Download Ebook - The Knowledge Den

~'
TBE VERB 129
Thus ni, na, hi, ha 1 came to be attached even to the prefixed conju­
gation as signs oí dependent phrases. mu d.inniiwa-ge e-ni-sa-a-ni,
'when Innina named him ". uru(a) ba-dim-me-na-ma, 'in my city
which she created'. na apparently agrees in case vvith the reflexive
subject ha in this passage 3. N otice the use oí méi separated írom its
noun by a phrase.
siga u-suh-ha mu-ni-gar-ra-ni d·babbar im-da-fjul, 'because oí the
brick which he made in the mould Shamash was made glad' '. For ni
the variant ne occurs : é fjar-sag-dim im-ma-ma-ne dugud-dim an sag­
gi im-mi-ni-ib-sig-sig-ne gud-dím siú-im-mi-ib-il-ila-ne gis-gan-ahzu­
dim kúr-kúr-ra sap-ba-ni-ila-ne, 'The temple which he built like a
mountain. ,,-hich he made glorious in the centre oí heaven like a comet,
which he eleYated like Ithe horn of) a steer, which in the lands he made
mpreme like the Jn"t5.0(1nU tree oí the nether-sea' 5. ni appears falsely
for [be temporal subjunctin i § 222) : ud ... babhar-e-ta babbar-su(s)-Sú
[¡ú-e-na-gar-ra-ni 3, 'v,-hen ... he had subdued(men) írom the rising oí
the sun ro the setting' 7. According to strict rales oí grammar ni and
bi, employed as pnre inflections oí relative phrases, must reíer to an
antecedent in the direct case, i. e., to the subject. na and ba should
refer to an antecedent in the obligue case. The only instance known to
me oí na employed with a pre6xed íorm is ud temen-mu ma-si-gi-na,
'when my fonndation shall have been laid', Gud. Cyl. A 11, 18,
wbere na evidently re-eníorces tbe passive prefix ma. The construction
is not clear to me.
In late texts Ihis suffix was assimilated to the preceding vowel,
1. The plurals ene and bine in relative phrases have not been found.
2. SAK. 12 col. V 25.
3. SAK. 214 d) rey. 20. We have to do with a similar construction in nig mas­
{Jig-ge ma-ab-gin-a-ma sag-bi nu-zu, 'that which midnight has brought me, its
meaning 1 know not', where mri is apparently not only the indication of relatian
but ser ves as a sort of dative. The construction here is unusual.
4. Gud. Cyl. A 19, 8.
5. Ibid., 21, 19-22. Other cases in Cyl. A 26, 28.30.
6. Varo a.
7. OBI. no. 87 1 46 - II 2. Far ather cases 01 ni see Gud. Cyl. A 13, 20-21;
25, 12.
GRA~1. SUMo 9
ni, na
assimilated
to preceding
voweI.