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CHAPTER X
Conjunctions' .
§ 229. The original method of indicating the idea of the co-ordina­
tion of two neuter nouns consists in attaching the definite neuter article
bi, ba to the second noun, by which means the language indicates in an
agglutinative manner the notion of the unity of two concepts in one
compound expression. idigna buranún-bi, 'the Tigris and Euphrates' 2.
This suffix has the power of consolidating several preceding nouns into
a single construction. gisgalub gal-gal gisesi gisabba-bi, 'great auluppu­
wood, usü-wood and abba-wood' 3. udu sil-bi ú-bi a-dím ne-dúr, 'The
sheep and lambs repose also', SBP. 318, 16. úr s'lg-bi izi ú-ne-tag, 'the
back and face with fire touch' A. Traces of the oblique case ba are
rare, this form being replaced even in classical texts by the direct case
bi which was used indifferently; the force of the case endings was
then lost. Likewise the original rule of employing bi, ba for neuter
objects and ni, na (see the folIowing paragraph) as the conjunction of
persons, is disregarded even in classical texts so that we find examples
like the following; gün-an-sú 49 galu se-ba tür mag-ba, 'As the grand
total 49 men, apportioned with grain, small and great' 5. dingir galu­
ba-ge 6 nam-mu-un-da-an-búr-ra, 'God and man are not delivered' 7.
1. Cf. LEHMANN, Samas-sCtm-ukín, pt. 2 p. 30, and Syntam8, p. 232.
2. SAK. 154 Il 6-7.
3. Gud. Cyl. A 15, 16. The nouns here are all in the accusative.
4. IV R. 15* b 14.
5. DP. 110 X.
6. Vide § 140.
7. IV R. 16 b 9.
bi, bao