Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

(29) Lugalbanda I [1.8.2.1], l. 409-413 (Vanstiphout 2003, 126-127; Gadotti 2004)
409. u 4 ≠ga± LAM niœ 2 giri 17.zal By day . . ., they promise, luxury,
[im].ma.ab.ßum 2.mu.ne
410. ≠œi 6±.u 3.na muß 3 za.gin 3
im.≠ßi±.ib.ßir 3.re.de 3.ne
228
At night they chant over the gleaming plain,
411. si.si.ig sim mußen .sim mußen d utu.ka As for those who are brought in on the tail
ur 2.ba ßu mi.ni.in.te of the breezes, the swallows of Utu,
412. e 2.e 2.a i.im.ku 4.ku 4.ne They enter house after house,
413. e.sir 2.e.sir 2.ra Street after street they haunt,
gu 2 mu.un.gid 2.gid 2.i.ne
So, although it is not always possible to differentiate between them, there seem to be two
distinct uses of the *mini-√ construction that have been mentioned up to this point,
topicalizing and identificational. Although the topicalizing use is prototypical, the
identificational use can be easily identified since it regularly occurs at the end of a textual
passage. The following is a particularly good example of the phenomenon.
(30) Lament over Sumer and Ur [2.2.3], ll. 81-82.
81. u 4.ba an ba.dub 2 ki ba.sig 3 igi On that day, heaven rumbled, the earth
u 4.da ba.lim shook, the storm did not sleep,
82. an ba.su˙ 3.su˙ 3 gissu ba.an.la 2
kur.ra ur 5 mi.ni.ib.ßa 4
The heavens were confused, a shadow hung
over them, and the mountain was made
to roar,