The Akkadian Passive

Akkadian expresses the passiveJ i.e. the action seen from the direction of its goal with the agent unknownJ by the N form. the equivalent of the West Semitic nif¢al, With refiard to its formation the current grsmmars teach that its preterit t'ollows the pattern ipparos, its present the pattern ippsrrss. According to this view the difference between the two main tenses is chiefly expressed by dif't'erent vocalizationS with i marking the preteritJ and a marking the present. A. UngnadJ in the second edition of his Babylonisch-assyrische Grasatik (1926).J adds (§37b) that in rare instances, especially in onnepuE "he/it was done'F, the preterit exhibitS the vowel u. F. DelitzschJ in his Assyrische Grammatik (1889)J had recorded the variant issah besides issarih as the only exception from the norm known to him at that time p ,268) . B. Meissner's Kurzgefasste assyrische Grammatik (1907) aXrees with the earlier statements on the contention that the N preterit is recofinizable by its vocalization with i; but the remark is added.that the N presentJ although as a rule it is charac-