Dialects and their Impact on Changing words and their meanings An applied study in the Akkadian language

Abstract

The research is concerned with studying dialects and explaining their impact on words and their meanings in the Akkadian language, as the discussion was limited to this language and no other. The research dealt with these dialects according to their chronological sequence in the different eras that the Akkadian language went through, and identifying the influence and impact between them, with a focus on the linguistic aspect (substitution in sounds, word structure, meaning), and this is what we will notice from the examples.

     The study of Akkadian dialects, and the explanation of their effect on words and their meanings, came as a beginning for the study of dialects in other Semitic languages, which we will present successively in other research, God willing; due to their breadth and the length of the discussion about them, so it was the beginning of the discussion of the Akkadian language and its dialects, as it is the oldest recorded in the Semitic region.

        The research was entitled (Dialects and their impact on changing words and their meanings – an applied study in the Akkadian language), as it was on two axes, the first: Akkadian and its dialects (a theoretical study), and the second: an applied study of selected samples of the Akkadian language, so the choice fell on (125) words, some of which changed in words, and the meaning of others, in addition to words that appeared in one dialect and not another; due to the difference in dialects.

        The research reached an important conclusion, which is that dialects in Semitic languages (Akkadian, for example) are a major reason for changing the forms and meanings of words, regardless of the reason for the appearance of these dialects in the language. As for the approach followed in the study, it is the historical approach in presenting dialects according to their chronological sequence, the applied study of some samples, and explaining the changes that occurred in their form and meaning.