Editing Hittite language (section)

==Name==
[[File:IndoEuropeanTree.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Indo-European family tree in order of first attestation. Hittite belongs to the family of Anatolian languages and is among the oldest written Indo-European languages.]]

''Hittite'' is the modern scholarly name for the language, based on the identification of the Hatti (''Ḫatti'') kingdom with the [[Biblical Hittites]] ({{langx|hbo|*חתים}} {{lang|hbo-Latn|Ḥittim}}), although that name appears to have been applied incorrectly:{{sfn|Bryce|2012|p=73}} The term ''[[Hattians|Hattian]]'' refers to the indigenous people who preceded the Hittites, speaking a non-Indo-European [[Hattic language]].

In multilingual texts found in Hittite locations, passages written in Hittite are preceded by the adverb {{Lang|hit-Latn|nesili}} (or {{Lang|hit-Latn|nasili}}, {{Lang|hit-Latn|nisili}}), "in the [speech] of [[Neša]] (Kaneš)", an important city during the early stages of the [[Hittite Old Kingdom]]. In one case, the label is ''Kanisumnili'', "in the [speech] of the people of Kaneš".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=441hAAAAMAAJ&q=Kanisumnili|title=Perspectives on Hittite civilization|last1=Güterbock|first1=Hans Gustav|last2=Hoffner|first2=Harry A.|last3=Diamond|first3=Irving L.|date=1997|publisher=Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago|isbn=9781885923042|pages=188|language=en}}</ref>

Although the [[Hittite New Kingdom]] had people from many diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, the Hittite language was used in most secular written texts. In spite of various arguments over the appropriateness of the term,{{sfn|Glatz|2020|p=35}} ''Hittite'' remains the most current term because of convention and the strength of association with the [[Biblical Hittites]]. The [[endonymic]] term {{Lang|hit-Latn|nešili}}, and its Anglicized variants (''Nesite'', ''Nessite'', ''Neshite''), have never caught on.{{sfn|Hout|2011|p=2}}