Lesson 27
Sumerian Absolutive Case
Plus Pronoun Review
In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the Sumerian absolutive case. Because it’s so easy, we’ll also be taking the opportunity to review more Sumerian pronouns! Let’s jump in!
Vocabulary to Memorize
I highly recommend memorizing these Sumerian words, as you’ll encounter them often in the upcoming lessons!
- dab5 𒆪 v., to seize, take, hold; bind; envelop, overwhelm; accept; choose.
- kug 𒆬 n., (precious) metal; silver; money. v., to be pure, holy, sacred; to purify, sanctify. adj., bright, white; pure, sacred, holy.
- munus 𒊩 n., female, woman.
- ní 𒉎 n./pron. refl., self; used before all pronouns except 3rd person personal possessive (a/e)ni (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌, in which case ní-te 𒉎𒋼 is used. (OS x3, OA x1, NS x300, OB x383)
- ní-te 𒉎𒋼 n./pron. refl., self, used before the 3rd person personal possessive pronoun (sg./pl.) (a/e)ni (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌(NS x8, OB x45).
Vocabulary--Full List
Here are the vocabulary terms for this lesson. Be sure to look them over as they’re updated with additional meanings each lesson. You can see the full Sumerian Lexicon here.
- a 𒀀 n., water; semen; progeny; canal; flood. part., suff., in, at, when (loc.); nominalizing suffix.
- ab 𒀊 n., sea; opening; nook. part., inf., ergative infix -b- ‘by it/them’ when preceded by /a/; indirect object infix -b- when preceded by /a/.
- a-ba 𒀀𒁀 pron., inter., who? (OS x2, OA x3, NS x20, OB x308)
- àm 𒀀𒀭 cop., he/she/it is.
- an 𒀭 n., heaven; high. adv., above (OA x1). det., indicates the name of a deity. part., inf., 3rd person (pers.) infix when preceded by /a/.
- a-na 𒀀𒈾 pron., inter., what? (OS x2, OA x1, NS x73, OB x394), why? (OB x10); poss. his/her (gen., loc.) (earlier periods) (a)na (𒀀)𒈾.
- a-na-aš 𒀀𒈾𒀸 pron., inter., why? (OA x1, NS x8, OB x68).
- a-na-gin7 𒀀𒈾𒁶 pron., inter., how? (OB x76).
- ba 𒁀 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 (bé) 𒁉 pron., dem., this, that (similar to ‘the’) (x261) (ba 𒁀 gen.). part., part., suff., poss., its/their (impers.) (with ra/ir 𒊏/𒅕 (dat.)) (with šè/iš 𒂠/𒅖 (term.)).
- dab5 𒆪 v., to seize, take, hold; bind; envelop, overwhelm; accept; choose.
- dù 𒆕 v., to beget; bear (a child); be born; build, create, fashion, make; transform, change; replace.
- dúr 𒂉 n., anus, buttocks; dwelling. v., to sit (intrans. m. sg.); be seated; set down; break wind; occupy, dwell (transitive durun 𒂉𒂉 (h./m. pl.).
- e 𒂊 v., to speak, say; do; water. part., suff., [performed] by (the agent); in, at, beside (directive); plural hamṭu (perfective) suffix; marû (imperfective) singular/plural suffix.
- é 𒂍n., house; temple.
- é-gal 𒂍𒃲 n., palace.
- ga 𒂵 n., milk. v., to bring, carry. part., pref., cohortative prefix meaning ‘let me/I shall’. part., suff., nominalizing suffix when preceded by /g/.
- ga-ab-šúm 𒂵𒀊𒋧 n., seller.
- gin7 (gim, gen7) 𒁶 part., suff., like, as, just as; instead of; during (equat.).
- ĝá 𒂷 v., to come/go. pron., ind., I (especially before a case marker ending in /a/—alternative reading of ĝe26 𒂷). part., suff., poss., my (gen., loc.); nominalizing suffix when preceded by /ĝ/.
