Elamite [key], extinct language of uncertain relationship that was once spoken in the ancient kingdom of Elam, located in SW Asia. It appears to be unrelated to any other languages, although some scholars see a kinship between Elamite and Brahui, one of the modern Dravidian languages. Elamite is an agglutinative language in that different linguistic elements, each of which exists separately and has a fixed meaning, are often joined to form one word. A number of stone inscriptions and clay tablets that have Elamite texts written in cuneiform survive. These texts cover a period of about 2,000 years that began at the end of the third millennium b.c.
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