SUMERIAN

Verbal tense
The discontinuous construction used to cross-reference a plural A in
Sumerian transitive preterite finite verbs may seem odd for us, but a similar
construction is also attested in Akkadian, the other main language of the area.
The 3rd ps. pl. subject of the Akkadian finite verb is cross-referenced both by
a prefix and a suffix, cf., e.g., i-škun-ū (3-place.PT-PL.MASC) “they placed”. In these
forms the prefix indicates the person, while the suffix indicates the number
and the gender of the subject.
Note that the 3rd ps. pl. FPP /nnē/ is not used for cross-referencing A in
transitive preterite verbal forms. In addition to the discontinuous construction
described in the previous paragraph, a 3rd ps. pl. A may also be cross-referenced
with the 3rd ps. sg. non-human prefix /b/ in S11 as in ex. (173) below; see also
ex. (449) in Lesson 15 below.
(173) NG 190 obv. 1:6 (Lagash, 21st c.) (P111354)
nam-erim₂ ib₂-kud
namerim=ø S2 i- S11 b- S12 kud- S14 ø
oath=ABS FIN-3.SG.NH.A-cut-3.SG.P
“(Two persons) took an affirmatory oath.”
The agreement pattern of the preterite forms is summarized in Table 9.2 below:
Table 9.2: The preterite agreement pattern
S11 S12 S14
INTRANSITIVE stem PT S (with set B)
TRANSITIVE (SG A) A (with a sg. IPP) stem PT P (with set B)
TRANSITIVE (PL A) A (with a sg. IPP) stem PT A (with a pl. suffix of set B)
9.3 The present­future
In present-future forms A and S are cross-referenced with different sets of
suffixes in S14: A with Set A, while S with Set B. Note that Set A and B differs
only in the 3rd ps. forms. P is cross-referenced with an FPP in S11.
In intransitive present-future forms the suffixes of set B cross-referencing
S are preceded by the suffix /ed/ in S13 until the end of the 3rd millennium
BCE, in the 2nd millennium its use becomes less regular. Note that in verbal
forms whose verbal stem has no special present-future form, only the suffix
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