Basic principles with the Sumerian Grammar 9

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

25 August 2010

It is the ninth treatment of the subject of the Sumerian grammar.

Infix -da- = (together) with, beside

ki šà húl-la ^dnin-líl-lá-šè

^den-líl ^dnin-líl-da mu-dì-ni-in-u₅

To the place that gladdens the heart of Ninlil

he made Enlil sail together with Ninlil

(Šu-Suen royal inscription, Civil JCS 21, 34 12:9-11 Ur III Period)

ki                                 place

šà                                to the

húl-la                           gladdens the heart

^dnin-líl-lá-šè                of Ninlil

^den-líl                          Enlil

^dnin-líl-da                    Ninlil (together with)

mu-dì-ni-in-u₅                 he made to sail him

mu+n+da+n+n+u₅+Ø

Infix -ta- = ablative = removal or separation in space or time

itu-ta u₄-24 ba-ta-zal

From the month the 24th day has passed away

(ArOr 27, 369 No. 17:7 Ur III - a standard dating formula)

Itu                                month

-ta                               from

u₄-24                           day 24

ba-ta-zal                       it has passed away

-ta- = away

ki-sur-ra iri-na-ka íb-te-bal

(If) she passed over the boundary of her city

(Code of Ur-Namma rule 17 Ur III period)

ki-                               boundary

sur-                             the

ra

iri-na-ka                      of her city

íb-te-bal                      if she pass over (-te)

By the time of Gudea -ta- may also change to -ra-

ma-ta-an-šúm > ma-ra-an-šúm         He gave it away to me

ma                               me

ta                                away to

an                                it

šúm                             gave

itu-ta u₄-number ba-ra-zal (variant of ba-ta-zal)

From the month the Nth day has passed away

Series of ablatives in Gudea's cylinder

mu+ra+ta+ta+ta+è+Ø

u₄-gin₇ ki-šár-ra ma-ra-da-ta-è

like daylight he came out-out-out on the horizon for you

u₄-                               daylight

gin₇                              like

ki-šár-ra                      on the horizon

ma-ra-da-ta-è               he came out[ra] out[da] out[ta] for you

Plural Verbs

1. ti                              to live, dwell

singular ti

pluralsig₇ (=se₁₂, si₁₂)

2. gub (DU)to stand

singular       gub(DU)

plural          su₈(g) (DU DU), šu₄(g) (Time of Gudea)

3. tuš          to sit, reside

singular       tuš

plural          durun(TUŠ), dúr-ru-un, durun_x (TUŠ.TUŠ) (Old Sumerian), dú(TU)-ru-n(a) (Time of Gudea)

Locative-terminative prefixes -ri-

á zi-da-za ^dutu iri-è

I will make Utu (the sun) come forth upon you (-ri-) at your right side

(Eannatum 1 7:6-8 Old Sumerian)

á zi-da-za             at your right side

^dutu                    the sun

iri-è                    come forth upon you (-ri-)

Those who are familiar with Psalm 121:5 will notice that God said that He is the shadow on their right side. This is in opposition to the Old Sumerian concept of the Sun (god) at the right side. God is not any object of nature and that is why He expresses Himself diametrically opposed to the Sumerian thought from the days of Abraham. Sun-worship was at the order of the day. It also indicates that Psalm 121 is an old Psalm that may have had roots in the days of Abraham (pre-Ur III period and born in 2229 BCE and died in 2054 BCE). Sun-worship is one of the themes in the Bible that God despises. God created the sun to serve humanity with positive aspects, not to be worshipped. Cultic religions then developed the idea that the place where the sun comes up in the east is good but the place where it is going down in the evening is bad. Therefore they orientated their approach to worship towards the east but in the tabernacle service that God gave to Moses in 1448 BCE and later, the approach was towards the west, diametrically opposed to the populist position.

Ventive element

The prefix /m/ is used for the ventive element and "it appears as /m/ directly before the root, before the prefixes ba- and bi- (i.e. before the pronominal element /b/ followed by a vowel), and directly before the dimensional prefix elements da/ta/ši, i.e. when these function only adverbially without preceding pronominal elements" (Foxvog 2010: 90).

