--- title: "From Glosses to the Linguistic Nature of Canaano-Akkadian — Andrason 2026" description: "The paper asks what kind of linguistic system Canaano-Akkadian was. 8 references." authors: ["Alexander Andrason", "Juan-Pablo Vita"] year: 2026 venue: "Folia Orientalia 51" source: "https://wydawnictwo.pan.pl/index.php/fo/article/view/6859" licence: "CC BY (journal licence per DOAJ; Folia Orientalia)" licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License" canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/andrason-2026-glosses-linguistic-nature-canaano-akkadian/" --- [Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/andrason-2026-glosses-linguistic-nature-canaano-akkadian/) [home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2026](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2026/page/7/) / From Glosses to the Linguistic Nature of Canaano-Akkadian # From Glosses to the Linguistic Nature of Canaano-Akkadian **Authors:** [Alexander Andrason](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/alexander-andrason/) and Juan-Pablo Vita · **Year:** 2026 · **Venue:** Folia Orientalia 51 · **Licence:** [CC BY (journal licence per DOAJ; Folia Orientalia)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) **Links:** [Publisher's page](https://wydawnictwo.pan.pl/index.php/fo/article/view/6859) · [PDF](https://wydawnictwo.pan.pl/index.php/fo/article/download/6859/5681) ## Summary The paper asks what kind of linguistic system Canaano-Akkadian was. This is the hybrid Akkadian used by Canaanite scribes in the 14th-century BCE Amarna letters, and scholars disagree whether it was a real dialect, an interlanguage, a mixed language, a social-scribal code, or simply Canaanite written with Akkadian cuneiform. The authors avoid the problem of telling individual habits apart from dialect features by narrowing the evidence to one subset: Canaanite glosses that the same scribe wrote more than once. Most of these repeated glosses vary in spelling, while a few stay fixed. From this the authors infer that scribes treated their native Canaanite as a low variety beside prestigious Akkadian, which points to a diglossic setting. They then test the code against the defining traits of pidgins, creoles, koinés, mixed languages and jargons. No single category fits, so they propose a dynamic, partly fuzzy, multi-category definition. They argue this definition reconciles most earlier hypotheses as complementary views of different aspects of the language. ## Key points - The study draws on about thirty repeated same-scribe glosses, out of roughly 110 glosses in total (counts based on Izre'el 1998b). - Some glosses are spelled consistently. A Gezer scribe wrote la-bi-tu for SIG4 'brick' in both EA 266:20 and EA 296:17, and Byblos scribes always wrote ki-lu-bi 'cage'. Unstable spellings are more frequent, for example a pharyngeal or laryngeal sometimes written and sometimes omitted, or a different syllabogram chosen. - Items whose origin is uncertain, such as pû 'mouth', are excluded, so that only genuinely Canaanite elements are analysed. - The final classification describes the code as: - a professional high-status jargon, written but also spoken among scribes; - a two-source mixed language; - a "soft" koiné built on related but mutually unintelligible systems; - a factor in a triglossic setting at scribal centres; - a system showing pidgin-like tertiary hybridization and post-pidgin continuum tendencies. - The proposal brings together the views of Rainey, Kossmann, Gianto, Izre'el and Sanders. Sheng in Kenya is cited as a comparable case of a language that resists any single category. ## Interesting ideas - Using only repetitions by the same writer controls for the individual, so the remaining variation says something about that writer's attitude rather than about dialect differences. - How consistently a writer spells a word can reveal how much prestige that writer gives the word's language or register. - A single object can be described as belonging partly to several categories at once, instead of being forced into one rigid class. - Competing theories are treated as complementary views of different aspects of the same thing, each fitting part of the data. - The authors propose as future work that every individual trait be linked to the category it supports, making the overall classification auditable. ## For Mova How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests: - **I1** (learn): When