SUMERIAN

The nominal template and the non-adverbial cases
(26) Gudea Cyl. A 24:10 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7)
ud-sakar gibil-ø-gen₇ men bi₂-il₂
P1 udsakar P2 gibil-ø= P5 gen P1 men= P5 ø S5 b- S10 i- S11 n- S12 il- S14 ø
P1 crescent.moon P2 new-TL= P5 EQU P1 crown= P5ABS 3.SG.NH-L3-3.SG.H.A-carry-3.SG.P
“He (= Gudea) had it (= the temple) wear a tiara shaped like the new moon.”
(27) Lugal-zagesi 1 2:30–32 (RIME 1.14.20.1) (Uruk, 24th c.) (Q001379)
urim₂ ki -e gud-gen₇ saŋ an-še₃
P1 urim= P5 e P1 gud= P5 gen P1 saŋ= P5 ø P1 an= P5 še
P1 GN= P5 ERG P1 bull= P5 EQU P1 head= P5 ABS P1 sky= P5 TERM
mu-dab₆-il₂
S4 mu- S6 n- S7 da- S11 b- S12 il- S14 ø
VEN-3.SG.H-COM-3.SG.NH.A-raise-3.SG.P
“Ur raised its head to the sky like a bull because of him.”
Constructions with the enclitic copula may also be used in a similative function,
see Lesson 8, section 8.4 below.
Note that the two adnominal cases discussed in this lesson differ in their
syntactic behaviour. The genitive relates two nominals within a noun phrase,
i.e., possessor and possessum form one single noun phrase. The noun phrase in
the equative, however, constitute a separate noun phrase, outside the noun
phrase with which it compares.
Further readings
On the case system of Sumerian see Zólyomi 2010, who argues that cases should
not be distinguished solely based on the form of their case-markers; the
distribution of the case-marked words should also be taken into consideration.
The 3rd ps. possessive enclitics =/ane/ and =/be/ are assumed to be =/ani/
and =/bi/ in the earlier literature. This textbook follows Jagersma (2010: 214–
217), who, based on their writings, argues convincingly that their last vowel is
in fact /e/.
The syntax of noun phrases with the equative enclitic is discussed in
Sövegjártó 2011. For a typological study of equative and similative constructions
in the languages of Europe, see Haspelmath and Buchholz 1998.
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