Sumerian Language

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Sumerian Language

The Proto-Sumerian Language Invention Process

A lexicon of Sumerian which is organized on the basis of phonetic structure, starting with phonetically simple structures and progressing to more complex phonetic structures, has revealed the process by which the proto-Sumerians invented their language.

In Sumerian, one can see that phonetically simple words correspond to early, basic concepts and phonetically complex words correspond to later, culturally advanced concepts. When the proto-Sumerians began inventing their language, they started with vowel-only words (e.g., a, 'water') and quickly progressed to three different phonetic structures involving consonants, namely:

vowel-consonant (VC, e.g., ab, 'window');

consonant-vowel (CV, e.g., ba, 'to give'); and

vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV, e.g., aba, 'lake').

After a period of stability with these simple word structures (at least one generation), they progressed to utilizing the extended possibilities of the structure:

consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC, e.g., dab, 'to hold, take').

The CVC structure accounts for about 30 percent of all Sumerian logograms and appears to have been normative for new word formation for a long time.

Sumerian was an agglutinative language not just in its verb construction, but also in its noun or morpheme construction. An agglutinative type of language is one in which words are built up by stringing forms together. Simple structures like V, VC, CV, and CVC appear to derive their meanings by drawing upon articulatory symbolism, but the more complex phonetic structures, starting with VCV (e.g., aba, 'lake' = ab, 'niche', + a, 'water', or ída, 'river' = éd,'to issue', + a,'water'), often consist of sequences of smaller words combined to describe additional phenomena.

I will give illustrative examples drawn from various noun structures later in this paper. First I want to present a comprehensive list of all the vowel-only (V) words, vowel-consonant (VC) words, and consonant-vowel (CV) words. This lets you see the earliest vocabulary of proto-Sumerian.

a, e₄:n., water; watercourse, canal; seminal fluid; offspring; father; tears; flood.

é:house, household; temple; plot of land.

i:n., cry of pain (derived from ér, ír, 'tears; complaint' ?).

v., to capture, defeat, overcome (cf., éd, è; i, 'to sprout')

ú:n., plant; vegetable; grass; food; bread; pasture; load.

v., to nourish, support.

adj., strong, powerful (man).

ù:n., sleep (cf., u₅). [according to S. Lieberman, u, ù, and u₄ were pronounced /o/]

v., to sleep.

u_(3,4,8):n., an expression of protest; cries, screams; the grunting, panting of battle; fight, dispute.

v., to bend over.

u₅:n., male bird, cock; totality; earth pile or levee; raised area (sometimes written ù).

v., to mount (in intercourse); to be on top of; to ride; to board (a boat); to steer, conduct.

adj., (raised) high, especially land or ground (sometimes written ù).

u₁₈:huge.

u₂₀:barley.

ab:window; opening; niche, nook (cf., aba).

áb:domestic cow (a,'water, liquid', + íb,'middle').

ib:corner, angle, nook.

íb, éb:n., middle; waist; loins; thighs.

v., to be angry; to flare up in anger; to curse, insult.

ub:corner, angle, nook; a small room.

^(kuš)ub_3,5:a drum.

ub₄:cavity, hole; pitfall.

ad₄:lame, cripple.

éd, è; i:to go out, emerge; to send forth; to lead or bring out; to rise; to sprout; to be or become visible; to appear as a witness (the final d appears in marû conjugation).

èd, e₁₁:to exit; to rise; to descend, set; to bring down (or up); to import; to fetch; to remove; to drain (è-dè(-d) in marû).

ud, u₄:n., sun; light; day; time; weather; storm (demon).

prep., when; since.

úd[ÁŠ]:emmer (wheat).

ég, ék, íg, e:n., levee, embankment, dike, bund (a, e₄, 'water',+ ig, 'door').

v., to water; to speak, say (e = sing. marû, plural hamtu, and plural marû).

ig:door, entrance.

ug₍₂₎:lion; anger, fury; storm.

ug_4,5,7,8:n., death; dead person.

v., to kill; to die (singular and plural marû stem; plural hamtu, which is sometimes reduplicated; cf., úš).

ug₆, u₆:n., amazement; gaze, glance.

v., to look at; to stare at, gaze; to be impressed.

adj., astonishing.

uh₍₃₎:lice, louse; nit; flea; moth; insect, parasite, vermin.

