Sumerian Pronouns
Create Basic Sumerian Sentences with Independent and Possessive Sumerian Pronouns
Lesson Introduction
Now that you have a basic understanding of Sumerian words and sentences, it’s time to start putting your knowledge into practice.
In this lesson, we’ll:
- Review Independent Sumerian Pronouns
- Review the Sumerian Enclitic Copula
- Learn Possessive Sumerian Pronouns
- Create Simple Sumerian Sentences
Lesson Vocabulary
Here are the new vocabulary words you’ll encounter in this lesson. Remember, you can see the vocabulary for all lessons in the Online Sumerian Dictionary.
a-na: 𒀀𒈾
- part., pron. suff., in his/her (loc.), of his/her (gen.) (before OB).
a-ni: 𒀀𒉌
- pron., (ind./pron. suff.) his/her (pers.) (abs.) (before OB).
babbar: 𒌓
- v., to be white (alt. bábbar 𒌓𒌓).
bé: 𒁉
- part., suff., its (erg.); with -àm, (it is) its.
bi: 𒁉
- part., suff., its (sg./pl.) (abs.) (impers.).
e-na: 𒂊𒈾
- part., pron. suff., in his/her (loc.), of his/her (gen.) (OB).
e-ni: 𒂊𒉌
- pron., ind. prron./pron. suff., his/her (pers.) (abs.) (OB).
dumu-mí: 𒌉𒊩
- n., daughter.
dumu-munus: 𒌉𒊩
- n., daughter.
dumu-níta: 𒌉𒀴
- n., son.
im: 𒅎
- n.,
- clay, mud, loam
- rain, rainstorm, storm, wind, weather, cloud
- direction
im-ri-a: 𒅎𒊑𒀀
- n., family, clan, relatives.
máš: 𒈧
- n., goat, kid (masc.); sacrificial animal.
mí: 𒊩
- n., woman, female.
- adj., female, feminine.
nam: 𒉆
- n.,
- being, state
- fate, destiny, determined order, lot
- testament, will
- area of responsibility, office
- governor
- province
- sign
- manner, way
- part., (nam-) -ship, -ness
nin9: 𒎐
- n., sister.
níta: 𒀴
- n., male.
- adj., male, masculine.
ri: 𒊑
- v.,
- to lie (upon); to place (upon/against) (w/ -ši-); to press upon; to affix
- to be located; to touch; to moor
- to beget; to emit
- to accompany
- to be distant
- adj., distant, far.
- part., dem. pref., that/those (way over there).
zu-ne-ne: 𒍪𒉈𒉈
- part., pron. suff., your (abs., erg., gen.) (alt. zu-ne).
Sumerian Pronouns
Independent Personal Sumerian Pronouns—Review
Here are the independent pronouns we covered in Lesson Three.
REMEMBER: There are no attested forms of us/we or you (pl.). These can be expressed in other ways, or you can use the copulas me-en-dè-en 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 or me-en-zé-en 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 for us/we and you (pl.) respectively.
ĝe26(-e): 𒂷(𒂊) I/me (abs.); by me (erg.); I (am), (it is) me
ĝá: 𒂷 me, (dat., com., abl.); in me (loc.); of me (gen.)
zé(-e): 𒍢(𒂊) you (abs.); by you (erg.); you (are), (it is) you
za: 𒍝 you (dat., com., abl.); in you (loc.), of you (gen.)
(a/e)ni ((a/e)-ne before -àm 𒀀𒀭): (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌 he/she; him/her
(a/e)ne-ne: (𒀀/𒂊)𒉈𒉈 they/them
Possessive Singular Sumerian Pronouns
The 1st and 2nd person possessive pronouns in the absolutive and ergative cases are:
-ĝu10: 𒈬 my (abs.), by my (erg.)
-zu: 𒍪 your (abs.), by your (erg.)
