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PRONOUNS 105
K. 5423, occurs as the possessive suffix in imi-búr-en-zi-en, 'he that
trembles in fear of you', 'your worshipper', V R. 62 a 64.
§ 159. The language endeavours to make a distinction of genders in
the thi rd person singular by em ploying ni (rectus), na (obliq uus) for persons
and bi; ba for inanimate objects, a principIe which, though often viola­
ted, may be regarded as primitive. AMIAUD, ZK. 1, 245, first made this
statement, denied by HOMMEL, Sumerische Lesestücke, 100 and PRINCE,
Materials, XXII. Usage decreed that the form with b should be em­
ployed almost exclusively for the demonstrative pronoun in the singular
independent 1 •
ni occurs in this sense but rarely; ni = su-ú, B. M. 93070, 5'.
NA=ni-e(ne)=sü, B. M. 81-7-27, 200 obv.16. ne (~T) =annü,
V R. 31 a 9. ud-sal' ne-e ... girn- me-en, that crescent ... was created,
IV R. 25 b 54. ud-ne-e, 'this day', K. 5135 rey. 19. The oblique form
na was explained by the grammarians, [K. 542:3, 19 and 7701, 3 ff.] but
the texts are too badly preserved to be used for our purposes. ne-e-ta
- ina anniti, IV R. 6 a 33, incorrect for na-a-ta. ne-e is used incor­
rectly for the oblique case in ud-da ne-e =inaumi ann'i, IV R. 28 b 9.
ni in é-ri-a-ni kin-kin-e-ne 'they seek in the desert', is the article but
the construction seems to be oblique, SBP. 12,8.
bi = sü, bi-a and ba = ana suata, K. 5423, 21-3.
bi-e nad-de-en, 'he slumbers', SBP. 318, 16. ba-e(bo)corresponding
to mil-e, me-a (mo) and za-e (zo) does not occur. The obliquecase ba-a,
bi-a has not been found as an independent word.
bi and ni as demonstratives may be suffixed and even reduced to the
force of a definite article, 'the', a usage which should not be confused
with that of the possessive suffixes. galu-bi ku-li-mu ge-ám, 'that man
1. No distinction was made between the personal pronouns and the demonstratives.
2. Here falsely read ja. See also BR. 5329 and MEISSNER, SAL 3664. Perhaps
also, in CT. XV 7, 22. There are few passages in texts where ni and na occur as
independent personal prono un s or as demonstratives.
Third person
demonstrative.
Deflnite
article.