SumerianGrammar

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116 CHAPTER TWELVE
12.11.4. Negated cohortative
Negative exhortation, “let me not . . .”, “I will certainly not . . .”, is
expressed with the bi-syllabic prefix [bara], a multi-functional morpheme
which is also found in the vetitive (12.11.6) and in the negative
affirmative (12.11.8).
The negative cohortative is restricted by definition to the 1 st person
and found with the marû verbal base and personal suffixes if the
form is transitive.
ki-sur-ra- d Nin-∞gír-su-ka-ke 4 ba-ra-mu-bala-e(n) “I swear I will not
transgress, as regards me, Nin∞girsu’s boundary” Ean. 1 xx 19.
di ba-ra-a-da-ab-bé-en 6 [bara-eda-b-e-(e)n] “I promise I will not
go to court (with =) against you” NG no. 28:8.
12.11.5. Precative
The precative mood is used with 2 nd and 3 rd person, “you may ...”,
“he may . . .”, “let him/her . . .”, etc. It is found in complementary
distribution with the cohortative (12.11.3).
Precative is marked by the prefix HÉ-, graphically realized as héor
ha-, as well as (OB) hu- before mu-.
Precative forms are found with the marû form if the verb is transitive.
The distribution of [he] and [ha] is not entirely clear, but, according
to Attinger 1993, 292 f. § 191, hé- is “sans hésitation possible
la forme de base”, being found in a wider range of phonetic contexts
than is [ha].
In Ur III letter-orders hé-na-ab-“úm-mu and ha-na-ab-“úm-mu
“let him/her give it to him/her” (Sollberger 1966, 169 f. s.v. sumu)
the relative frequency of the two forms is 125:15. As both hé-naand
ha-na- occur at ªGirsu, local variation should be discounted.
Moreover, there are ‘mixed’ spellings HÉ-ab-, HÉ-an- (see below),
but none of a type *HA-eb-, *HA-en-.
Note: For another allograph, hi- (Ur III, ”ulgi hymns), see Attinger 1993, 293
with fn. 838, where also reference is made to Ebla, d’Agostino 1990, 128–34.
gìri-bi ha-ma-∞gá-∞gá “may (Nan“e) show me the way there” Gudea
Cyl. A ii 19.
gi“kim-∞ ∞ gu 10 hé-sa 6 “let my sign be favourable” Gudea Cyl. A iii 18.
E 4 -nun-na bar-∞gu 10 -a “ùd hé-mi(-b)-sa 4 (-n)-za(-n) [he-mmi-b-sa-
(e)nzen] “O Enùna (pl.), may you say a blessing thereat on my
behalf ” Gudea Cyl. B ii 6.