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THE VERB 165
the great net of Enlil ... overwhelm him' 1. ud-da dúg-dúg-na nig­
erim ba-mal-mal giskak su-su-na-súgaz, 'If he against his oaths do
wickedly let one thrust a wedge into his teeth' 2. In legalliterature
this construction is regularIy introduced by tukundi 3: tukundi dam-e
dam-ma gul ba-an-da '-gig-a-ni dam-mu nu me-en ba-an-na-an-dúg íd­
da-sú ba-an-sum-mu, "If a wife to her husband, with whom she hate­
fuUy conducts herself, say 'my husband thou art not', inta the river
one shaU throw her" 5 •
In omen texts this construction is introduced by tíl (H) or tal (T),
the ordinary root for gamaru 'be complete'. tí! bantu ana silJirtisu
martu sa!J,rat sipurussu etc., 'Provided that the liver is entirely sur­
rounded by the gall-bladder, then the oracle is etc.' 6. tal galu dúg­
gar-a an-ni iSten-su ipulSu kasad f¡ibüti, 'Provided thata man in a
dream-( the god) answers, him once "yes", there will be attaining of
desire' 7. By convention omens taken from the liver ordinarily begin
with H but omens taken from the stars and heavenly bodies begin
with r. In any case the Semitic translation would be summa.
§ 223, Although the overhanging vowel a properIy denotes the
subjunctive, yet there is a tendency to employ it promiscuously to mark
dependent clauses of every description. In the same way the inflections
of the casus rectus e, i, u, which are properly employed to mark the
present and future tenses, often indicate that the phrase is independent
simply. Thus we have e-ni-ba-e, 'he has portioned out'8. giga
sub-bé mu-na-zal-e, 'by night offerings glowed to him' 9. é-a-ni-sú
mu-un-na-teg-e, 'he drew nigh unto his house' 10.
1. Sto Vaut, obv. 17, 14-20.
2. RTC, 16 rev. n. For the interpretation see UNGNAD, VS. 1, p. XI nos. 106-
110, sikkata sa ere ana M-su ima!Jazu.
3. The forms tukumbi and tukun occur.
4. Sic! da after the object.
5. V R. 25 a 1-7,
6. IV R. 34 a l.
7. BOISSIER, Choim de Temtes, 175.
8. TSA. 50bv, 16.
9. Gud. CyL A 13,29.
10. SBP.234 rey. 5.
Vowels
employed to
mark
dependent
and
independent
clauses.