Elamite is an extinct language, which was spoken in the ancient Elamite Empire. Elamite was an agglutinative language, and was not related to the neighboring Semitic languages, or Indo-European languages, and although some call Elamite the "sister" to the Sumerian language, the two languages appear to be unrelated. Some scholars believe it is related to the living Dravidian languages of India (see Elamo-Dravidian languages). Elamite was an official language of the Persian Empire from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. The last written records in Elamite appear about the time of the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great.

Elamite grammar features case agreement between nouns, called Suffixaufnahme.

Elamite scripts

Over the centuries, three distinct Elamite scripts developed successively.

Proto-Elamite is the oldest known Elamite script. It is first attested in 2900 BCE in Susa, the capital of Elam. The Proto-Elamite script is thought to have developed from an early Sumerian script. The Proto-Elamite script consists of about 1,000 signs and is thought to be partly logographic. Since it has not yet been deciphered, it is not known whether the language it represents is Elamite or another language.

Old Elamite is a syllabary derived from Proto-Elamite which was known to be used between about 2250 and 2220 BCE, although it may have been invented at an earlier date. Old Elamite has only been partially deciphered, mainly by Walther Hinz . Old Elamite consisted of about 80 symbols and was written in vertical columns running from top to bottom and left to right.

The Elamite Cuneiform script was used from about 2500 BCE to 331 BCE, and was adapted from the Akkadian Cuneiform. The Elamite Cuneiform script consisted of about 130 symbols, far fewer than most other cuneiform scripts.

Reference

Khačikjan, Margaret: The Elamite Language, Documenta Asiana IV, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, 1998 ISBN 8887345015

Potts, Daniel T.: The archaeology of Elam: formation and transformation of an ancient Iranian state, Cambridge U., 1999 ISBN 0521564964 and ISBN 0521563585