Lesson 13
Sumerian Adjectives
In this lesson, you’ll learn about Sumerian adjectives, as well as reduplicating auslauts.
Need a Refresher on Sumerian Words?
Helpful Terms
Here are some helpful terms you’ll encounter in this lesson. You can see a full list in the Glossary of Terms.
- auslaut: the final consonant, sound, or syllable in a word, or syllable boundary.
- nominalizing suffix: a particle suffixed to a verb to create an adjective or noun.
- past participle: a verb which is modified to act as an adjective, as in ‘broken leg’.
Vocabulary to Memorize
I highly recommend memorizing these Sumerian words, as you’ll encounter them often in the upcoming lessons!
- gaz 𒄤 v., to kill, slaughter; break, grind; crush, smash.
- gibil 𒉋 v., to be fresh, new; to make new, renovate.
- kalag 𒆗 v., to be strong, mighty, powerful; to strengthen, repair. adj., strong, swift.
- paḫ 𒈜 n., leg.
- šúm 𒋧 n., garlic, onion. v., to give; lend.
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., in, at, when; nominalizing suffix.
- ab 𒀊 n., sea, opening, nook. part., ergative infix ‘by it/them’ when preceded by /a/; indirect object infix /b/ when preceded by /a/.
- ak 𒀝 v., to do, act; make into; place. part., of (gen.).
- diĝir 𒀭 n., god, deity. det., indicates the name of a deity (abbr. d).
- dù 𒆕 v., to beget; bear (a child); be born; build, create, fashion, make; transform, change.
- dumu 𒌉 n., child, son, daughter.
- é 𒂍n., house, temple.
- den-líl 𒀭𒂗𒆤 n., prop., Sumerian god of air, wind, and storms; considered the binding force between heaven and earth.
- ga 𒂵 n., milk. v., to bring, carry. part., nominalizing suffix when preceded by /g/; cohortative prefix meaning ‘let me/I shall’.
- gal 𒃲 v., to be big, great, large, mighty. adj., big, great, large, mighty.
- gaz 𒄤 v., to kill, slaughter; break, grind; crush, smash.
- gibil 𒉋 v., to be fresh, new; to make new, renovate.
- kalag 𒆗 v., to be strong, mighty, powerful; to strengthen, repair. adj., strong, swift.
- la 𒆷 n., abundance, plenty; luxury, wealth; joy, bliss; youthfulness; wish, desire; lust. part., spelling bridge between /l/ and /a/.
- lú 𒇽 n., man, male; human, person.
- ma 𒈠 part., spelling bridge between /m/ and /a/.
- paḫ 𒈜 n., leg.
- šúm 𒋧 n., garlic, onion. v., to give; lend.
- tur 𒌉 n., child; young; second (rank). v., to be/make small; reduce.
Sumerian Adjectives
For the most part, Sumerian adjectives follow the noun they modify, as in:
- ba-gal 𒁀𒃲 great portion (lit. portion-great)
NOTE: While it’s gone out of fashion in Sumerology, I still prefer to put a hyphen between simple nouns and adjectives.
A noun can be modified with multiple adjectives:
- é-gibil-tur 𒂍𒉋𒌉 new small house/temple (lit. house/temple-new-small)
Adjectives can also be duplicated to indicate plurality or intensity:
- diĝir-gal-gal 𒀭𒃲𒃲
- REALLY great god (sg.)
- great gods (pl.)
Adjectives can also be made by suffixing the nominalizing suffix -a 𒀀 to verbs, creating a past participle; that is, a verb that acts like an adjective:
NOTE: The nominalizing suffix -a 𒀀 does not always appear as /a/, but often as a syllable beginning with the preceding auslaut and ending in /a/.
- paḫ gaz-a 𒈜𒄤𒀀 broken leg (leg + to break + nominalizing suffix)
- é dù-a 𒂍𒆕𒀀 built house/temple (house/temple + to build + nominalizing suffix)
- lú kalag-ga 𒇽𒆗𒂵 strong man (man + to be strong + nominalizing suffix)
Reduplicating Auslauts
The verb kalag 𒆗 means to be strong, but notice how in the above construction, we didn’t simply suffix -a 𒀀 to it. Instead, we added an extra /g/ before the /a/.
That’s because from the late OS period onward, the nominalizing suffix tended to take the preceding auslaut; that is, its final sound or syllable.
So instead of writing kalag-a 𒆗𒀀, they wrote kalag-ga 𒆗𒂵.
Reduplicating auslauts is a common phenomenon in Sumerian. You’ll see it often in the nominal chain:
- Sumerian: dumu den-líl-la
- Cuneiform: 𒌉𒀭𒂗𒆤𒆷
- English: son of Enlil
- Construction: dumu + den-líl + a[k]*
- líl + a = líl-la
- *we’ll discuss the genitive suffix ak 𒀝 in an upcoming lesson
- líl + a = líl-la
You’ll also see reduplicated auslauts in the verbal chain in form of spelling bridges:
Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!
Congratulations! In the next lesson, we’ll start tackling Sumerian intransitive and transitive verbs, so be sure to subscribe to my substack to get all of my articles as soon as they post!
