Basic principles with the Sumerian Grammar (2)

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

28 July 2010

This is a second look at the Sumerian Grammar. The standard work used here is the online edition (2010) of Daniel Foxvog. Daniel A. Foxvog, Introduction to Sumerian Grammar (Revised edition, June 2010).

1. Alphabet

People may ask if Sumerian has an alphabet. Yes and no. You have to learn a set of sounds in combination with a vowel like ba- bi- bu- be and so forth. There are more than in English. In fact, it is very similar to learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean. You have to learn these combinations but you also have to learn the Chinese logograms or Korean and Japanese variations of these logograms. They can run into the hundreds and thousands. Of course, Sumerian tablet writers due to the genres they are writing in, are limited in their vocabulary and recuring phrases can be found so that it is not an impossible task for the beginner. Start with economic texts first. Learn them very well and then move on to a different genre. The reason is that the economic texts lists normally the sheep, goats, cows, calves, even wild animals that were brought to the market of Drehem near Nippur for the temples of Nippur. This is in the Ur III period. Marcel Sigrist has published some of these Drehem tablets from the Ur III period in AUCT series (Andrews University Cuneiform Tablet series). One can buy them at the Siegfried Horn museum or in the bookstore at Andrews University. There are normally stated the Month and Year of the King at the end of the text so the vocabulary will be at least about 50 words to start. That is a good and exciting start for the beginner. Sitting with such a text is fun since it is a text that dates between 2114-2004 BCE when the Ur III dynasty came to an end with the Fall of Ur (one of the first Babylon's of those days since Babylon means "gate of the gods" and that is why Rome is called Babylon in later biblical literature) with the death of Abraham in 2054 BCE according to strict biblical chronology. The text is then from his days. You learn what they offered at the temples near Ur, where Abraham of course left earlier, you learn what their diet was. Who was king, the Semitic element in the king's name since their father was an Akkado-phile, someone who liked Semites and married one. You get an idea of how many offerings were brought in those days. It is time and effort well spent.

2. Noun function as heads of nominal chains

There are nouns in Sumerian and they function as heads of nominal chains. Why chains? Sumerian link up a number of words and items in a chain that has nothing to do with the way we order our Subject, Verb, Object in the English language.

Nominal roots are used as nouns but some verbal roots are also used as nouns.

nominal roots:

dumu = son, child

é = house, temple

verbal roots:

bar = exterior

ba = allotment

The stock of nouns for things in vocabulary are relatively limited but they are using compounds to render experience (Foxvog 2010: 23).

Compounds as nouns

a. Juxtaposition of two primary nouns (compound)

an-ki = heaven (noun) and earth (noun)

saĝ-men = head crown

é-kur = house (that is a) mountain = the temple of the god Enlil in Nippur

ka-làl = mouth (that is) honey

an-úr = heaven base = horizon

an-ša = heaven middle

kalam-ša = country interior

é-šà = house interior

iri-bar = city exterior = suburb

é-muhaldim = house (having) cooks = kitchen

b. One noun or two with a participle (compound)

dub-sar = tablet (noun) + writer (participle) = scribe

za-dim = stone fashioner = lapidary

balaĝ-di = harp (noun) + player (participle)

gu₄-gaz = cattle (noun) + slaughterer (participle)

kisal-luh = courtyard (noun) + cleaner (participle)

ki-ùr = place (of) leveling = terrace

ki-tuš = place (of) dwelling = residence

sa-pàr = net (of) spreading = casting net

ĝír-udu-úš = knife (of) sheep killing

lú-éš-gid = man (of) rope pulling = surveyor

á-dah = one who adds an arm = helper

c. One noun with an adjective (compound)

é-gal = big (adjective) + house (noun) = palace

dub-sar-mah = chief scribe

kù-sig₁₇ = yellow (adjective) + silver (noun) = gold

d. Abstracting prefix nam with a noun (compound)

nam-lugal = king (noun) + ship (abstract maker)

nam-mah = loftiness

nam-ti (-il) = life

nam-úš = death

nam-dumu = children (as a group)

nam-um-ma = old (wailing) women (as a group)

(The word umma means "mother" in Korean)

e. Formative nì- = thing and the formative nu- person with noun (compound)

nì-gi-na = verified thing = truth, law

nì-gig = bitter thing = sacriledge

nì-šam = price

nu-banda = junior (boss-) man = overseer

nu-kiri₆ (-k) = man of the orchard = orchard keeper

[nu = man + kiri₆ = orchard + (-k) = of (genitive case)]

nu-èš (-k) = man of the shrine = priest

[nu = man + èš = shrine + (-k) = of (genitive case)]

f. Syntactical phrases functioning as nouns, frozen nominalized verbal forms and frozen cohortative verbal forms (compound)

frozen nominalized verbal forms:

ì-du₈ = he opened = gate-keeper

in-dub-ba = that which was heaped up here = demarcation mound

frozen cohortative verbal forms:

ga-ab-šúm = let me give it = seller

gan-tuš = let me live here = settler

gentive phrases:

gi-nindana (-k) = reed of one nindan (length) = measuring rod

zà-mu (-k) = edge of the year = New Year

lú-ur₅-ra- (-k) = man of the loan = creditor

niĝir-sila (-k) = herald of the street

^dnin-ĝir-su (-k) = lord of Girsu (chief deity of the city-state of Lagaš).