úh; uh, ah:phlegm; spittle; slaver, froth; paste; venom; malice.

^(iš)al:digging stick; wooden mattock, pickax; forked hoe with from 2 to 4 teeth; spade.

ul:n., joy, pleasure, satisfaction; star; flower; bud; ornament; a capacity measure of 36 liters in Presargonic Girsu.

v., to glitter, shine.

adj., remote, distant (in time); ancient, enduring.

ul₄:to be quick; to hurry, hasten, harass.

àm[A.AN]:the Sumerian enclitic copula - 'to be', occurs after a noun [e.g., William king-is]; who, which, what; (same) as, like (in scholarly lists).

^(gi)um:a rope made of reeds (cf., umu).

an:n., sky, heaven; the god An; grain ear/date cluster ('water' + 'high').

v., to be high.

adj., high.

prep., in front.

en:n., dignitary; lord; high priest; ancestor (statue); diviner.

v., to rule.

adj., noble.

en_(2,3):n., time; enigmatic background.

prep., until.

in:he, she; straw; insult, offense, invective.

ér, ír:n., tears; lamentation; prayer; complaint.

v., to weep.

ir₍₁₀₎:n., sweat; smell, odor, scent; perfume, fragrance.

adj., scented, perfumed, fragrant.

ir₍₁₀₎, er:v., to bring; to lead away.

ur:n., dog; carnivorous beast; servant; young man, warrior; enemy .

v., to tremble.

adj., humble.

ur_(2,3,4):to surround; to flood; to throw overboard; to drag (over the ground) (often with -ni-); to erase, wipe out; to shear, reap, mow (reduplication class).

úr:floor; base; lap, loins; thighs, leg(s); root; trunk of a tree.

ùr:roof; entrance; mountain pass; beam, rafter.

ur₅[HAR]:n., liver; spleen; heart, soul; bulk, main body; foundation; loan; obligation; interest; surplus, profit; interest-bearing debt; repayment; slave-woman.

inanimate pron., it; these, the referenced; his, hers, theirs.

v., to chew; to smell; to belch, burp; to roar; to clog, block; to imprison; to be bowed with grief; to rub something in; to rent.

demonstrative, thus; so; in this way; in the same way; followed by a negation: not at all.

us, uz^mušen:domestic goose or duck.

ús, úz [UŠ]:n., side, edge; distance; in geometry: length; height; vertical; perpendicular.

v., to follow; to drive; to come near to, reach; to let reach; to transport, bring; to join; to be next to, border; to moor, dock; to lean against.

us₅, u₈:mother ewe, adult female sheep.

aš:one; unique; alone.

aš₍₅₎:spider.

áš:n., wish; curse (abbreviatedtàš ?, ašte ?).

v., to desire; to curse.

aš_3,4,8:six (ía, 'five',+ aš, 'one').

eš:n., many, much.

v., to anoint.

èš:shrine.

eš_5,6,16,21:three.

uš, ús:n., foundation.

v., to support, lift; to stand upon.

UŠ:a length measure, reading unknown, = 6 ropes = 60 nindan rods..

úš:n., blood; blood vessel; death.

v., to die; to kill; to block (singular hamtu stem).

adj., dead.

ùš:placental membrane, afterbirth.

uš₇:spittle.

uš₈:foundation place, base.

uš₁₁:venom, poison; spittle, slaver; moistening; spell, charm.

ùz, ud₅, ut₅:she-goat.

ba:n., share, portion; rations, wages.

v., to give; to divide, apportion, distribute; to pay (interchanges with bar).