When followed by the genitive case marker -ak 𒀝, and the locative case marker -a 𒀀, the /u/ of ĝu10 𒈬 and zu 𒍪 becomes /a/:
-ĝá: 𒂷 of my (gen.), in my (loc.)
-za: 𒍝 of your (gen.), in your (loc.)
The third person personal and impersonal possessive pronouns in the absolutive case are as follows.
Remember that (a)ni/ne/na is the older version, and (e)ni/ne/na is the later version. Also remember that the vowels /a/ and /e/ are often dropped with (a/e)ne is suffixed to a word ending in a vowel—ex. dumu-ne 𒌉𒉈.
Also notice the possessive pronoun for ‘his/her’ is the same as the independent pronoun (a/e)ni (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌.
-(a/e)ni: (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌 his/her (pers.) (abs.)
-bi: 𒁉 its (sg./pl. impers.)
In the ergative case, or before the copula -àm 𒀀𒀭, the /i/ of /ni/ and /bi/ becomes /e/:
-(a/e)ne: (𒀀/𒂊)𒉈 (it is) his/her; by his/her (erg.)
-bé: 𒁉 (it is) its, by its (erg.)
In most cases, when followed by the genitive case marker -ak 𒀝, and the locative case marker -a 𒀀, this final /e/ is replaced with the genitive or locative /a/, resulting in multiple meanings:
-(a/e)na: (𒀀/𒂊)𒈾 in his/her (loc.), of his/her (gen.)
-ba: 𒁀 in its (loc.), of its (gen.)
Possessive Singular Sumerian Pronouns
There are no attested pronouns for us, we, and you (pl.) in Sumerian. Demonstrating 1st or 2nd non-possessive plurality must be done in other ways, such as use of the copulas me-en-dè-en 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 and me-en-zé-en 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 respectively.
-me: 𒈨 our (abs.), by our (erg.), of our (gen.)
-zu-ne-ne: 𒍪𒉈𒉈 your (abs.), by your (erg.), of your (gen.)
-(a/e)ne-ne: (𒀀/𒂊)𒉈𒉈 their (abs.), by their (erg.)
NOTES: 1) -zu-ne-ne 𒍪𒉈𒉈 is sometimes simply -zu-ne 𒍪𒉈. 2) The (a/e)-ne-ne (𒀀/𒂊)𒉈𒉈 can mean ‘his/her noun(pl.)’ or their noun(sg.) Determining which is the correct interpretation must be gleaned via the surrounding context.
The /a/ of the locative suffix -a 𒀀 does not contract to the preceding vowel.
-me-a: 𒈨 𒀀 in our (loc.)
-zu-ne-ne-a: 𒍪𒉈𒉈 𒀀 in your (loc.)
-(a/e)ne-ne-a: (𒀀/𒂊)𒉈𒉈𒀀 in their
Basic Copular Phrases
Now that you know the independent and possessive Sumerian pronouns, we can start combining them with the enclitic copula to form some basic sentences. But before we do, let’s review the enclitic copula from Lesson Three:
Enclitic Copula—Review
-me-en: 𒈨𒂗 I am, you are (-me 𒈨 in OS)
-àm: 𒀀𒀭he/she/it is
-me-en-dè-en: 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 we are
-me-en-zé-en: 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 you (pl.) are
-me-eš: 𒈨𒂠 they (pl.) are (-me 𒈨 in NS)
Talking about Me and You
Remember, -me-en 𒈨𒂗 can mean I am or you are. Determining which will be up to you and the context!
nin-me-en: 𒎏𒈨𒂗 I am/you are queen
lugal-me-en 𒈗𒈨𒂗 I am/you are king
Of course, a preceding independent pronoun will make things clear.
ĝe26 nin-me-en: 𒂷𒎏 𒈨𒂗 it is I who am queen
zé lugal-me-en 𒍢𒈗𒈨𒂗 it is you who are king
Now that we have our nam-lugal 𒉆𒈗 (kingship) established, let’s talk about who we’re with.
