Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

(3) Ean. 11 2:9-3:4 (Jagersma forthcoming, 7/22)
d nin.gir2.su.ra gir 2.su ki mu.na.du 3
ningirsuk-ra girsu [mu] 4-[n] 5/6-[a] 7-√du
PN-Dat GN Vent-Anim-Dat-build
He built Girsu for Ningirsu
(4) Gudea Cyl. A 18: 8-9 (Zólyomi 1999: 252)
e 2.e im.ma.œen
e-e [i] 2-[b] 5/6-[a] 7-√œen
house-Dat Vent-Inan-Dat-go
He went to the temple
Note in particular the agreement between the nominal postposition in each example and
the corresponding segment of the verbal prefix: (3) NP-ra = [n] 5/6-[a] 7 and (4) NP-e =
[b] 5/6-[a] 7, where [n] 5/6 and [b] 5/6 are animate and inanimate respectively. 6 The paradigm of
(singular) dative elements in the verbal prefix are as follows: 7
6 The animate and inanimate elements in the verbal prefix are often assigned to distinct slots, [ ]6 and [ ] 5 respectively in
the verbal prefix in order to solve several incongruities having to do with the verb, but in the constructions involving
the type of verb that concerns us here, there is no reason to maintain the opposition. There is a great deal of
disagreement about the number, segmentation and ordering of the verbal slots and the numbering used here is purely
conventional, hence the notation [ ] 5/6.
7 The form of the second person dative alternates between *mura-√ and *mara-√ but the latter is simply a case of
assimilation and should not be confused with the first person dative prefix or necessarily associated with the second
person dative affix itself.
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