SUMERIAN

LESSON 15
Ummaite) swear (a promissory oath)” without an ablative prefix. In this
hypothetical verbal form a 3rd ps. sg. human composite locative3 prefix crossreferences
the causee; see section 15.1 above.
In ex. (466), however, the presence of the ablative prefix in S9 makes it
impossible for a 3rd ps. sg. human composite locative3 prefix to occur: after the
ablative, only a simple adverbial prefix with non-human reference may occur.
The use of the 3rd ps. sg. human composite locative3 prefix is thus obstructed
by the presence of the ablative prefix, and this obstruction may be
circumvented by promoting the original causee to the dative.
(466) E-ana-tum 1 obv. 16:12–20 (RIME 1.9.3.1) (Lagash, 25th c. BCE) (P222399)
lu₂ ⸢umma ki ⸣-ra, e₂-an-na-tum₂-me, sa-šuš-gal, d en-lilₓ(E₂)-la₂,
lu umma=ak=ra eanatum=e sašušgal enlil=ak=ø
person GN=GEN=DAT.H PN=ERG net DN=GEN=ABS
e-na-šum₂, nam e-na-ta-kud
S2 i- S6 nn- S7 a- S12 n- S14 šum- S14 ø nam=ø S1 i- S6 nn- S7 a- S9 ta- S11 n- S12 kud- S14 ø
FIN-3.SG.H-DAT-3.SG.H.A-give-3.SG.P fate=ABS FIN-3.SG.H-DAT-3.SG.H.A-cut-3.SG.P
lu₂ umma ki -ke₄ e₂-an-na-tum₂-ra
lu umma=ak=e eanatum=ra
person GN=GEN=ERG
PN=DAT.H
nam mu-na-ku₅-re₆
nam=ø S4 mu- S6 nn- S7 a- S12 kud- S14 e
fate=ABS VEN-3.SG.H-DAT-cut-3.SG.A
“E-ana-tum gave the great battle-net of Enlil to the Ummaite, and let him swear
a promissory oath by it, (and) the Ummaite swore the (following) promissory oath
for E-ana-tum:” (Here follows the actual swearing in the text.)
Further readings
In the first part of the 2nd millennium BCE, the verbal prefixes crossreferencing
the underlying A (i.e., the causee) in causatives of transitive verbs
will be reinterpreted as causative markers, the detailed description of this
development can be found in Zólyomi 2005b: 347–353.
The definition of compound verbs is controversial in Sumerology. A good
reading to start with is Attinger’s description in Attinger 1993: 178–182. Zólyomi
1996 reviews Attinger’s book and discusses his definition. Attinger 2004 uses
232