ĝe26 za-da-me-en: 𒂷𒍝 𒁕 𒈨𒂗 it is I who am with you
zé ĝá-da-me-en: 𒍢 𒂷 𒁕 𒈨𒂗 it is you who are with me
Now, let’s talk about our possessions. Remember, we don’t necessarily need an independent pronoun if the context is clear.
(zé) lugal-ĝu10-me-en: (𒍢)𒈗𒈬 𒈨𒂗 [it is] you [who] are my king
(ĝe26) nin-zu-me-en: (𒂷)𒎏𒍪 𒈨𒂗 [it is] you [who] are my queen
Talking About Him and Her
Now let’s talk about someone else—him and her. Remember -àm 𒀀𒀭 can refer to him or her. Determining which can be gleaned through the context.
lú-àm: 𒇽𒀀𒀭 he is a/the man/male
munus-àm: 𒊩𒀀𒀭 she is a/the woman/female
Now that we have that out of the way, it might be helpful to learn:
šeš-a-ne-àm: 𒋀𒀀𒉈𒀀𒀭 he is his/her brother
nin9-a-ne-àm: 𒎐𒀀𒉈𒀀𒀭 she is his/her sister
ĝá-da-me-eš: 𒂷𒁕𒈨𒂠 they are with me
Generally speaking, the word dumu 𒌉 usually means son, but is can just as easily refer to a daughter. For clarity, you might suffix one of the following adjectives to create specific words for son and daughter.
munus or mí: 𒊩 female, feminine
níta: 𒀴 male, masculine
Now we can tell if the child is a girl or a boy.
dumu-munus-àm: 𒌉𒊩𒀀𒀭 she is a/the daughter
dumu-níta-àm: 𒌉𒀴𒀀𒀭 he is a/the son
ama-ne-ne-me-en: 𒂼𒉈𒉈𒈨𒂗 I am their mother
zé a-a-ne-ne-me-en: 𒍢𒀀𒀀𒉈𒉈𒈨𒂗 it is you who are their father
Unless we’re talking about someone else’s children, in which case:
dumu-munus-àm: 𒌉𒊩𒀀𒀭 she is a/the daughter
dumu-níta-àm: 𒌉𒀴𒀀𒀭 he is a/the son
ama-ne-ne-me-en: 𒂼𒉈𒉈𒈨𒂗 I am their mother
zé a-a-ne-ne-me-en: 𒍢𒀀𒀀𒉈𒉈𒈨𒂗 it is you who are their father
Notice how in the last example, the singular noun dumu 𒌉is used, as we know from the 3rd person copula -me-eš 𒈨𒂠 that child is plural.
Talking About Them and Us
nin9-me-en-dè-en: 𒎐 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 we are sisters
šeš-me-en-zé-en: 𒋀 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 you are brothers
dumu-me-eš: 𒌉𒈨𒂠 they are children
Whose siblings and children are they?
šeš-zu-me-en-dè-en: 𒋀 𒍪𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 we are your (sg.) brothers
šeš-zu-ne-ne-me-en-dè-en: 𒋀 𒍪𒉈𒉈 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 we are your (pl.) brothers
nin9-a-ne-me-en-zé-en: 𒎐 𒀀𒉈 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 you (pl.) are his/her sisters
nin9-a-ne-ne-me-en-zé-en: 𒎐 𒀀𒉈𒉈 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 you are their (pl.) sisters
dumu-ĝu10-me-eš: 𒌉𒈬 𒈨𒂠 they are my children
Talking About It
Now that we’ve talked about people, let’s talk about something inanimate: the é 𒂍, the household, or im-ri-a 𒅎𒊑𒀀, the family/clan.
é-gal-àm: 𒂍𒃲 𒀀𒀭 it is a large household
im-ri-a-tur-àm: 𒅎𒊑𒀀𒌉𒀀𒀭 it is a small family/clan