Lesson 9
The Sumerian Nominal Chain
In this lesson, you’ll take a major step forward in reading and speaking Sumerian, by learning about the Sumerian nominal chain!
Need a Refresher on Sumerian Syntax
Helpful Terms
Here is a list of helpful terms you’ll encounter in this lesson. You can see the full Glossary of Terms here.
- agent: the noun in the sentence that performs the action.
- copula: a verb that connects the subject of a sentence to a subject complement; often the word ‘was’, ‘is’, or ‘will be’.
- patient: the noun in the sentence that experiences the action.
- nominal chain: a string of words and suffixes which provides all necessary information about the nouns in a sentence.
- verbal chain: a string of prefixes, infixes, and suffixes attached to a verb to provide additional information about the action.
Vocabulary to Memorize
I highly recommend memorizing these Sumerian words, as you’ll encounter them often in the upcoming lessons!
- àm 𒀀𒀭 cop., he/she/it is.
- da 𒁕 n., arm; edge, line; near, close. v., to be near, hold, protect. part., with (com.).
- (e)ne 𒉈 pron., he/she, him/her, that one. part., plural marker (pers.)
- gal 𒃲 v., to be big, great, foremost. adj., big, great, foremost.
- zu 𒍪 n., knowledge, wisdom. v., to know; learn, discover; teach; be experienced. pron., your(s).
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.
- àm 𒀀𒀭 cop., he/she/it is.
- an 𒀭 n., heaven; high.
- ba 𒁀 n., allotment, portion, wages. v., to give; pay; divide; distribute; allot.
- da 𒁕 n., arm; edge, line; near, close. v., to be near, hold, protect. part., with (com.).
- dù 𒆕 v., to beget; bear (a child); be born; build, create, fashion, make; transform, change.
- dumu 𒌉 n., child, son, daughter.
- e 𒂊 v., to speak, say; do; water. part., [performed] by (the agent); in, at, beside.
- é 𒂍 n., house, temple.
- [e]ne 𒉈 pron., he/she, him/her, that one. part., plural marker (pers.)
- gal 𒃲 v., to be big, great, foremost. adj., big, great, foremost.
- lugal 𒈗 n., king; owner, master, lord.
- me 𒈨 n., function, office, responsibility; divine power/decree. cop., I am (OS); you are (NS). v., to say, tell. adv., where?
- zu 𒍪 n., knowledge, wisdom. v., to know; learn, discover; teach; be experienced. pron., your(s).
Review--Nominal and Verbal Chains
As you learned in the previous lesson, the Sumerian sentence lugal-e é ba-an-dù 𒈗𒂊𒂍𒁀𒀭𒆕 the king built the house/temple, has two parts; a nominal chain and a verbal chain.
REMEMBER: The nominal chain will almost always come first in the sentence.
- lugal-e é | ba-an-dù
- 𒈗𒂊 | 𒂍𒁀𒀭𒆕
- the nominal chain: lugal-e é 𒈗𒂊𒂍𒁀 king-by temple/house
- provides all the information we need about the nouns
- the verbal chain: ba-an-dù 𒁀𒀭𒆕 it-he-built
- provides all the information we need about the verb
- the nominal chain: lugal-e é 𒈗𒂊𒂍𒁀 king-by temple/house
Nominal Chain Sequence
Sumerian nominal chains can contain various words and elements, such as:
- nouns (n.)
- adjectives (adj.)
- pronouns (pron.)
- plural markers (pl.)
- case markers (c.)
- copulas (cop.)
Not every Sumerian sentence will have all of these, but when they are present, they will usually appear in this order.
For example:
- Sumerian: dumu-gal-zu-ne-da-àm
- Cuneiform: 𒌉𒃲𒍪𒉈𒁕𒀀𒀭
- English: he/she/it is with your eldest children
- Breakdown:
- dumu(n.) 𒌉 child
- gal (adj.) 𒃲 eldest (lit. great)
- zu(pron.) 𒍪 your
- [e]ne(pl.) [𒂊]𒉈 plural-marker
- da(c.) 𒁕 with
- àm(cop.) 𒀀𒀭 he/she/it is
Be aware that a pronoun can come before the adjective:
Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!
Fantastic! The Sumerian language is really about to open up for you! In the next lesson, you’ll learn about the Sumerian Verbal chain, which is one of the most important elements of learning Sumerian, so be sure to subscribe to my substack to get all of my articles as soon as they post!