When it appears as /m/ ba- it assimilates as -ma and -mi.

m+ĝen+Ø >mu-ĝen              He came here

m+ta+ĝen+Ø >im-ta-ĝen      He came away

m+ba+ĝen+Ø >im-ma-ĝen    He came away

nu+m+ĝen+Ø >nu-um-ĝen    He did not come here

When a locative -ni- or -ri- [= therein] appears with the root, then mu- can assimilate as mi-.

When a dative -ra- or -na- [to/with] appears before the root then mu- assimilate as ma- (Foxvog 2010: 90).

m+Ø+ĝar+Ø>mu-ĝar                  I (-Ø-) set it (-Ø) up

m+e+Ø+ĝar+Ø>mu-e-ĝar           You set it up

m+n+ĝar+Ø>mu-un-ĝar              He set it up

m+n+n+ĝar+Ø>mu-ni-in-ĝar       He set it up therein

m+n+da+ĝen+Ø> mu-un-da-ĝen   He came here with her

m+ra+n+šúm+Ø>mu-ra-an-šúm   He gave it to you

m+r+n+šúm+Ø>mu-ri-in-šúm      He gave it for you

m+ne+n+šúm+Ø>mu-ne-en-šúm   He gave it to them

The ventive /m/ and /mu/ was described by Thorkild Jacobsen in Materials for the Sumerian Lexicon IV (Rome, 1956) and later elaborated in the early 1970's by D. Foxvog and W. J. Heimpel at the University of California at Berkeley. Thomsen still speaks of two separate elements -m- and -mu- (Foxvog 2010: 91). There is also the descriptions of Attinger 1993, Edzard 2003 and an earlier article by J. Krecher in Orientalia 54 (1985): 133-181.

Orthographic notes on the ventive (Foxvog 2010: 91-93)

1. mu-ub + root or dimensional prefixes da/ta/ši may change to m+b+root > imm+root > im-root

Attinger 1993 §178a thought it is a hidden assimilated /b/ but Foxvog 2010: 92 discounted that option.

mu+root appears in Lagash I texts (2350 BCE) but im+root does not appear in Lagash I texts (Foxvog 2010: 92). It only appears later in the Gudea inscriptions of the Ur III period (2112-2004 BCE).

2. In Older Sumerian texts, it is common for double /mm/ of the assimilation m+bi to be read only with a single m (Foxvog 2010: 92). Examples from Šulgi and Gudea can be seen (Ur III period 2112-2004 BCE).

3. The assimilation of mu- > ma- before dative prefixes -ra- or -na- is optional and unpredictable (Foxvog 2010: 92).

4. The prefix sequence mi-ni- is first attested in Gudea inscriptions [2112-2004 BCE] (Foxvog 2010: 92).

5. -e- and -Ø- developed secondarily during the Ur III period [2112-2004 BCE] in analogy of the Akkadian subject pronouns and similarly the ventive mu- also originated with the placing of mu- before -n- and -b- (Foxvog 2010: 92).

6. In Sumerian "one will encounter a variety of exceptions, neologisms, or pure oddities in verbal prefix sequences in forms featuring the ventive element, not only in literary texts, which are mostly the products of the [Old Babylonian period = 1980-1750 BCE; Jacob went to Harran in 1992 BCE and his family moved to Egypt in 1939 BCE] scribal schools, but also in Ur III economic and administrative documents [2112-2004 BCE; Abraham died in 2054 BCE] at a time when new orthographic conventions are being established" (Foxvog 2010: 93).

Functions of the ventive

1. In the dative prefixes ma- and me- the ventive always marks the 1st person:

ma+n+šúm+Ø > ma-an-šúm             He gave it to me

to me + it + he gave

2. Before the dimensional case element da/ta/ši or before an ergative prefix the ventive may represent 1st pronominal object or locative terminative prefix but most often not (Foxvog 2010: 93).

ma+n+šúm+Ø > ma-un-šúm             He had me give it [unusual]

He gave it here [usually]

me + it + he had give [unusual]

here + it + he gave [usually]

3. The ventive before a dimensional prefix featuring a pronominal object cannot make the ventive a 1st person reference:

ma+ra+n+šúm+Ø > ma-ra-an-šúm      He gave it (up) to you

[If one compares rule (1) supra one will see that it is 1st person translated there, but here it cannot since the dimensional prefix is a pronominal object (to you). Then use (up) as the ventive translation].

