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THE VERB 141
often toward the centre but there is absolutely nothing in the prefix
itself which determines the direction of the action '. We have for
example in a text of the classical period, NIK. 291, en-ig-gál nu-banda
mu-síd, 'Eniggal thesecretary has counted ' 2, bu t no. 170 e-na-sid, 'he
has counted out to them' 3. 1t would seem that the sole basis of distinc­
tion here is the degree of nearness to the ' centre' in which the 1m-banda
acts. Since e subject, acting at the centre, is incapable of being inflected
to show self-interest as ba and ma, the language renders this nuance by
infixing nw; e-ma-lág, 'he has carried away for himself' '. udu-nitag
lugal-sasusgal udu-sig-Sú nigín-mud e-ma-m 5, 'one male sheep of
Lugalsusgal, for wool-bearing sheep, Niginmud has caused to be
transported for himself' 6.
§ 194. If the subject may be emphasized by doubling the characte­
rÍstic consonant (§ 187) as immi ([mi), inni (lni), the same process is of
course possible in case of the adverbial element; mu-un-na-dü, and muna-da,
'he built for him " in exactly the same sense, SAK. 182 a) 13
and 15. mu-un-na-an-gí-gí,' thou hast restored it to me' 7. ge-en­
ne-ib-tar-ri, 'lllay he decree it for thelll '8.
§ 195. Inasllluch as the principIe underlying the prefixed conjuga­
tion represents a constant effort to unite the verbal-root with al! possible
elements of the sentence, we should expect to find a double pre6x fOl'the
subject if the sentence contain two subjects, and a double infix for the
object if the sentence contain two objects. The difficulty of indicating
a dual subject was of course not felt since the language indicated the
1. On this point 1 am in- complete disaccord with TH.-DANGlN.
2. The tablet gives a list of tishermen who bring bundles of cane to Lagash.
3. The secretary assigns sheep to the shepherds.
4. NIK., 161 obv. II 2.
5. ra, same root as ara(DU)= alaku, here causative_
6. Ibid., rey. 1.
7. SBP. 272, 16. [Literal translation.] Notice the attraction of the object ni
to the dative nao
8. SAK. 220 e) II 13. Subject replaced by the precative particle ge,
Emphatic
oblique
infixes.
Dual object.