evaluating parsers or LLM teachers, compare outputs on repeated items from a single source, so that source-specific noise is not mistaken for genuine linguistic variation. - **I2** (tokens): Variant-spelling statistics could serve as a register feature in the tokenizer, flagging informal or low-status spans that need lenient normalization before lemmatization. - **I3** (world): The ontology layer could let entities carry several class memberships with graded strength, so that reasoning stays honest when WordNet or Wikidata types conflict. - **I4** (learn): When witness parsers disagree, the system could record which data subsets each one explains rather than taking a flat majority vote, and use that record to route silver labels. - **I5** (frames): Each frame or speech-act label could be stored with the specific cues that triggered it, keeping the classification explainable trait by trait. *Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.* Fields: [Linguistics & languages](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/linguistics/) Topics: [𒀭 Akkadian and cuneiform NLP](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/akkadian-cuneiform-nlp/) · [🐪 Semitic languages](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/semitic-languages/) ## Cite Cite as: Alexander Andrason and Juan-Pablo Vita. 2026. From Glosses to the Linguistic Nature of Canaano-Akkadian. Folia Orientalia 51. The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. ```bibtex @inproceedings{andrason2026glosses, title = {{From Glosses to the Linguistic Nature of Canaano-Akkadian}}, author = {Alexander Andrason and Juan-Pablo Vita}, booktitle = {Folia Orientalia 51}, year = {2026}, url = {https://wydawnictwo.pan.pl/index.php/fo/article/view/6859} } ``` - [← previous From Form to Meaning: Interlingua Sense-Alignment of Offensive Language with LLMs](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/roussopoulou-2026-form-meaning-interlingua-sense-alignment/) - [next → From Graph to Text and Back: Semantic Fidelity in Automated Industrial Knowledge Graphs](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/zeinalipour-2026-graph-text-back-semantic-fidelity/) - [↑ back to papers of 2026](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2026/page/7/) ## References 8 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet. 1. Arnaud, D. 1991. Une lettre de Kamid-el-Loz. Semitica 40. 7-16 Arnaud, D. 2006. Un fragment de lettre en canaanéen: RS 94.2615, provenant sans doute de Tyr. AuOr 24. 7-15 Bakker, P.; M. Mous (eds). 1994. Mixed Languages. 15 Case Studies in Language Intertwining. Amsterdam. Chicago Assyrian Dictionary. Chicago. von Dassow, E. 2004. Canaanite in Cuneiform. JAOS 124. 641-674 von Dassow, E. 2010. Peripheral Akkadian Dialects, or Akkadography of Local Languages? In: L. Kogan et al. (eds) Proceedings of the 53e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. Vol. 1. Part 2: Language in the Ancient Near East (= Babel und Bibel 4/2). 895-924. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Arnaud%2C+D%2E+1991%2E+Une+lettre+de+Kamid%2Del%2DLoz%2E+Semitica+40%2E+7%2D16+Arnaud%2C+D%2E+2006%2E+Un+fragment+de+lettre+en+canaan%C3%A9en%3A+RS+94%2E2615%2C+provenant+sans+doute+de+Tyr%2E+AuOr+24%2E+7%2D15+Bakker%2C+P%2E%3B+M%2E+Mous+%28eds%29%2E+19) 2. Winona Lake Edzard, L. 2011. Biblical Hebrew. In: S. Weninger (ed.) The Semitic Languages. 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Should LSP dictionaries also include professional jargon and slang? Lexikos 10. 86-98 Goren, Y.; I. Finkelstein; N. Na’aman. 2004. Inscribed in Clay. Provenance Study of the Amarna Tablets and Other Ancient Near Eastern Texts. Tel Aviv. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Gl%C3%A4ser%2C+R%2E+2000%2E+Should+LSP+dictionaries+also+include+professional+jargon+and+slang%3F+Lexikos+10%2E+86%2D98+Goren%2C+Y%2E%3B+I%2E+Finkelstein%3B+N%2E+Na%E2%80%99aman%2E+2004%2E+Inscribed+in+Clay%2E+Provenance+Study+of+the+Amarna+Ta) 6. Green, J. 1987. Dictionary of Jargon. New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Green%2C+J%2E+1987%2E+Dictionary+of+Jargon%2E+New+York%2E) 7. Holm, J. 1988. Pidgins and Creoles. Theory and Structure. Cambridge. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Holm%2C+J%2E+1988%2E+Pidgins+and+Creoles%2E+Theory+and+Structure%2E+Cambridge%2E) 8. Horowitz, W.; T. Oshima; S. Sanders. 2006. Cuneiform in Canaan. 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