4. When the ventive is used with a verb of motion [came, went = ĝen] it has a contrasting use [hither, here] together or opposing ba- which has an ablative use [away]:

m+ĝen+Ø > im-ĝen                   He came here (ventive)

ba+ĝen+Ø > ba-ĝen                  He went away (ablative)

m+ba+ĝen+Ø > im-ma-ĝen        He came away (ventive + ablative)

5. Verbs of motion or action will have a ventive more often than verbs of state (Foxvog 2010: 93)

6. Verbs of state + ventive results in a directional nuance:

ĝál = to exist but with ventive ĝál + ventive = to produce

zu = to know but with ventive zu + ventive = to recognize/ to (make) learn

7. Agent verbs use the ventive but agentless verbs use the passive ba- or neutral i- prefix:

mu-dù (m+n+dù+Ø)         he built it   (agent + ventive)

ba-dù                           it was built  (agentless with passive meaning)

8. Personal dative infixes attracts the ventive:

mu-ra-

mu-na-

mu-ne-

9. The ventive may have a telic nuance "up to the required or final point, to the point of completion":

ur-lum-ma énsi umma^ki en-an-na-tùm-me e-ki-sur-ra ^dnin-ĝir-su-ka-šè mu-gaz (m+n+gaz+Ø)

Enatum pounded Urlumma, the governor of Umma

all the way up to the boundary ditch of Ninĝirsu

ur-lum-ma                     Urlumma (Patient)

énsi                              governor

umma^ki                          of Umma

en-an-na-tùm-me          Enatum (Agent)

e-ki-sur-ra                   boundary ditch

^dnin-ĝir-su-ka-šè         of Ninĝirsu

mu-gaz (m+n+gaz+Ø)pounded (gaz) all the way up (ventive)

10. Instead of a meaningless colorless preceding prosthetic vowel /i/ in the verbal chain, a ventive /mu/ may be used:

mu-na-an-šúm     he gave it out to him [ì-na-an-šúm

11. Sometimes the ventive mu- is untranslatable:

(Two texts regarding landgrab issues illustrate this in ancient Sumer)

e-ki-sur-ra ^dnin-ĝír-su-ka e-ki-sur-ra ^dnanše ĝá-kam ì-mi-du₁₁

"The border ditch of Ninĝirsu and the border of Nanše are mine!" he declared

[Text: Ent 28-29 4:24-28 Old Sumerian 2305 BCE]

e-ki-sur-ra                    the border ditch

^dnin-ĝír-su-ka               of Ninĝirsu

e-ki-sur-ra                   the border ditch

^dnanše                          of Nanše

ĝá-kam                         are mine

ì-mi-du₁₁                           he declared [ventive m+b+n+du₁₁+Ø]

an-ta-sur-ra ĝá-kam ki-sur-ra-ĝu₁₀ bí-du₁₁

"The Antasurra is mine! It is my border territory!" he declared

[Ukg 6 4:7'-9' Old Sumerian 2305 BCE]

an-ta-sur-ra                  the Antasurra

ĝá-kam                         it is mine

ki-sur-ra-ĝu₁₀               It is my border [territory (ĝu₁₀)]

bí-du₁₁                               he declared

Untranslatable mu- ventive in a hymn of Šulgi (2112-2004 BCE)

This is a very special case and we want to say more here. Šulgi developed a psychological problem and in his reign since he got so involved in his personality cult that he became strange and called himself god while he is still alive. He controlled the gods and evidence of this is seen in a hymn that is sung to him in which the priest promised the king that he will get only a good destiny decreed:

lugal nam gi₄-ri-íb-tarar nam-du₁₀ gú-mu-rí-íb-tarar

O king, I will decree destiny regarding you,

I will decree a good destiny regarding you

(Šulgi D 384 Ur III 2112-2004 BCE)

lugal                              O king

nam                               destiny

gi₄-ri-íb-tarar                I will decree

nam-du₁₀                       good destiny

gú-mu-rí-íb-tarar           I will decree + ventive (?)

Source:

Daniel A. Foxvog, Introduction to Sumerian Grammar (Revised edition, June 2010). This work is a revised edition of his 1990 Sumerian Grammar (Foxvog 2010: 3). It is online at www.etana.org.