Chapter 2 Flashcards
(26 cards)
a-ru
to dedicate
bad^3
wall
du^3
to build
du^11
to say, speak
e^3
to go out
ensi^2
ruler
gu^3-de^2-a
Gudea
gub
to stand
gar
to set, place
gen
to go
ki-ag^2
to love
ki-en-gi
Sumer
ki-uri
Akkad
nig^2
thing
sum^2
to give
uri^5^ki
Ur
𒈬
mu, (name, fame, line of text, year, cook(occupation), ( enclitic) my (first-person possessive pronoun)
𒀀
a (water, fluid
semen, sperm, seed
offspring, child
watercourse, locative inflection)
𒌨
ur(a beast of prey, dog, lion
(personal names) mostly translated as “dog of” when followed by a divine name, but some have connected it to the pronoun 𒄯 (ur₅ /ur/, “he of, the one of”). When it follows a divine name in the phrase 𒌨𒈬 (ur-g̃u₁₀ /tešg̃u/, “my pride, my dignity”), scholars agree on the reading 𒌨 (teš₂ /teš/).
𒈾
na(stone, boulder)
𒉌
ni((vegetable) oil
fat, tallow
butter, grease, to shine, (time) to pass
to flow
to get up early
to finish, come to an end
to dissolve, melt, break down
to quake)
𒆕
du^3(to build, erect, make
to plant
to apply, affix, make fast, build onto, fasten onto
to detain, hold back, restrain, impede, catch, hold onto, retain
to drive in, insert, to be all, nail, stalk of rushes)
𒈨
me(to be
𒂷𒂊 𒀀𒈾𒈨𒂗 ― g̃e₂₆-e a-na-me-en /g̃e anamen/ ― What am I?
𒈠𒈬𒁮 ― ma-mu-dam /mamudam/ ― It was a dream.
𒂷𒂊 𒅇 𒍝𒂊 𒋀𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 ― g̃a₂-e u₃ za-e šeš-me-en-de₃-en /g̃e u ze šešmenden/ ― You and I are brothers.
Usage notes
𒈨 (me) is only used as a copula. To express the existential meaning of “to be somewhere”, “to be there” the verb 𒅅 (g̃al₂ /g̃al/) is used instead.
The copula is inflected like an intransitive verb in the perfective. Independent and enclitic forms are in complementary distribution: the enclitic form is used when the copula would otherwise only consist of a vocalic prefix, verbal stem and person suffix; the independent form is used in all other cases.
The copula lacks the distinction of tense and aspect. Only the context can clarify whether the copula refers to past, present or future.
In Old Sumerian, the final consonant of the person suffixes was not written (so both 𒈨𒂗 (me-en /men/) and 𒎌 (me-eš /meš/) were written 𒈨 (me)); the third person enclitic form was written 𒀭 (am₆ /am/).
After clitics ending in a vowel, the third person enclitic form 𒀀𒀭 (am₃ /am/) was reduced to /m/ already in Old Sumerian. Like other syllable-final consonants, it was never written during that period and only occasionally from Old Akkadian on:
𒂍𒈬 ― e₂-g̃u₁₀ /eg̃ûm/ ― it’s my house
Inflection
Conjugation of 𒈨 (me)
Etymology 2
Pronoun
𒈨 * (me /mē/)
(enclitic) our (first-person plural possessive pronoun)
Usage notes
The /e/ of 𒈨 (me) does not contract with the locative case marker:
𒌷𒈨𒀀 ― iri-me-a /irimē’a/ ― in our city
The /e/ of 𒈨 (me) contracts with the vowel of the genitive case marker, resulting in /ê/:
𒂕𒁾𒈨𒅗 ― egir dub-me-ka /egir dubmêka/ ― on the reverse of our tablet
Etymology 3
Noun
𒈨 * (išib)
purification priest, magician
spell
Verb
𒈨 * (išib)
to be pure, clear)
𒂗
until, lord
