Need a Refresher on Sumerian Grammatical Cases
Vocabulary to Memorize
I highly recommend memorizing these Sumerian words, as youโll encounter them often in the upcoming lessons!
- ak ๐ v., to do, act; make into; place. part., suff., of (gen.).
- (a)kam (๐)๐ฐ mut., genitive ak ๐ + 3rd person singular copula ร m ๐๐ญ = (a)kam (๐)๐ฐ.
- (a)ke4 (๐)๐ค mut., genitive ak ๐ + ergative e ๐ = (a)ke4 (๐)๐ค.
- dam ๐ฎ n., spouse, husband, wife.
- maแธซ ๐ค adv., powerfully, mightily.
Vocabulary--Full List
Here are the vocabulary terms for this lesson. Be sure to look them over as theyโre updated with additional meanings each lesson. You can see the full Sumerian Lexicon here.
- a ๐ n., water; semen; progeny; canal; flood. part., suff., in, at, when (loc.); nominalizing suffix.
- ak ๐ v., to do, act; make into; place. part., suff., of (gen.).
- ร m ๐๐ญ cop., he/she/it is.
- ama ๐ผ n., mother.
- (a)na (๐)๐พ pron., poss. of his/her (gen.).
- (a)ni (๐)๐ pron., poss. his/her (abs.) (with da/ta/gin7 ๐/๐ซ/๐ถ (com., abl., equ.)) (with ra/ir ๐/๐ (dat.)) (with ลกรจ/iลก ๐ /๐ (term.)) (earlier periods).
- (a)kam (๐)๐ฐ mut., genitive ak ๐ + 3rd person singular copula ร m ๐๐ญ = (a)kam (๐)๐ฐ.
- (a)ke4 (๐)๐ค mut., genitive ak ๐ + ergative e ๐ = (a)ke4 (๐)๐ค.
- ba ๐ n., allotment, portion; wages. v., to give; pay; divide; distribute; allot. pron., dem., of this/that (gen.). part., pref., conjugational prefix; suff., poss., its (impers.) (gen., loc.); their (impers.) (gen., loc.).
- bi (bรฉ) ๐ pron., dem., this, that (similar to โtheโ) (x261) (ba ๐ gen.). part., part., suff., poss., its/their (impers.) (with ra/ir ๐/๐ (dat.)) (with ลกรจ/iลก ๐ /๐ (term.)).
- da ๐ n., arm; edge, line; near, close. v., to be near, hold, protect. part., suff., with (com.).
- dumu ๐ n., child, son, daughter.
- dam ๐ฎ n., spouse, husband, wife.
- e ๐ v., to speak, say; do; water. part., suff., [performed] by (the agent); in, at, beside (directive); plural hamแนญu (perfective) suffix; marรป (imperfective) singular/plural suffix.
- รฉ ๐n., house; temple.
- (e)na (๐)๐พ pron., poss. of his/her (gen.).
- e-ne (๐)๐ pron., ind., he/she, him/her (variation: รจn ๐ท (OB)); to whom (OB); to you (pl.) (OB); dem., that one (pers.), inter., what? (OB x11). part., suff., plural marker (e)ne (๐)๐ (pers.).
- (e)ni (๐)๐ part., suff., poss., his/her (abs.) (with da/ta/gin7 ๐/๐ซ/๐ถ (com., abl., equ.)) (with ra/ir ๐/๐ (dat.)) (with ลกรจ/iลก ๐ /๐ (term.)) (later version of (a)ni (๐)๐).
- den-ki ๐ญ๐๐ n., prop., Sumerian god of fresh water, creation, wisdom, and crafts.
- ga ๐ต n., milk. v., to bring, carry. part., pref., cohortative prefix meaning โlet me/I shallโ. part., suff., nominalizing suffix when preceded by /g/.
- gal-zu ๐ฒ๐ช adj., intelligent, wise.
- gin7 ๐ถ part., suff., like, as, just as; instead of; during (equat.).
- ฤรก ๐ท v., to come/go. pron., ind., I (especially before a case marker ending in /a/โalternative reading of ฤe26 ๐ท). part., suff., poss., my (gen., loc.); nominalizing suffix when preceded by /ฤ/.
- ฤu10 ๐ฌ pron., poss., my (abs., erg., dir.) (with ra/รบr ๐/๐ซ (dat.)) (with ลกรจ/uลก ๐ /๐ (term.)) (with da/ta/gin7 ๐/๐ซ/๐ถ (com., abl., equ.)) (with um ๐ before the enclitic copula).
