Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

construction is (68b) bears a number of similarities to a light verb construction such as
“he gave the floor a clean sweep”: the adjectival root in (68a), √˙ul, is nominalized as an
indefinite noun, ßu ˙ul, that serves as the patient of a newly introduced ditransitive verbal
root, namely √du 11. The environment in which √˙ul occurs in (68b), *ßu . . . bi-√,
indicates that the nominal phrase formed by √˙ul in combination with the inalienable
noun ßu is indefinite, but I suspect that the use of ßu also allows for the inclusion of an
agentive adjunct such as lu 2.erim 2.e in a clause that would, otherwise, exclude agentive
arguments of any kind.
(69) a. Ninurta and the Turtle, segment B [1.6.3], l. 50
x bil 2.ga gal.gal di œa 2.e bi 2.≠ib 2±.œa 2.œa 2 œa 2.e bi 2.ib 2.zi.de 3
. . . who makes big claims: I put things in place, I make things right,
b. Bird and Fish [5.3.5], l. 88
ma˙ gu 7.gu 7 saœ ßu zi bi 2.ib 2.du 11.ga kisal.e ße 10 si.si
Gluttonous, malformed, filling the courtyard with droppings,
In (69a), there are two expressions in parallel: œa 2.e bi 2.ib 2.œa 2.œa 2 “I myself am one who
puts (things) in place,” and œa 2.e bi 2.ib 2.zi.de 3 “I myself am one who makes (things)
right.” Although I translate the two expressions as equational sentences, the *bi-√ prefix
verbs are actually independent expressions in apposition to the first person singular
pronoun (see below, chapter 3, for a discussion of the appositional character of head-
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