Glossary of Terms for Learning Sumerian
1st person (1st): Referring to the speaker or the group the speaker is part of.
2nd person (2nd): Referring to the person or people being spoken to.
3rd person (3rd): Referring to someone or something, not speaking or being spoken to.
ablative case (abl.): indicates removal or by a method ‘from [a place or method]’.
absolutive case (abs.):the standard unaltered case of a noun.
active voice: in the active voice, the subject is the agent; that is, the noun doing the action.
adjective (adj.): a describing word that tells more about a noun.
adverb (adv.): a word that describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb and often tells how, when, or where.
auslaut: the final consonant, sound, or syllable in a word or syllable boundary.
case marker: a particle suffixed to a noun to indicate the role it plays in a sentence; also called a postposition. The Sumerian case markers are:
- -Ø: zero ending (abs.)
- -e: -by (erg.)
- -ak: of (gen.)
- -a: -in/at (loc.)
- -ra: to/for (personal) (dat.)
- -e: to/or (impersonal) (dir.)
- -šè: -to/toward (term.)
- -da: with (com.)
- -ta: from/by means of (abl.)
- -gin7: like (equ.)
comitative case (com.): indicates group action, as in ‘with’.
conjugational prefix (conj. pref.): a small word that precedes a verb to change its meaning or show when an action happened.
conjunction (conj.): a word that connects words or groups of words.
copula: a verb that connects the subject of a sentence to a subject complement; often the word ‘was’, ‘is’, or ‘will be’.
cuneiform: is a wedge-shaped logo-syllabic script developed by the Sumerians and used by the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. To date, cuneiform is the oldest-known writing system.
dative case (dat.): indicates motion toward someone, as in ‘to/for [a person]’.
demonstrative (dem.): a word that indicates something specific.
determinative
determinative: an unpronounced word which is prefixed or suffixed to a noun to indicate a classification.
Examples of Sumerian Determinatives
For example, the word mul (star), is prefixed to the names of planets, stars, and constellations to indicate its nature as a celestial body—ex. mulapin: the Plow Star.
Determinitives can appear before or after the noun, such as in the determinitive ki (place)—ex. dilmunki 𒉌𒌇𒆠 (NI.TUKki) DilmunCity
In scholarly literature, the determinative is often abbreviated—ex. dnanna: (the god) Nanna).
Common Sumerian Determinatives
- diĝir (d)—deities
- dug—pots and vessels
- gi—reeds
- ĝiš—trees, wooden objects
- i7 (íd)—rivers and canals
- iri (uru)—city names
- ki—places
- ku6—fish and aquatic creatures
- kuš—skin, hides, leather objects
- lú—man, person, male professions
- mul—celestial bodies and constellations
- munus (f)—female, women and their professions (Akkadian and later)
- mušen—birds and winged animals
- na4—stone and stone objects
- nisi(g)—vegetables
- šim—aromatics and resins
- túg (tu9)—cloth, clothing, wool garments
- ú—grasses, herbs, plants, and grains
- uruda—bronze and copper metals and objects
- uzu—body parts and cuts of meat
- zabar—bronze
diacritic: a mark or symbol added to a letter to change its pronunciation or meaning.
Because each cuneiform sign can be read multiple ways, you’ll often see numbers after the last letter of the word (in subscript), indicating how the sign is supposed to be read—ex. eš2 = éš. This technique is used for simplicity in transliteration and has no bearing on pronunciation.
In some scholarly material:
- the first reading of a word will be unmarked—ex. /a1/ will be written /a/
- the second reading of a word will have a right-facing accent mark—ex. /a2/ will be written /á/
- the third reading of a word will have a left-facing accent mark—ex. /a3/ will be written /à/
- all additional readings will be marked by a number in subscript—ex. /a4/ will be written /a4/ etc.
direct object: a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that directly receives the action of the verb in a sentence.
enclitic: a word or particle that suffixes to the end of another word.
equative (equ.): indicates similarity, as in ‘like’, or ‘as’.
ergative case (erg.): indicates the agent; the noun doing the action, as in ‘[performed] by’.
genitive (gen.): indicates origin or derivation, as in ‘of’.
glottal stop: a brief stop, gap, or catch in a sound, such as the pause in the word ‘uh-oh’.
In all likelihood, all Sumerian words originally started with a consonant (CV or CVC = Consonant-Vowel/Consonant-Vowel-Consonant), either in the form of a glottal stop or the consonant /h/.
The glottal stop /ɂ/ is especially evident:
- before /ab/, /am/, /an/, and /íb/
- between /a/ and /a/—ex. a-a: father = ɂa-ɂa
- before the locative case marker -a—ex. é-a: in the house = é-ɂa
- before the nominalizing suffix -a—ex. ki áĝ-a: beloved = ki áĝ-ɂa or ki ɂaĝ-ɂa
grammatical case: is a grammatical category which helps identify the role of a word in a sentence.
