Lesson 5
Interpreting Cuneiform Signs
In this lesson, you’ll learn the basics of reading Cuneiform. While you’ll encounter a lot of cuneiform signs in this lesson, you don’t have to memorize them yet, although you’re welcome to start!
Helpful Terms
- cuneiform: a wedge-shaped logo-syllabic script developed by the Sumerians and used by the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, and currently recognized as the oldest known writing system.
- polyvalency: having more than one value, such as a sound or meaning, as in the cuneiform 𒂠, which can be read as éš, and šè, among others.
- transliteration: writing the sounds of one language using the characters or alphabet of another.
Vocabulary to Memorize
I highly recommend memorizing these Sumerian words, as you’ll encounter them often in the upcoming lessons!
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.
- eme 𒅴 n., tongue; language; speech.
- eme-ĝir15 𒅴𒂠 n., Sumerian language.
- éš 𒂠 v., to anoint. part., by it/them; to(ward); they/them; adverbial suffix.
- ĝá 𒂷 v., to come/go. part., in/of my; nominalizing suffix when preceded by /ĝ/.
- ĝir15 (gi7) 𒂠 v., to be native; local; domesticated. adj., native, domestic; noble.
- ḫuĝ 𒂠 v., to pacify; hire, rent; rest.
- ḫuĝ-ĝá adv., hired.
- iri 𒌷 n., city, town, village, district.
- ka 𒅗 n., mouth; opening; beginning, origin; body part.
- lú 𒇽 n., man, male; human, person.
- lú-ḫuĝ-ĝá 𒇽𒂠𒂷 n., hireling; Aries (zodiac sign).
- me 𒈨 n., function, office, responsibility; divine power/decree. cop., I am (OS); you are (NS). v., to say, tell. adv., where?
- me-eš 𒈨𒌍 cop., they are (OB).
- me-éš 𒈨𒂠 cop., they are (NS).
- šè 𒂠 n., portion. part., to(ward); they/them; adverbial suffix.
- šeš 𒋀 n., brother; colleague; assistant.
The Sumerian language wasn’t called “Sumerian”, but rather 𒅴𒂠. This is useless information if you can’t read the cuneiform signs 𒅴 and 𒂠.
In order to read them, we must first transliterate them. In other words, we need to write out the sounds each cuneiform sign makes using the characters of a recognizable alphabet.
Sign Combinations
If you look closely, you’ll see that 𒅴 is actually two different cuneiform signs:
- ka 𒅗 mouth
- me 𒈨 function
When they combine, they become eme 𒅴, which means tongue, language, or speech. Not surprisingly, all three of these are functions of the mouth.
The cuneiform sign 𒂠 can be read multiple ways. This phenomenon is called polyvalency, and it’s an important part of learning Sumerian!
For example, 𒂠 can be read as:
- éš 𒂠 when used as the 3rd person plural copula suffix, as in
- šeš-me-éš 𒋀𒈨𒂠 they are brothers (lit. brother-are-they) (NS)
- šè 𒂠 when acting as the postposition ‘to(ward)’, as in
- iri-šè 𒌷𒂠 to(ward) the city (lit. city-to)
- ḫuĝ 𒂠, which could mean to pacify, or to hire (OB, NS), as in the Babylonian zodiac sign for Aries,
- lú-ḫuĝ-ĝá 𒇽𒂠𒂷 the hired man (lit. man-hire-ed)
- ĝir15 𒂠 or gi7, 𒂠 which could mean native, local, domestic, or noble, as in
- lú-ĝir 𒇽𒂠 noble/local man
Reading 𒅴𒂠
When we take all this into consideration, 𒅴𒂠 can be read in one of the following ways:
- eme-šè 𒅴𒂠 or eme-éš 𒅴𒂠: to/toward the tongue
- eme ḫuĝ 𒅴𒂠: tongue pacify/hire (which is nonsensical)
- eme-ĝir15 𒅴𒂠: native tongue
As you probably guessed, the Sumerian’s called their language eme-ĝir15 𒅴𒂠, or native tongue.
Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!
Congratulations! You’re well on your way to reading cuneiform signs! In the next lesson, you’ll learn about Sumerian transliteration techniques, so be sure to subscribe!
