SumerianGrammar

DETERMINATION, SPECIFICATION
51
nesû adj. lex. for Nabnìtu X 36 (MSL 16, 118: IX (= X) 36 where
it is read dal) and Aa II/7: 11' (MSL 14, 293: ri-i = né-su-ú).
-ri is mainly found in the phrase u 4 -/∞gi 6 -/mu-ri(-a) “in those
days/nights/years” when the poet refers to beginning in primordial
time; cf. already OS TS” 79 i 1–5 (UD.GAL.NUN text). -ri-a may
be analysed either as [ri] + locative case particle -a or as [ri] + -a
of ¢am†u participle, with the locative not further noted in spelling.
Note: Shaffer 1963, 122, referred to SBH no. 4:162 f. etc. u 4 -RI-LI-na (= ina
ùmè ullùti “in those days”) and he preferred reading u 4 -re-èn-na instead of u 4 -dalle-na,
from which Attinger 1993, 176, deduces a pair “-re/i, -re-èn”. The topic
must be left to further research.
Note: Yoshikawa 1993, 185–92, tried to show there was a “Spatial Deictic System
in Sumerian”, with -e “something in the space which is close to the speaker and
addressee” and -ri “something which is remote from the space occupied by the
speaker or addressee”. Yoshikawa essentially bases himself on lexical texts, not
on context examples.
7.5. -“e()
-“e occurs in lú-“e in Gilgame“ and Agga 69–71, 91–92 referring to
Gilgame“ seen on the Uruk city wall by beleaguering Agga. Jacobsen
1965, 177 fn. 55, tentatively proposed “anyone from here” basing
himself on NGBT II i 11–15 (MSL 4, 158 f.) where, however, only
line 11 [lú-“]e = animmamû can be restored more or less reliably. Katz
1993, 43, 45 offers “that person”; Römer 1980 lines 91 f. lú-“e “der
Mann da”.
So, due to the extreme scarcity of attestation, -“e is not a certain
candidate for inclusion among the demonstrative particles.
7.6. Recapitulation
To sum up, out of the five elements discussed here, -ne(n), -bi, -e,
-ri, and -“e, only two: -ne(n) and -bi, may be convincingly classified
as demonstrative particles.