- iri ๐ท n., city, town, village, district. prep., mathematical function โtimesโ (OB x1). det., indicates the name of a city.
- ka ๐ n., mouth; opening; beginning, origin; body part. part., suff., โofโ (gen.) (mutation of ak ๐ when anlaut /a/ assimilates to the proceeding vowel {ฤu10 + ak = ฤรก-ka}.
- kam (๐)๐ฐ mut., when following a vowel, genitive ak ๐ + 3rd person singluar copula ร m ๐๐ญ = (a)kam (๐)๐ฐ.
- ke4 (๐)๐ค mut., when following a vowel, genitive ak ๐ + ergative e ๐ = (a)ke4 (๐)๐ค.
- la ๐ท n., abundance, plenty; luxury, wealth; joy, bliss; youthfulness; wish, desire; lust. part., spelling bridge between /l/ and /a/.
- lรบ ๐ฝ n., man, male; human, person.
- lugal ๐ n., king; owner, master, lord.
- ma ๐ part., spelling bridge between /m/ and /a/.
- maแธซ ๐ค adv., powerfully, mightily.
- mรกลก ๐ง n., goat; kid.
- na ๐พ n., man; incense; rock, stone; token. part., inf., โto/for him/herโ (dat.).
- ลกรจ ๐ n., portion. part., suff., to(ward) (term.); personal suffix โthey/themโ when the root verb ends in /e/; adverbial suffix.
- ลกeลก ๐ n., brother; colleague; assistant.
- ta ๐ซ part., suff., away from, out of; by means of; after, since (abl.)
- tur ๐ n., child; young; second [in rank]. v., to be/make small; to be insufficient; to reduce. adj., young, small, little.
- รบri(m)ki ๐๐๐ n., prop., Sumerian city-state at modern Tell el-Muqayyar, in Southern Iraq (c. 3,800 โ 400 BCE)
- za ๐ pron., ind., you (especially before a case marker ending in /a/โvariation of za-e ๐๐) (NS x1, OB x 127). part., suff., poss., your (sg.) (gen., loc.).
- zu ๐ช n., knowledge, wisdom. v., to know; learn, discover; teach (m. zu-zu ๐ช๐ช); be experienced. part., suff., poss., your (sg.) (abs., erg., dir.) (with da/ta/gin7 ๐/๐ซ/๐ถ (com., abl., equ.).
Sumerian Genitive Construction
The Sumerian genitive case is marked by the postposition ak ๐, which is suffixed to the possessor noun, as in:
- dumu + lugal + ak
- son + king + of
- {possessed + possessor + ak}
The [Lack of] Appearance AK ๐
Unlike most of other grammatical cases, -ak ๐ CAN co-occur with other case markers in the nominal chain, as youโll see.
However, the following rules will apply depending on whether it follows a vowel or consonant, or is followed by another case marker, or the copula ร m ๐๐ญ.
NOT Followed by a Case Marker/Copula รM ๐๐ญ
If ak ๐ is not followed by another case marker or the copula ร m ๐๐ญ:
- it does not appear after a vowel
- ลกeลก ama ๐๐ผ motherโs brother (lit. brother of the mother)
- {ลกeลก + ama + [ak]}
- ลกeลก ama ๐๐ผ motherโs brother (lit. brother of the mother)
- appears as /a/ after a consonant, as in:
- ลกeลก lugal-(l)a ๐๐๐ brother of the king
- {lugal + a[k]}
- ลกeลก lugal-(l)a ๐๐๐ brother of the king
NOTES: 1) Reduplication of the preceding auslaut is rare in early to mid OS texts, but common afterward, except when following the fricatives /แธซ/, /s/, /ลก/, and /z/, which were rarely reduplicated. 3) OS texts often omit the /a/ after a consonant. 4) CV+a[k] construction in transliteration is a good indicator that the CV word originally ended in a glottal stop {CVษ}.
Followed by a Case Marker/Copula รM ๐๐ญ
If ak ๐ is followed by another case marker, or the copula ร m ๐๐ญ, it appears:
- as /k/ after a vowel
- รฉ den-ki-kam ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฐ It is the temple of Enki.
- {possessed + possessor + ak (gen.) + ร m (cop.)}
- {[a]k + ร m = kam}
- {possessed + possessor + ak (gen.) + ร m (cop.)}
- รฉ den-ki-kam ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฐ It is the temple of Enki.
