Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

emphasize that in all likelihood this is not infixation, but rather underlying suffixation:
[n-√]-bi 2 + -ni > [n-√]-bi 2-ni > bi 2-ni-[n-√] > mi.ni.in.√. Whether the same goes for forms
like mu.ni.in.√ ([n-√]-mu + -ni > [n-√]-mu-ni > mu-ni-[n-√] > mu.ni.in.√) and ba.ni.in.√
([n-√]-ba + -ni > [n-√]-ba-ni > ba-ni-[n-√] > ba.ni.in.√) must remain an open question,
but I hope to extend my investigation of topicalized verb forms to these other verbal
prefixes in future.
(20) A tigi to Enlil for Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma B) [2.4.1.2], ll. 2-5
2. en nam.nun gal.[la.ni ...] The lord who ... his great princeship,
3. d nu.nam.nir an ki lugal.[bi ...] As for Nunamnir, the king of heaven and
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earth ...,
4. uœ 3.œa 2 igi mi.ni.in.il 2 sipa zi Looked around among the people—the good
ur. d ≠namma± shepherd, Ur-Namma,
5. kur gal d en.lil 2.le uœ 3 ßar 2.ra.ni.a The Great Mountain, Enlil, chose
?
im.ma.ni.in.pa3 [(x)] him from among the multitude,
The ETCSL translation in (20) attaches the first half of line 4 to the previous line as its
main predicate, but given the conventions of line demarcation, in which a finite verb
would generally end its line unless a sequence of short predicates followed (not the case
here), it is unlikely that uœ 3.œa 2 igi mi.ni.in.il 2 is a finite main clause. Given its position at
the beginning of a series of epithets, the most reasonable hypothesis is that it is a relative
clause describing a characteristic of Ur-Namma, namely that he is “the one given
prominence, lit. the one whose head was raised up over the people.” This allows the first