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THE VERB 149
1'he majority of compound verbs were formed by combining the
words for eye (igi), head (sag), hand (su), mouth (ka, gü), arm (á) with
a verb of action. igi-gar, 'to see', i. e., to use the eyes. igi-tu/¡, 'to
see', i. e., to open the eyes. sag-ila, Oto elevate', i. e., to lift the head.
su-tug, 'to grasp', i. e., to open the hand. á-ila, 'to exalt', i. e., to lift
the armo lea-gi,' to revoke', i. e., to turn the mouth, alter the word '. A
considerable nu'mber of compound verbs are formed with the noun k¿
(ken), place. ki-dur(un), 'to install', i. e., to cause to inhabit a place.
ki-gar, 'install', i. e., 'make aplace for'.
In the primitive stage of the language the derivation of the com­
pound verbs was not lost sight of. In employing such a verb the speak­
er felt that he was applying one object to another, in other words the
noun in the compound verb was regarded as the direct object and the
object of the composite action was regarded as the indirect object. 1'he
interior object is applied to the exterior object, which is inflected in the
obligue case. 1'hus the verb igi-s'tg, 'to cast the eye', in the sentence ga­
lu-tu-ra igi-im-ma-an-s'ig,2 has the internal object ig¿ and the external
objectgalu-tu-ra. 1'he originalnotion would be, , hecast(his) eyeupon the
sick man " i. e., 'he beheld the sick man'. 1'he prefixes of the verb
reproduce faithfully the psychological process which lies beneath this
expression for 'to see'. un reproduces the interior direct object, ma the
exterior indirect object, and im the subject. Com pound verbs govern­
ing the obligue case 1 have termed compound verbs 01the flrst class.
§ 204. 1 give here those examples of compounds of thefirst class
whose construction 1 have been able to verify.
di-lwd-a-ma su:'ni-ib-bal-e-a, 'he who changes my decision' 3.
1'he exterior object has not been reproduced in the prefixes. For the
obligue case with su-bal compare also di-kud-a-na su-nu-bal-e, 'no one
1. The word lar' horn' si(g), lorms a compound with sá, •to direct', si-sá,
'to direct in a straight ¡ine'.
2. Sm. 49 reY. col. II 2-4.
3. Gud. B 8, 17-8. Ibid., 38 and eL 43. Notice aIso in SBH. 63, 3, that the object
01 su-nu-bal-e ended in a.
ExampIes 01
first cIass.