- ĝu10 𒈬 pron., poss., my (abs., erg., dir.) (with ra/úr 𒊏/𒌫 (dat.)) (with šè/uš 𒂠/𒍑 (term.)) (with da/ta/gin7 𒁕/𒋫/𒁶 (com., abl., equ.)) (with um 𒌝 before the enclitic copula).
- ì 𒉌 n., butter, oil, fat, cream; oil container. part., pref., stand-alone agentive prefix ‘I’; conjugational prefix (indicates distance from speaker).
- in 𒅔 n., abuse; insult, offense. adv., conj., until, up to; as many (OB x2). part., pref., stand-alone agent prefix ‘he/she/it’ (pers.).
- iri 𒌷 n., city, town, village, district. prep., mathematical function ‘times’ (OB x1). det., indicates the name of a city.
- ka 𒅗 n., mouth; opening; beginning, origin; body part. part., suff., ‘of’ (gen.) (mutation of ak 𒀝 when anlaut /a/ assimilates to the proceeding vowel {ĝu10 + ak = ĝá-ka}.
- kug 𒆬 n., (precious) metal; silver; money. v., to be pure, holy, sacred; to purify, sanctify. adj., bright, white; pure, sacred, holy.
- lú 𒇽 n., man, male; human, person.
- lugal 𒈗 n., king; owner, master, lord.
- me 𒈨 n., function, office, responsibility; divine power/decree. part., suff., poss., our (abs., erg., dir., gen.,) (with a 𒀀 (loc.)) ra/da/ta/šè/gin7 (dat., com., abl., equ.,)) cop., I am (OS), you are (OS, NS), they are (NS). v., to say, tell. adv., where?
- me-a 𒈨𒀀 pron., inter., where? (NS x13, OB x117).
- me-na 𒈨𒈾 pron., inter., when? (OB x68).
- munus 𒊩 n., female, woman.
- na 𒈾 n., man; incense; rock, stone; token. part., inf., ‘to/for him/her’ (dat.).
- ne 𒉈 pron., dem., this/that (here) (NS x1, OB x14).
- ni 𒉌 part., inf., locative infix indicating ‘where’.
- ní 𒉎 n./pron. refl., self; used before all pronouns except 3rd person personal possessive (a/e)ni (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌, in which case ní-te 𒉎𒋼 is used. (OS x3, OA x1, NS x300, OB x383)
- nin 𒎏 n., lady, mistress, owner, queen; lord (sometimes found in male names).
- ní-te 𒉎𒋼 n./pron. refl., self, used before the 3rd person personal possessive pronoun (sg./pl.) (a/e)ni (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌(NS x8, OB x45).
- ra 𒊏 v., to accompany; bear; drive; go; lead; multiply; mix, stir. part., suff., to/for (dat.).
- šeš 𒋀 n., brother; colleague; assistant.
- úš 𒍗 n., blood, gore; death. v., to block; die; be dead; kill. adj., dead.
The Sumerian Absolutive Case
The Sumerian absolutive case “marks” the patient in the sentence; that is, the noun experiencing the action—often the direct object. However, the absolutive case is said to have a “zero morph”, or be “marked” by -Ø. In other words: it has no case marker, as in:
lugal-e é ba-an-dù 𒈗𒂊𒂍𒁀𒀭𒆕 The king built the temple.
In this example, é the house is experiencing the action of being built. It’s unmarked because it’s in the absolutive case.
Test Your Knowledge—Absolutive Case
See if you can identify the nouns in the absolutive case in the following sentences. The answers can be found at the end of the lesson.
- munus ba-dúr 𒊩𒁀𒂉 The woman sat.
- šeš-e lú ba-an-úš 𒋀𒂊𒇽𒁉𒁀𒀭𒍗 The brother killed the man.
- lugal-e nin-ra iri-a é ì-na-ni-in-dù 𒈗𒂊𒎏𒊏𒌷𒀀𒂍𒉌𒈾𒉌𒅔𒆕 The king built a house in the city for the queen.
