source of magical motion powers on earth.
  2. Aaalburg - "Holy Place" from Akkadian life source god Alu meaning divine and Indo-European "berg" meaning place.
  3. Halo - "holy" from Akkadian life source god Alu

Timeline of Northern Europe Paganism As Outlined In Video

(April 1, 2023)