^(ku6)ba:a shelled creature (such as a turtle or a snail); a scraping tool.

bà:liver; liver model; omen.

bi, bé:v., to diminish, lessen.

pron., it.

poss. suffix, 'its' applies to inanimate (things and animals) and collective objects.

demonstrative suffix, this (one), that (one) - in this sense can occur with animates.

conj., and.

art., the.

adv., adverbial force suffix.

conjugation prefix, differentiates the semantic meaning of certain verbs.

bi₆[BA]:to tear; to tear off (with -ta-).

bu₅:to rush around.

da:n., arm; side; nearness (to someone).

v., to hold; to be near; to protect.

prep., comitative suffix, 'with'; copula, 'and' (mainly in Sargonic date texts).

dé:to pour (often with -ni-); to water; to increase, be full; to shape, form; to instruct; to sink.

dè:ashes.

de₅, di₅[RI]:to advise; to remove (earth clods) (reduplicated).

de_6,2,e₆:to bring, carry (-ši- or -ta- denote direction); to continue on (singular hamtu).

di:n., lawsuit, case; judgment, decision, verdict; sentence.

v., to judge, decide; to conduct oneself; to go; to escape.

du:to walk; to go; to come (sing. marû).

dù('),ú:n., work; totality.

v., to build, make; to mould, cast; to erect something on the ground; to raise up; to set up; to plant; to fasten, apply.

du₇:to be finished, complete; to be suitable, fitting; to be necessary; to butt, gore, toss (reduplication class?) (regularly followed by rá).

du₁₄:quarrel, struggle, fight.

ga:n., milk (chamber + water).

ge_(2,6):girl.

gi:reed; length measure, reed = 6 cubits = 3 meters (circular + to sprout).

gi₍₄₎:to surround, besiege; to lock up (circle + to descend into).

gi₍₁₇₎:n., young man (small and thin like a reed).

adj., small.

gí, gé:reed mat.

gi₄, ge₄:to return, come back; to send (back) (with -ši-); to reject, dislike; to restore; to answer (person to whom answer is given resumed by dative prefix, and with -ni-) (circular motion + to go out, send).

gu:string, thread; wool yarn; flax; hemp; snare; net; orig. word for needle (circular + grass-like).

gú:neck; nape; river bank; side; other side; edge; front; land; pulse, chick pea (circular + u₅, 'on top of'; as possible loan from Akkadian cf., Orel & Stolbova #982, *gun- "occiput, neck, nape").

gù:n., noise, sound; voice.

v., to exclaim; to utter a cry (said of an animal) (throat + u_(3,4,8), 'cries, screams').

gu₇, kú:n., food, sustenance; fodder; angle.

v., to eat, swallow, consume, use; to eat up, finish off; to feed, nurse, benefit (with -ni-) (throat + ú, 'food').

á:basket; house; stable.

e₂₆,á:I, myself; my.

u₁₀:my, mine.

ha:precative and affirmative verbal prefix: may; let; indeed.

*ha:fish (not the usual word for fish, but the fish sign may get its syllabic reading of HA from *h 'many' +a'water' = 'fish', an alternative to the usual ku₆, kua).

há, hi-a:numerous; diverse; assorted; mixed.

hà, hù, a₆, u:ten (usually written: u).

he, hi:to mix [HI archaic frequency: 291].

he₍₂₎:abundance; abundant.

hu:bird (earlier word than mušen).

ia_2,7,9, í:five.

ìa, ì:n., oil, fat, cream.

ia₄, i₄:pebble, counter.

ka:mouth [KA archaic frequency: 108; concatenates 2 sign variants].

ká:gate [? KA₂ archaic frequency: 11; concatenates 4 sign variants].

ka₅-(a):fox.

ki:n., earth; place; area; location; ground; grain ('base' + 'to rise, sprout') [KI archaic frequency: 386; concatenates 2 sign variants].

prep., where; wherever, whenever; behind.

ku:to base, found, build; to lie down (reduplication class) [KU archaic frequency: 64; concatenates 3 sign variants].

ku₆, kua:fish (kú, 'food',+ a, 'water').

la:abundance, luxury, wealth; youthful freshness and beauty; bliss, happiness; wish, desire.

lá:to penetrate, pierce, force a way into (in order to see); to know; to look after; to have a beard (cf. also, lal).

^(iš)li:juniper/cedar tree.

lí:true measure; fine oil.

li₉:to glisten, shine.

lu:n., many, much; man, men, people; sheep.

v., to be/make numerous, abundant; to multiply; to mix; to graze, pasture (reduplication class [?]).

lú:grown man; male; human being; someone, anyone, no one; gentleman.

lù:to disturb, agitate, trouble; to fluster, embarrass; to stir, blend.

ma:to bind.

ma₍₃₎;á:to go (Akk. alaaku).

