SumerianGrammar

THE VERB 115
12.11.2.2. [nu] as a separate verbal base
dub-sar “u nu-a nar míli (KA × LI) nu-a “a scribe having no hand
(is like) a cantor having no voice” SP II 43.
ud 5 má“ nu-a “a goat having no kid” TrDr. 26:9.
u8 sila 4 nú-a “a ewe having no lamb” TCL 2, 5621:1.
Note: The lexical passage u 8 sila 4 nú-a: “a pu¢àdsa nì[lu] “a ewe whose lamb is
resting” (see CAD L 42 la¢ru lex.) most probably has to be kept separate from
the Ur III reference (TrDr. 26:9) where -nu-a would not be an abbreviated
spelling for *-nú-a.
in-nu [i-nu] has become the expression for “No!” by OB.
nu may also be considered a base of its own in the phrase a-baàm
lugal a-ba-àm nu lugal “who is it (that was) king, who is it (that
was) not king” = “whoever was king” Sum. Kinglist vii 1.
For nu in OS Ean. 1 r. x 2 see 12.11.11.
12.11.3. Cohortative
The cohortative mood occurs only in the 1 st sg. and pl. It is denoted
by prefixed ga-, with allomorphs (Ur III) ge 4 -(rí-) and gú-(mu-). The
cohortative is found in complementary distribution with the precative,
which supplies the 2 nd and 3 rd persons, see 12.11.5.
ga- is essentially linked to verbal forms with the ¢am†u base and,
therefore, is not marked with a suffix (denoting person) after the base:
ga-tìl( il ) “(let me live =) ex-voto object”.
nam gé 4 -rí-íb-tar ar etc. ”ulgi D 384 f. (*NS), see above 12.8.1.21.
Although combined with conjugation pattern 1 in the case of an
intransitive verb, there is no ending -en after the base. Apparently,
ga- alone was sufficient to mark the 1 st sg. In the pl., however,
-enden is suffixed: ga-ba-húl-húl-le-en-dè-en [ga-ba-hulhul-enden] “let
us mightily rejoice over it” ZA 45 (1939) 119.
The (irregular) verb dug 4 /e “to speak, do” behaves in a special
way in OB: silim-ma ga-na-ab-bé-en [ga-na-b-e-(e)n] “let me say
‘hail’ to her” Iddin-Dagàn B 1–3, 6, etc. where we do not find the
expected ga-na-ab-dug 4 [ga-na-b-dug] as in Gudea Cyl. A iii 22 f.
!
e-ne-sù-ud ga -da-e [ga-eda-e-(e)n] “(let me play with you =) let
us have sex together” TMH NF 3, 25:20.
Note: Here the pl. base [e] may have been chosen because the intended act
implied two (active) participants.
See Attinger 1993, 222 f.; 476.