- as (a-)k after a consonant
- dumu lugal-la-ke4 ๐๐๐ท๐ค [performed] by the son of the king
- {possessed + possessor + ak (gen.) + e (erg.)}
- {ak + e = a-ke4}
- {possessed + possessor + ak (gen.) + e (erg.)}
- dumu lugal-la-ke4 ๐๐๐ท๐ค [performed] by the son of the king
HINT: You can hear ak+e , and ak+ร m when you read a-ke4 ๐๐ค and a-kam ๐๐ฐ aloud. When encountering a long Sumerian sentence, try reading it aloud, as it may help you identify word boundaries and elements.
Multiple Genitives
When there are multiple genitives, each ak ๐ is added to the last. Keep in mind, while a third ak ๐ will rarely appear in a sequence, no more than three will.
ak ๐ x1
- dumu-lugal-(l)a
- ๐๐๐
- son of the king
- {dumu + lugal + a[k]}
ak ๐ x3
- ama dumu lugal-la-ka
- ๐ผ๐๐๐ท๐
- mother of the son of the king
- {ama + dumu + lugal + ak + a[k]}
ak ๐ x3+
- ama dumu lugal รบri(m)ki-ma-ka
- ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐
- mother of the son of the king of Ur
- {ama + dumu + lugal + รบri(m) + ak + a[k] + [ak]}
REMEMBER: While determinatives are written, they go unpronounced in speech, which is why the auslaut /m/ is reduplicated in รบri(m)ki-ma ๐๐๐ ๐ .
Genitive Constructions in the Nominal Chain
As youโll recall from Lesson 9, the word order of the Sumerian nominal chain is:
noun (n.) + adjective (adj.) + pronoun (poss./dem.) + plural-marker (pl.) + case-marker (c.) + copula (cop.)
Genitive constructions follow this same order:
- ama-gal-zu dumu-tur-ฤu10-ne-kam
- ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ช๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฐ
- She is the wise mother of my young sons.
- {ama (possessed n.) + gal-zu (adj.) + dumu (possessor n.) + tur (adj.) + ฤu10 (poss. pron.) + [e]ne (pl.) + [a]k + ร m (cop.)}
Genitive Constructions and Mutations
Depending on what follows, ak ๐ will appear as:
- (a)[k] before da ๐, ta ๐ซ, ลกรจ ๐ , and gin7 ๐ถ:
- รฉ dumu-ลกรจ ๐๐๐ to the sonโs house {รฉ + dumu + [ak] + ลกรจ}
- ama lugal-(l)a-da ๐ผ๐๐๐ with the kingโs mother {ama + lugal + a[k] + da}
- (a)ka (๐)๐
before the locative a ๐:
- รฉ dumu-ka ๐๐๐ in the sonโs house {รฉ + dumu + [a]k + a}
- รฉ lugal-la-ka ๐๐๐ท๐ in the kingโs house {รฉ + lugal + ak + a}
- (a)ke4 (๐)๐ค before the ergative e ๐:
- ama dumu-ke4 ๐ผ๐๐ค [performed] the childโs mother
- ama lugal-(l)a-ke4 ๐ผ๐๐๐ค [performed] the kingโs mother
- kam ๐ฐ before the copula ร m ๐๐ญ:
- ama dumu-kam ๐ผ๐๐ฐ She is the childโs mother. {ama + dumu + [a]k + ร m}
- ama lugal-la-kam ๐ผ๐๐ท๐ฐ She is the kingโs mother. {ama + lugal + ak + ร m}
When a possessive pronoun is immediately followed by ak ๐, the final vowel becomes /a/, as in:
- dam ลกeลก-ฤรก ๐ฎ๐๐ท my brotherโs wife
- {ฤu10 + ak = ฤรก}
- dumu-tur lugal-maแธซ-za ๐๐๐๐ค๐ young son of your mighty king
- {zu + ak = za}
- lugal iri-na ๐๐ท๐พ king of his/her city
- {(a/e)ni + ak = (a/e/)na}
- ga mรกลก-ba ๐ต๐ง๐ milk its/their goatโs milk
- {bi + ak = ba}
Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!
Fantastic! Youโve just mastered one of the most important aspects of the Sumerian Language! In the next lesson, youโll learn how to create ordinal numbers with the genitive case, so be sure to subscribe!