^(iš)má:boat.

ma₄:to leave, depart, go out.

me, mì;e:n., function, office, responsibility; ideal norm; the phenomenal area of a deity's power; divine decree, oracle; cult.

v., to be; the Sumerian copula; to say, tell.

poss. suffix, our.

me_3,6,7,9:battle.

me₆:to act, behave.

mí[SAL]:n., woman; female (this pronunciation of the sign found in compound words and verbs or in enclitic or proclitic position, Hallo & van Dijk, p. 85) (cf. also, mu₁₀, munus) (compounds are more likely to preserve an older word).

adj., feminine.

mu:n., name; word; year; line on a tablet, entry; oath.

v., to name, speak.

prep., because.

conjugation prefix, suggests involvement by speaker, used especially before dative infixes, preferred for animate and agentive subjects.

mù, ma₅:to mill, grind; to burn (reduplication class).

mu₅:well-formed, beautiful; plump, fattened.

mu₇:to shout, scream, roar; exorcism ?.

mu₁₀[SAL]:woman; female (cf. also, mí, munus).

na:n., human being; incense.

adj., no.

modal prefix, emphatic in past tense; prohibitive in present/future tense.

na₄; na:pebble, rock, ordinary stone; stone weight; token; hailstone.

na₅:chest, box.

ne(-e), ne.en:this (one); that (one); demonstrative affix.

nè; ní:strength, vigor, violence; forces, host.

ni; na:he, she; that one (human animate pronoun or possessive suffix).

ní:self; body; one's own.

ní; ne₄:fear; respect; frightfulness; awe.

nu:n., image, likeness, picture, figurine, statue.

adj. & adv., no, not; without; negative.

nu₁₁[ŠIR]:light; fire, lamp; alabaster.

^(iš)pa:leaf, bud, sprout; branch; wing; feather.

pa_4,5,6(-r):irrigation ditch, small canal, dike.

pú:well, cistern, pool, fountain; depth.

ra(-g/h):n., inundation.

v., to strike, stab, slay; to stir; to impress, stamp, or roll (a seal into clay); to branch out (from the side of a canal); to flood, overflow; to measure; to pack, haul, or throw away (with -ta-).

re₇; ri₆, rá, ir₁₀; e-re₇; er, ir:to accompany, lead; to bear; to go; to drive along or away; to stir, mix (plural hamtu e.re₇.er).

ri:v., to throw, cast; to place, pour, put into; to place upon or against (with -ši-); to be located; to touch; to moor a boat; to break open; to expel, remove, throw away, sweep away (with -ta-); to emit; to beget; to blow (said of a storm); to inundate; to exchange; to take; to gather, glean; to plan something (ri is hamtu form, ri-g is marû form, ri-ri-g is plural).

adj., far.

demonstrative affix, that, those; regarding that (where the reference is to something outside the view of the speaker - over yonder).

ru:n., present, gift.

v., to blow; to give; to send (cf., rúg).

rù:to be equal in size or rank.

ru₅:to send forth shoots, buds, or blossoms; to butt; to gore.

sa:n., sinew, tendon; cord; net; mat; bundle; string of a musical instrument.

v., to roast (barley).

sá:n., advice.

v., to approach or equal in value; to compare with; to compete (with -da-).

sa₄:to name; to call by name.

sa₅:n., red ocher.

adj., red, red-brown.

sa₇:well-formed.

sa₉:half.

sa₁₀:to be equivalent; to buy (Akkadian loan ?).

si:n., horn(s); antenna(e); line; ray(s); light; plowland.

v., to stand upright; to be straight; to be in order; to become completely still.

adj., regular, normal.

si; su; sa; sa₅:v., to fill up; to fill with (with -da-); to survey a field; to inundate; to be full; to be sufficient, enough; to increase; to compensate, repay, replace; to grow weak (probably reduplication class).

adj., suitable, fit.

si₄, su₄, sa₁₁:red.

si₁₄:a small pot.

su:n., body; flesh; skin; animal hide; relatives; substitute.

adj., naked.

su₄:to grow; to multiply.

su₉; ša₄:n., red ocher.

v., to mourn, grieve.

su_x:to spread.

ša:to dry up.

ša₅:to cut, break (reeds).

še:n., barley; grain; a small length measure, barleycorn.

šè:n., portion.