3. Gender

Sumerians used in their sentences not a feminine or masculine feature but rather personal (individual human beings) and impersonal (persons viewed in a group [collectives] or animals, places, things (Foxvog 2010: 23).

Personal element /n/

/n/ is a deixis functioning element (pointing or demonstrating)

/n/ = this one here (near deixis)

Impersonal element /b/

/b/ is a deixis function element (pointing or demonstrating)

/b/ that one there (far deixis)

3 person pronominal forms are also demonstratives

pronominal suffix -bi = its, their and also this, that

demonstrative suffix -ne = this (related to his/her)

independent demonstrative pronoun ne-e(n) = this (related to his/her)

possessive suffix = -(a)ni = his, her

personal plural locative-terminative verbal infix -ne- = by/for them

nominal personal plural marker -(e)ne = our

4. Numbers in Sumerian are flexible (Foxvog 2010: 24)

Nouns can be singular, plural or collective (individual viewed as a group).

Redundancy is a feature of Sumerian. If something is already marked as plural then there is no need to use plural markers on other grammatical elements.

English is characterized by redundancy. We say he wants with a 3 person singular masculine indicated in the pronoun he but then reduplicated in the special form of the verb with the additional -s. In Sumerian they will then just drop the one element and probably not use the pronoun since the -s already imply that a 3rd person is involved. Since gender is not important in Sumerian, they can drop that pronoun. That is how they would think in their language.

a. noun is singular but can also be plural or collective

b. intrinsically collective nouns:

érin = workers, troops

ugnim = army

Collective used as singular with plural suffix is common in Sumerian.

ugula-íl (collective) occupation made a plural with addition of -ne = ugula-íl-ne but both has a singular meaning: overseer of porters.

This principle is very important to remember for the Plural (Elohim) who said: "Let us make" (collective) with a singular verb and meaning, He made (since the verbs are singular) in Genesis 1.

Reduplicated Noun means all individuals or items as a whole

en-en = all the lords, every single lord

Reduplicated Adjective serve the same as the noun

diĝir-gal-gal = all the great gods

Doubling of whole as reduplicated form

diĝir-gal diĝir-gal (rare but does occur) (Foxvog 2010: 24).

Plural suffix -(e)ne

It is the mark of plural for personal nouns only (deictic function with deictic element /n/).

It can never be used with animals or things.

Suffix is actually -ne. The (e) is infexed when the root ends with a consonant. In the Old Babylonian Period (1950 BCE) the epenthetic (e) vowel appear even if it is not necessary to separate the /n/ from the previous consonant.

Old Sumerian (2114 BCE)

lugal-e-ne = kings

dumu-ne = sons

Old Babylonian (1950 BCE)

lú-ù-ne (from lú-e-ne) = persons

[This is common for this period but is hypercorrect (Foxvog 2010: 24)]. The epenthetic vowel often assimilates to a preceding vowel. No doubt a general linguistic rule in all languages.

Hypercorrect forms also occur in Old Sumerian (2114 BCE).

One expects -e-ne but actually it is -ne (Foxvog 2010: 25).

The plural may also appear with plural reduplication.

en-en-né-ne = all the lords

lugal-lugal-ne = all the kings

Adjective suffix for mixing -hi-a

It has the meaning of a past participle for mix, thus mixing.

Animals or things are mixed.

u₈ udu-hi-a = assorted ewes and rams

anše-hi-a = various donkeys (of different ages or sexes)

Textual Examples:

text 1

0.0.4 dabin àga-ús-ne gu₄-da ì-da-gu₇

4 (ban) barley meal was eaten by the guards with the oxen

(Nik I 130 1:1-3 OS) (op. cit. Foxvog 2010: 25)

Guards are plural here in Sumerian with an explicit plural.

text 2

0.0.3 dabin àga-ús é-gal-la ì-gu₇

3 (ban) barley meal was eaten by the guards in the palace

(Nik I 131 1:4-2:1 OS) (op. cit. Foxvog 2010: 25)

Guards are collective here without an explicit plural.

dabin = barley meal

àga-ús = guard

é-gal = palace

-la = preposition in

(ban) a quantity measurement implied