Possible Non-Indo-European Elements in 'Hittite'

The author believes that Hittite is probably not Indo-European in character, but shows marked non-Aryan peculiarities. The object of this essay is to examine some important points in the morphology of the Hittite language in order to determine whether or not some of the most salient forms are of non-Aryan, rather than Indo-European character. J. Dyneley Prince lays special stress on morphology rather than on similarities in vocabulary or radicals, since many such seeming resemblances may well be based on accident or borrowing possibilities. Words, and even radicals, may pass between languages of inherently differing stocks. The same principle seems to be true of the transfer of phonetics. Similarly, morphological characteristics may probably pass from one language to another of a radically variant grammatical system and may even modify fundamental structural characteristics. Such processes may have been primarily due to the presence of a large number of alien wives and mothers in primitive tribes, and secondarily to inter-cultural influences. In spite of the apparent Indo-European morphological basis, it will appear from this paper that other Aryan influences seem to have been present in the formation of much of the Hittite morphology.