SumerianGrammar-5.htm

ANALYSIS OF
SUMERIAN SENTENCES



To illustrate the principles which have been explained in the
four accompanying essays, some translations from Sumerian
with links to the sections which explain the rationale of the translations will now be presented.



1. ab.ba-ab.ba gu₂.tuku-gin₇ bur.šu.ma-e-ne gaba.ud.da-zu A.HAR ud ul.li₂-a-aš ši-im-dug₃-dug₃-ge-ne (Lugalbanda in Hurrumkura 245-247 in Claus Wilcke, Das Lugalbandepos, Wiesbaden 1969:82)

this is the translation that has been offered:
Like all(?) the first old men, the old women enjoy your sunshine until distant days.

GENERAL CRITIQUE:

a. gu₂.tuku is apparently interpreted as "take (the) front", therefore, "(come) first". But this is not an attempt to describe ancient society! ab.ba also means 'tower, barge-puller'; and gu₂ also means 'riverbank', the natural place to find a 'barge-puller'. The offered translation totally ignores (A..)HAR, which we emend to (-a )ur(a)₅, and translate as '-at mill(-stone)', and ignores the parallelism between the 'towers' at the 'river-bank' and the bur-šu-ma(-e-ne) urâ₅ 'at the mill' (ura₅ + -a).

b. bur-šu-ma-ta does have an Akkadian gloss purš[umtu], which has been interpreted as 'gray, old person', but what we have in the passage is bur-šu-ma(-e-ne), which means 'temple-official(s)'. One of the meanings of bur is '(stone-)vessel'; and ma-ma has the Akkadian gloss kalû, which probably means '*fill (up)'. The parallelism with the 'towers' suggests strongly that the correct interpretation of bur-šu-ma should be analyzed as bur, 'jar'; šu, 'hand'; and ma, '*fill', i.e. 'jar-fillers', presumably with flour since they are located at the mill, which may well have been a duty of the elderly; the parallel is, therefore, between professions or activities not between old men and old women.

c. gaba-ud.da has the offered translation of 'sun(-)shine', apparently based on a meaning of the sign of 'glow, burn', usually associated with the reading du₈ of this sign. However, gaba also means 'breast, front' as well as 'open, split'; and the likelier interpretation is that it is an adverbial phrase that links the 'enjoyment' of the 'towers' and 'jar-fillers' to a particular time of day, namely 'day-break'.

d. zu has the offered translation of 'your'. But this is not a hymn to the sun-disk ('your sunshine') only a simple description of one of the commonalities of ordinary life. It is better to translate zu as 'inform(ation)'. We connect the following A(.) with zu, producing zu.a, 'what is known = information (news)'.


Therefore the sentence should be re-written as:

ab.ba-ab.ba gu₂.tûkU-gin₇ pur(^yu)_x.šu.ma-e-ne kap(a)₂.ud.da zÛ.a harâ ud ul.lê₂¹-a-aš ši-im-dük(a)₃-dük(a)₃-kê₂-nê

and translated as:

So, like all the towers who have the river-bank, at daybreak, the jar-fillers will be thoroughly enjoying the news there at the mill until days which are faraway.


2. ensi₂-ensi₂ sa(n)g[~]³a-e-ne sa₁₂.du₅ Gu₂.eden-na-ke₄-ne nidba itud-da zag.mu-bi-im si am₃-ma-sa₂-e-ne (Curse of Akkade 51-53 in Adam Falkenstein, Fluch über Akkade, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archaeologie 57:61ff., Berlin)

this is the translation that has been offered:
All the ensi's, the sanga's, and the record-keepers of Guedena prepared the offerings for the new moon and new year ceremony.

GENERAL CRITIQUE:

a. gu₂.tuku is apparently interpreted as "take (the) front", therefore,

b.


Therefore the sentence should be re-written as:

ênsi₂-ênsi₂ sa(n)k²a-e-ne sa₁₂.du₅ Gu₂.eden-na-kê₄-nê nidba itud-da zag.mu-bî-îm(â) si am₃-ma-sê/î₈-ê-nê

and translated as:

All the ensi's, the sanga's, and the record-keepers(?) of Pasture's Edge were immediately preparing there offerings of the month that is their new year.

continue to

go to first 35+ root cognates (1-35) ?

PL MORPHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS IN SUMERIAN

press here to see

to investigate these phonological correspondences in detail, see the

NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS

Combinatory Modifications

for modifications of the vowels and consonants in combination, see the

Table of Modifications

PROTO-LANGUAGE MONOSYLLABLES

In order for readers to judge the semantic plausibility of the analysis of Proto-Language (PL) compounds suggested here, I am including access to a table of Proto-Language monosyllables and the meanings I have provisionally assigned.

Most assignments can be exhaustively supported by data from actually attested forms but a few animates are very doubtful; and this list does not represent the "final" solution of these questions, which will only be approached when other scholars assist in refining it.

Patrick C. Ryan

Summer 1998

1. Seen in Indo-European *o/o:li, '*distant (in time)', in Old Latin olitana, 'antiquity', listed under *1. al-, 'above and beyond (Proto-Language HO-N[H]A-¿E, 'pounce-move-ing = jumping over = going beyond').