Hittite causative markers in a diachronic Anatolian perspective

Abstract

Hittite is a heavily transivitizing language, and there are several morphological markers of causativisation in Hittite. Two of them, namely suffixes - nu - and - ahh -, were productive in the history of Hittite. Other markers are either no longer productive or primarily not causative. In Old Hittite - nu - and - ahh - still had some kind of complementary distribution, although there already was some overlapping, but in Middle and especially New Hittite these markers became nearly interchangeable. The coexistence of - nu - and - ahh - derivatives from the same bases can be attributed, at least partially, to an imperfect knowledge of Hittite by Luwian scribes.