Sumerian Absolutive Case Examples—With Sumerian Reflexive, Interrogative, and Demonstrative Pronouns
With Reflexive Pronouns
- ĝá-e ní-ĝu10 é-gal ì-dù 𒂷𒂊𒉎𒈬𒂍𒃲𒉌𒆕 It was I who built myself a palace.
- lugal-e lú é ní-ĝá-ka ba-an-úš 𒈗𒂊𒇽𒂍𒉎𒂷𒅗𒁀𒀭𒍗 The king killed the man in my own house.
- ga-ab-šúm-me ga ní-te-né in-dab5 𒂵𒀊𒋧 𒈨𒂵𒉎𒋼𒉌𒅔𒆪 The seller took the milk for himself.
With Interrogative Pronouns
- a-na-àm 𒀀𒈾𒀀𒀭 What is it?
- a-ba šeš-ĝu10-gin7 𒀀𒁀𒋀𒈬𒁶 Who is like my brother?
- a-na-aš kug ga-ab-dù 𒀀𒈾𒀸𒆬𒂵𒀊𒆕 Why shall I replace the silver?
- me-a lugal ba-dúr 𒈨𒀀𒈗𒁀𒂉 Where did the king sit (himself down)?
- me-na lugal-e é ba-an-dù 𒈨𒈾𒈗𒂊𒂍𒁀𒀭𒆕 When did the king build the temple?
- a-na-gin7 munus-e lú ba-an-úš 𒀀𒈾𒁶𒊩𒂊𒇽𒁀𒀭𒍗 How did the woman kill the man?
With Demonstrative Pronouns
lugal-e lú-bi ba-an-úš 𒈗𒂊𒇽𒁉𒁀𒀭𒍗 The king killed this/that man.
ANSWERS
The words in the absolutive case are in ALL CAPS
- MUNUS ba-dúr 𒊩𒁀𒂉 The woman sat.
- šeš-e LÚ ba-an-úš 𒋀𒂊𒇽𒁉𒁀𒀭𒍗 The brother killed the man.
- lugal-e nin-ra iri-a É ì-na-ni-in-dù 𒈗𒂊𒎏𒊏𒌷𒀀𒂍𒉌𒈾𒉌𒅔𒆕 The king built a house in the city for the queen.
With Reflexive Pronouns
- ĝá-e ní-ĝu10 É-GAL ì-dù 𒂷𒂊𒉎𒈬𒂍𒃲𒉌𒆕 It was I who built myself a palace.
- lugal-e LÚ é ní-ĝá-ka ba-an-úš 𒈗𒂊𒇽𒂍𒉎𒂷𒅗𒁀𒀭𒍗 The king killed the man in my own house.
- ga-ab-šúm-me GA ní-te-né in-dab5 𒂵𒀊𒋧 𒈨𒂵𒉎𒋼𒉌𒅔𒆪 The seller took the milk for himself.
With Interrogative Pronouns
- A-NA-àm 𒀀𒈾𒀀𒀭 What is it?
- A-BA šeš-ĝu10-gin7 𒀀𒁀𒋀𒈬𒁶 Who is like my brother?
- a-na-aš KUG ga-ab-dù 𒀀𒈾𒀸𒆬𒂵𒀊𒆕 Why shall I replace the silver?
- me-a LUGAL ba-dúr 𒈨𒀀𒈗𒁀𒂉 Where did the king sit (himself down)?
- me-na lugal-e É ba-an-dù 𒈨𒈾𒈗𒂊𒂍𒁀𒀭𒆕 When did the king build the temple?
- a-na-gin7 munus-e ŁÚ ba-an-úš 𒀀𒈾𒁶𒊩𒂊𒇽𒁀𒀭𒍗 How did the woman kill the man?
With Demonstrative Pronouns
- lugal-e LÚ-BI ba-an-úš 𒈗𒂊𒇽𒁉𒁀𒀭𒍗 The king killed this/that man.
Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!
In the next lesson, you’ll learn all about the Sumerian ergative case, as we begin our journey into the Sumerian verbal chain, so be sure to subscribe to my Substack to get all of my articles as soon as they post!