še₁₀:excrement, dung.

šu:n., hand; share, portion, bundle; strength; control.

v., to pour.

šu₄(-g):to stand; to be deployed, set up (plural, reduplication class).

ta, dá:n., nature, character.

te, de₄:n., cheek, chin.

te, de₄; ti:v., to approach, meet (someone: dative); to attack, assault; to be frightened (alternating class, hamtu stem).

tè:an alkaline plant (?); soapwort (?); cardamon.

te₈[Á]^mušen:bearded vulture.

ti:side, rib; arrow.

tu:to interfere.

tu_5,17:n., bath.

v., to wash, bathe; to pour; to make libation (probably reduplication class).

tu₆:exorcism; conjuration; exorcistic formula.

tu₇:soup; soup pitcher.

za:you (singular).

za:to make noise (occurs as the verb in compounds with repetitive, onomatopoeic syllables symbolizing a repeated monotonous noise or motion).

za₍₂₎:precious stone, gemstone; bead; hailstone; pit; kernel.

zé[ZÍ]:to cut; to shear, cut hair; to pluck.

zi:n., breathing; breath (of life); throat; soul.

zí:stench; bile; bitter.

zu, sú:n., wisdom, knowledge.

v., to know; to understand; to inform, teach (in marû reduplicated form); to learn from someone (with -da-); to recognize someone (with -da-); to be experienced, qualified.

zú, su₁₁[KA]:tooth, teeth; prong; thorn; blade; ivory; flint, chert; obsidian; natural glass.

Written Sumerian contains many examples of homonymy, differently written signs that at least in the Akkadian transcription appear to have been pronounced the same, such as ka, 'mouth' and ká, 'gate'. Also, individual signs show many instances of polysemy, using the same sign or word to mean many things, such as 'star', 'flower', 'remote', 'ancient' and 'joy' for the ul sign. This raises the question, "What is a word?" Before the invention of writing, when language was only spoken, a word was something other than a dictionary entry. More primary than words are objects and actions. Early humans faced the task of agreeing on vowel-consonant combinations that would point at all the real objects that existed in their world. The speech sounds upon which they agreed were of a more limited number than the objects at which they had to point. Early humans used words as deictic pointers. Context made it clear at what object or action they were pointing. Prior to speech invention, humans had to be expert at deducing from context the significance of another human's actions, expressions, or gestures. Polysemy could run rampant in early language because listeners would understand from the context at what speakers were using their words to point. By inventing multiple homonymous written signs to represent the more diverse concepts shared by particular consonant-vowel combinations, the Sumerian scribes sought to order, organize, and separate into separate word-signs some of the less related deictic objects of polysemic speech words.

The entire lexicon of 1,255 Sumerian logogram words and 2,511 Sumerian compound words can be found on the Internet at http://www.sumerian.org/sumerlex.htm.

The more complex word structures in Sumerian are:

CVCV (e.g., gaba, 'breast' = ga, 'milk' + ba, 'to give');

VCVC (e.g., ušub, 'basket' = uš, 'to support, lift' + ub₄, 'cavity, hole');

VCCV (e.g., úrgu, 'ferocity' = ur, 'dog' + gù, 'to bark');

VCCVC (e.g., endub, 'cook' = en, 'lord, manager' + dub, 'to pour, heap, move in a circle, shake');

VCVCV (e.g., urudu, 'copper' = ùru, 'luminous object' + dù, 'to mould, cast');

CVCVC (e.g., adub, 'tablet container' = ar;á, 'storeroom; to store' + dub, 'tablet');

CVCCV (e.g., éšbu, 'grappling hook for a wrestler' = iš, 'wood; tool' + bu, 'to pull, draw');

VCVCVC (e.g., urugal, 'the netherworld' = uru, 'city' + gal, 'big');

VCCVCV (e.g., eškiri, 'nose rope, halter, bridle' = éše, 'rope' + kìri, 'muzzle');

VCCVCVC (e.g., umbisa, 'scribe' = umbin, 'nail or nail impression (on a clay tablet)' + sa, 'head; human');

VCCVCCV (e.g., immindu, 'roasting, baking oven' = im, 'clay' + ninda, 'bread');

VCVCCVC (e.g., elamkuš, 'bladder' = élla, 'kidneys' +