SumerianGrammar

8 CHAPTER TWO
names. The reconstruction of the hypothetical inventory of Sumerian
consonantal phonemes is, however, much more difficult than in the
case of the vowels. Comparison of èkallu (é-gal) “palace” (above) and
unetukku (ù-ne-e-dug 4 ) “letter” show that, at least in our Latin transliterations,
unvoiced stops (K, T) in the Akkadian loanwords correspond
to voiced stops (G, D) in our rendering of the Sumerian basic
expressions. This difference in our transliteration is due to the fact
that the oldest Akkadian syllabary known at present, Proto-Ea (MSL
14 [1979] 3–81), offers voiced instead of unvoiced stops: du-ú: KA
(p. 44:308), ga-la: GAL (p. 50:471).
The complicated phonetic relation between Sumerian and Akkadian
consonants (again: as we transliterate them) has given rise to much
speculation as to whether there was a double or a triple set of stops
in Sumerian: D : T or D : T 1 : T 2 , etc., the unvoiced part being
either a single phoneme or split into two, e.g., simple and post-glottalized
(T, T’). This question will be discussed in more detail, and
with tables, below pp. 15 f.
2.2. SPELLING OF SUMERIAN
2.2.1. Classification of cuneograms
Sumerian is written, in its “classical” form of the Gudea and Ur III
period, by means of five classes of cuneiform signs. This distinction
is not, though, visible, but only based on context.
a) Logograms or word signs, expressing a nominal or verbal word
base, e.g., lú “person”, mu “name”, “year”, dùg “good”, “sweet (said
of water)”, -zu “your” (sing.), ba “to attribute”.
b) Syllabograms or syllabic signs, used to convey a sound only,
without primary reference to meaning, e.g., ba- (verbal prefix), mu-
(verbal prefix), -ke 4 (nominal suffix, comprising the final [k] of the
genitive morpheme [ak] and the [e] of the ergative case); gu-za
“chair”.
c) Phonetic indicators, a sub-class of (b), i.e., syllabograms used to
specify the reading of a single sign (or of a sign group). So, in
GI”.TÚG.PI = ∞gé“tug, the signs GI” und TÚG yield the reading
of PI [∞ge“tug], namely ∞gé“tug. It is a matter of convention whether
we transliterate GI”.TÚG.PI as ∞gé“tug or as gi“-túg ge“tug ∞ with two
phonetic indicators raised.
d) Signs for number or the combined notation of measuring unit +