- Absolutive (abs.): the standard unaltered case of a noun, marked by -ø.
- Ergative (erg.): indicates the agent; the noun doing the action, as in ‘[performed] by’, marked by -e. Genitive (gen.): indicates origin or derivation, as in “of”, marked by -ak.
- Locative (loc.): indicates where something is happening, as in ‘in’, or ‘at’, marked by -a.
- Dative (dat.): indicates motion toward someone, as in ‘to/for [a person]’, marked by -ra.
- Directive (dir.): indicates motion toward something, is in ‘to/for [a thing]’, marked by -e.
- Terminative (term.): indicates a final destination, as in ‘to [a place]’, marked by -šè.
- Comitative (com.): indicates group action, as in ‘with’, marked by -da.
- Ablative (abl.): indicates removal or separation from; can also indicate manner or method (instrumental), marked by -ta.
- Equative (equ.): indicates similarity, as in ‘like’, or ‘as’, marked as -gin7.
hamţu: an Akkadian (Akk.) word meaning quick that describes a perfective verb; that is a completed action.
imperfective (imperf.): a form of a verb that shows an action in progress or has not yet been completed.
impersonal: a class of nouns considered inanimate in Sumerian, such as animals, inanimate objects, places, as well as some classes of humans, such as slaves and enemies.
indefinite (ind.): refers to something that is not precisely identified, counted, or determined.
indirect object: a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase which is received by the direct object.
indirect reflexive: a verb form where the action indirectly returns to the subject, typically for their benefit or detriment.
infix: a particle in the form of a syllable, vowel, or consonant within the verbal chain that provides additional meaning about the sentence.
intransitive: referring to a verb that doesn’t require a direct object, such as ‘the cat sleeps.
literally (lit.): exactly as it is said, word for word.
locative case (loc.): indicates where something is happening, as in ‘in’, or ‘at’.
marû: an Akkadian (Akk.) word meaning fat or slow that describes an imperfective verb; that is, an unfinished or ongoing action.
middle voice: in the middle voice, the subject is both the agent and the patient; that is, the action affects the subject in some way.
noun (n.): a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.
particle (part.): a small word that adds meaning to a sentence or connects words.
passive voice: in the passive voice, the subject is the patient; that is, it receives the action.
perfective (perf.): a form of a verb that shows a completed or finished action.
personal: a class of nouns considered animate, such as deities and humans except for slaves, enemies, and other people spoken of disparagingly.
plural (pl.): referring to more than one person, thing, or idea.
polyvalency: having more than one value, such as a sound or meaning. For example, the a-sign can be read 𒀀 a, duru5, e4, or ér. Determining which reading is correct will be dependent on the context.
possessive (poss.): showing ownership or belonging to someone or something.
postposition: unlike a preposition which is prefixed to a noun, a postposition is a particle suffixed to a noun to indicate the role it plays in a sentence; also called a case marker. The Sumerian postpositions are:
- -Ø: zero ending (abs.)
- -e: -by (erg.)
- -ak: of (gen.)
- -a: -in/at (loc.)
- -ra: to/for (personal) (dat.)
- -e: to/or (impersonal) (dir.)
- -šè: -to/toward (term.)
- -da: with (com.)
- -ta: from/by means of (abl.)
- -gin7: like (equ.)
preposition (prep.): a word or particle placed before a noun or pronoun to indicate its relationship to another word in the sentence.
pronominal elements: components in a sentence representing pronouns, such as prefixes, infixes, and suffixes in the verbal chain.
proper noun (prop. n.): a name of a person, place, or thing.
prefix (pref.): a small word added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.
reduplication: the repetition of a word to express a grammatical or semantic feature, such as plurality, intensity, or verb tense.
reflexive: a verb form where the subject and object are the same, indicating the action is done by the subject unto itself.
singular (sg.): referring to one person, thing, or idea.
subordinating conjunction (sub. conj.): a word that connects two ideas and shows that one idea is more important than the other.
suffix (suff.): a small word added to the end of a word to change its meaning.
transitive: a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning, such as ‘the cat eats mice’.
transliteration: writing the sounds of one language using the characters or alphabet of another.
terminative case (term.): indicates a final destination, as in ‘to [a place]’.
valency: the ability of a verb to combine with noun phrases and pronouns, often distinguishing between intransitive (one participant) and transitive (two participants) verbs.
verb (v.): a word that shows action or a state of being.
verbal chain: a string of prefixes, infixes, and suffixes attached to a verb to provide additional information about the action.
vowel harmony: a phonological process where vowels within a word harmonize to be all from the same class.