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CHAPTER VII.
Pronouns.
§ 155. Sumerian makes no distinction in form for the genders of First persono
the first and second personal pronouns. The original root of the first
person according to the grammarians is gin S e 284, which apparently
became men at an early date. \Ve are inclined, however, to doubt tbe
authority of the grammarians on this point, since gin> men may well
be for {je the empbatic particle+en, a form of the verb 'to be', the
whole meaning 'verily it is', often translated by anaku and atta 1 in
the Semi tic idiom; thus me nu-gín and za-e nu-gín would be trans-
lated by ul anaku and ul atta, 'not 1, not thou'. As a matter of fact
the Sumerian gín does not correspond to anaku and atta; the phrase
actually means, , I verily it is not', 'thou verily it is not'. In the
texts we often meet with gín or me-en employed in this sense without
me or za-e, the real words for '1 and thou " as en-men, '1 am lord',
or mulu gu sar-sar men, 'a tender of the garden plants art thou' 2. Thus
aros e the erroneous notion that gin> men was the Sumerian word for
I and tbou.
The first person singular is regularly me-e =anaku for tbe status
rectus; me-e dam-dam-ta (sic) =anaku assatu 3. me-e gal-lá-bi = '1
1. See RADAU, Ninib, the Determiner of Fates, p. 42, 1. 40 and note 4, p. 47.
The third person Sü should also be expeoted.
2. SBP. 276 rey. 4.
3. ASKT. 130,63 .
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