Lesson 4
Sumerian Glottal-Stops and Word Emphasis
In this lesson, you’ll learn about Sumerian glottal stops and word emphasis. Technically, you don’t need this lesson, so if you’d prefer, you can jump to Lesson 5 now. However, proper Sumerian pronunciation is part of what separates the amateurs from the pros, so I highly recommend giving it a read!
Need a Refresher on How to Pronounce Sumerian?
Helpful Terms
- glottal stop: a brief stop, gap, or catch in a sound, such as the pause in the word ‘uh-oh’.
- locative case (loc.): indicates where something is happening, as in ‘in’, or ‘at’, marked by -a.
- nominalizing suffix: a particle suffixed to a Sumerian verb to create an adjective or noun.
Vocabulary to Memorize
I highly recommend memorizing these Sumerian words, as you’ll encounter them often in the upcoming lessons!
- a 𒀀 n., water, semen, progeny, canal, flood. part., in, at, when; nominalizing suffix.
- áĝ 𒉘 v., to measure, check.
- an 𒀭 n., heaven; high.
- é 𒂍 n., house, temple.
- ki 𒆠 n., earth, area. prep., where.
Vocabulary--Full LIst
This is a relatively small vocabulary list, so I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with them!
- a 𒀀 n., water, semen, progeny, canal, flood. part., in, at, when; nominalizing suffix.
- a-a 𒀀𒀀 n., father (lit. semen-semen)
- ab 𒀊 n., sea, opening, nook. part., by it/them.
- áĝ 𒉘 v., to measure, check.
- àm 𒀀𒀭 cop., he/she/it is.
- an 𒀭 n., heaven; high.
- é 𒂍 n., house, temple.
- ĝá 𒂷 v., to come/go. part., in/of my; nominalizing suffix when preceded by /ĝ/.
- íb 𒌈 n., hips, middle. v., to be angry. interj., alas!
- ki 𒆠 n., earth, area. prep., where.
- ki áĝ 𒆠𒉘 v., to love, show affection.
- ki áĝ-ĝá 𒆠𒉘𒂷 n., beloved.
Syllable Emphasis in Sumerian
Some have speculated that syllable emphasis played a role in Sumerian, possibly changing the pronunciation of the vowel, but the debate is ongoing.
Personally, I find emphasizing the last syllable of the root to be the most natural, but while learning Sumerian, feel free to experiment on your own.
If you’d like a full dissertation on Sumerian glottal stops and word emphasis, I recommend ‘A Descriptive Grammar of Sumerian’ (Jagersma B., 2010).
Sumerian Glottal Stops /ɂ/
In all likelihood, all Sumerian words originally started with a consonant. In linguistic material, you’ll see this idea written as:
- CV = Consonant-Vowel
- CVC = Consonant-Vowel-Consonant
The glottal stop /ɂ/ is especially evident before:
- ab 𒀊 sea, opening, nook; by it/them
- àm 𒀀𒀭 he/she/it is
- an 𒀭 heaven; high
- íb 𒌈 hips, middle; to be angry
- the locative case marker -a 𒀀
- ex. é-a 𒂍𒀀 in the house {é-ɂa}
- the nominalizing suffix -a 𒀀
- ex. ki áĝ-ĝá 𒆠𒉘𒂷 beloved {ki áĝ-ɂa}
- and between /a/ and /a/
- ex. a-a 𒀀𒀀 father {ɂa-ɂa}
Again, nobody knows for sure when, where, or how glottal stops were used. While learning Sumerian, feel free to use or ignore them as you see fit!
While you may hear me pronounce them in some of my accompanying lesson videos, I don’t usually write them out, and neither do most Sumerologists.
Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!
Congratulations! You now know about Sumerian glottal stops and syllable emphasis! In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to interpret cuneiform signs, so be sure to subscribe to my substack to get notified as soon as it posts!
