SumerianGrammar

64 CHAPTER TEN
[us(s)a]. Later, [umin] turned into [umun]. The etymologically “correct”
imin, used by most Assyriologists, is not attested at all in lexical
glosses, but occurs in sign-names; see Powell 1971,40; Gong
2000, 139.
Note: Rhyme and assonance are universally attested in neighbouring digits: cf.
Latin quattuor, quinque, Turkish altı, yedi, sekiz, dokuz, Finnish yksi, kaksi, viisi,
kuusi, or, most noteworthy, Slavic 9 whose initial n- turned into d- by analogy
with 10, e.g., Russian dev’at’, des’at’.
8: Ebla ù-sa-am, i.e., [us + copula] or [us(s)a + copula], is definitely
not *5+3, as is still assumed in Thomsen 1984, 82 who derives “ussu
< *iá+e“ 5 (5+3)”.
Powell 1971, 37 with fn. 2 and 38 fnn. 1–4 (with previous literature) already
clearly dismissed the 5+3 theory.
For the difficulties we encounter with the exact form of 8, see Powell
1971, 41 f.
9: Ebla ì-li-mu offers the earliest and clearest example of a Sumerian
digit compound 5+n. Note, however, that the first element, 5, is
spelled NI = ì and not I as with 5. Maybe ì (versus I) noted a
reduced form of 5 in the compound.
10: Ebla U 9 -PI-mu is difficult to “normalize”. Anlaut U 9 with values
[ha] or [˙a] (cf. Edzard 1980, 126) would be compatible with
two of the five glosses preserved for U “ten”: u 4 , ú, a, hu-u, ha-a
(Powell 1971, 43 f.). Since there is no trace of [m] in later glosses,
Ebla -mu may be again part of the copula [am]: *ha-wa-m(u), leaving
us with *haw+am. *[haw], in the course of time, may have
turned into *[hò] *[hù].
At this juncture it must be remembered that U, in earlier OB
Akkadian spelling, was used to indicate [o], as Poebel 1939, 116 f.
and Westenholz 1991 have shown.
No evidence is so far available for the pronunciation of numbers
11 to 19. We may guess at juxtaposition of 10 + digit with possible
reduction or contraction in the compounds.
20: [ni“], [ne“]. For lexical evidence see Powell 1971, 48; CAD E
367 e“rà lex. No references are available before the 1st mill.
30: [u“(u)]. Powell 1971, 48; CAD ”/l, 234 “alà“à lex. No references
are available before the 1st mill.