SumerianGrammar

THE VERB 81
nate” (var. to ZALAG-ga) Innin “ag. 160, see Å. Sjöberg, ZA 65
(1975) 194.
Note: za-al-za-le-bi ibid. 124 does not belong here according to Sjöberg, ibid. p. 235.
The change of vowel in [zalzuleg(a)] is noteworthy and it is probable
a phenomenon occurring much more frequently than may be
guessed from standard spelling.
Besides reduplication of the verbal base, triplication and even
quadruplication may be observed, but only much less frequently. Cf.
Attinger 1993, 190 (with previous lit.).
12.7. CONJUGATION
As the Sumerian verb is essentially person-oriented it is appropriate
to speak of its “conjugation” (or of “verbal inflection”).
There are three patterns, (1) one for intransitive (and passive)
verbal forms, exhibiting absolutive person elements only; (2) two patterns
for transitive verbs showing both ergative (“subject”) and absolutive
(“object”) person elements.
Forms of pattern (1) are rendered in Akkadian by both iprus and
iparras. For (2) there is one (2a) normally translated by iprus and one
(2b) by iparras. This distribution has led former grammarians to speak
about (1) the “intransitive standard form” (“Normalform”) and (2a)
“preterite” and (2b) “present-future” (see above, p. 73 f. n.).
The three patterns may be reconstructed with relative certainty
during and after Ur III. In OS, and to some degree still in Ur III,
spelling only partly represents the full form because of a marked tendency
to neglect syllable-closing consonants in writing: Note the ubiquitous
“u ba-ti for [“u banti] or the above-quoted OS ba-ug 6 -ge(-“)
[ba-ug-e“].
12.7.1. Conjugation pattern 1: Intransitive (and passive)
sg. 1 st ba-zah-en (Ur III -èn) [ba-zah-en] “I run away”
sg. 2 nd ba-zah-en
[ba-zah-en]
sg. 3 rd ba-zah
[ba-zah]
pl. 1 st ba-zah-en-dè-en [ba-zah-enden]
pl. 2 nd ba-zah-en-zé-en
[ba-zah-enzen]
pl. 3 rd ba-zah-e“ (Ur III -é“) [ba-zah-e“]