Lesson 30: Sumerian Locative Case

Sying "In" and "On" in Sumerian

Mar 16, 2025

Introduction

In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the Sumerian locative case, which demonstrates where something is at—it’s location. So, let’s jump in!

Helpful Terms

auslaut: the final consonant, sound, or syllable in a word, or syllable boundary.
directive (dir.): a grammatical case which indicates an impersonal direct or indirect object, and is marked by -e 𒂊. Because the directive indicates motion toward something, as in ‘to/for [a thing]’, it is sometimes referred to as the locative-terminative case.
ergative (erg.): a grammatical case which indicates the agent; the noun doing the action, as in ‘[performed] by’, marked by -e 𒂊.
infix (inf.): a particle within the verbal chain that refers back to particular cases within the nominal chain.
locative (loc.): a grammatical case which indicates where something is happening, as in ‘in’, or ‘at’, marked by -a 𒀀.

Vocabulary

a 𒀀 n., water; semen; progeny; canal; flood. part., suff., in, at, when (loc.); nominalizing suffix.
àm 𒀀𒀭 cop., he/she/it is.
ama 𒂼 n., mother.
an 𒀭 n., heaven; high. adv., above (OA x1). det., indicates the name of a deity. part., inf., 3^rd person (pers.) infix when preceded by /a/.
a-na 𒀀𒈾 pron., inter., what? (OS x2, OA x1, NS x73, OB x394), why? (OB x10); poss. his/her (gen., loc.) (earlier periods) (a)na (𒀀)𒈾.
a-ne 𒀀𒉈 pron., ind., he/she (OS x7, NS x9, OB x20).
(a)ni (𒀀)𒉌 pron., poss. his/her (abs.) (with da/ta/gin₇ 𒁕/𒋫/𒁶 (com., abl., equ.)) (with ra/ir 𒊏/𒅕 (dat.)) (with šè/iš 𒂠/𒅖 (term.)) (earlier periods).
ba 𒁀 n., allotment, portion; wages. v., to give; pay; divide; distribute; allot. pron., dem., of this/that (gen.). part., pref., conjugational prefix; suff., poss., its (impers.) (gen., loc.); their (impers.) (gen., loc.).
bi (bé) 𒁉 pron., dem., this, that (similar to ‘the’) (x261) (ba 𒁀 gen.). part., part., suff., poss., its/their (impers.) (with ra/ir 𒊏/𒅕 (dat.)) (with šè/iš 𒂠/𒅖 (term.)).
dù 𒆕 v., to beget; bear (a child); be born; build, create, fashion, make; transform, change; replace.
dùb 𒄭 n., knee.
e 𒂊 v., to speak, say; do; water. part., suff., (performed) by [the agent]; in, at, beside (directive); plural hamṭu (perfective) suffix; marû (imperfective) singular/plural suffix.
é 𒂍n., house; temple.
é-gal 𒂍𒃲 n., palace.
érin 𒂟 n., people; troops; worker.
ĝá 𒂷 v., to come/go. pron., ind., I (especially before a case marker ending in /a/—alternative reading of ĝe₂₆ 𒂷). part., suff., poss., my (gen., loc.); nominalizing suffix when preceded by /ĝ/.
ĝen 𒁺 v., intrans., to go/come; flow, set out, turn into (transform).
ĝu₁₀ 𒈬 pron., poss., my (abs., erg., dir.) (with ra/úr 𒊏/𒌫 (dat.)) (with šè/uš 𒂠/𒍑 (term.)) (with da/ta/gin₇ 𒁕/𒋫/𒁶 (com., abl., equ.)) (with um 𒌝 before the enclitic copula).
in 𒅔 n., abuse; insult, offense. adv., conj., until, up to; as many (OB x2). part., pref., stand-alone agent prefix “he/she/it” (pers.).
iri 𒌷 n., city, town, village, district. prep., mathematical function ‘times’ (OB x1). det., indicates the name of a city.
ka 𒅗 n., mouth; opening; beginning, origin; body part. part., suff., ‘of’ (gen.) (mutation of ak 𒀝 when anlaut /a/ assimilates to the proceeding vowel {ĝu₁₀ + ak = ĝá-ka}.
kur 𒆳 n., mountain(s), highland; foreign land; underworld, netherworld. v., to reach, attain; rise; to kindle, ignite; burn.
lugal 𒈗 n., king; owner, master, lord.
munus 𒊩 n., female, woman.
^dnanna 𒀭𒋀𒆠 n., prop., Sumerian god of the Moon, called the Celestial Shepherd, associated with time and bliss.
ni 𒉌 part., inf., locative infix indicating ‘where’. part., inf., 3^rd person singular directive infix ‘to him/her (impers.)’.
ní 𒉎 n./pron. refl., self; used before all pronouns except 3^rd person personal possessive (a/e)ni (𒀀/𒂊)𒉌, in which case ní-te 𒉎𒋼 is used (OS x3, OA x1, NS x300, OB x383): ní-ĝu₁₀ 𒉎𒈬 myself, ní-zu 𒉎𒍪 yourself, ní-te-né 𒉎𒋼𒉌 his/herself, ní-bi 𒉎𒁉 itself, ní-te-ne-ne 𒉎𒋼𒉈𒉈 themselves.
tuš 𒂉 n., home. v., to sit, lie down (trans. h. sg.) (h./m. pl. durun 𒂉𒂉; m. sg. dùr 𒂉); to sing; to dwell, reside, be at home, settle; set up, establish.
ud (u4) 𒌓 n., sun; light; day; time; weather, storm. adv., conj./mod.,when. prep., when; since.
u₄-da (ud+a) 𒌓𒁕 adv., in/on the day, today; when, if.
za 𒍝 pron., ind., you (especially before a case marker ending in /a/—variation of za-e 𒍝𒂊) (NS x1, OB x 127). part., suff., poss., your (sg.) (gen., loc.).
zu 𒍪 n., knowledge, wisdom. v., to know; learn, discover; teach (m. zu-zu 𒍪𒍪); be experienced. part., suff., poss., your (sg.) (abs., erg., dir.) (with da/ta/gin₇ 𒁕/𒋫/𒁶 (com., abl., equ.).

The Sumerian Locative Case

The Sumerian locative case is marked by -a 𒀀, and usually means in or on, but it can also mean into, among, or during, depending on context.

iri-a 𒌷𒀀 in(to) the city
kur-a 𒆳𒀀 on the mountain
érin-a 𒂟𒀀 among the people
ud-a 𒌓𒀀 during the day

NOTE: To express ‘near’, ‘at’, or ‘by’, use directive -e 𒂊.

Spelling Locative -a 𒀀

The locative -a 𒀀 never elides to a preceding vowel, except in the cases of the possessive pronouns ĝu₁₀𒈬, zu 𒍪, a/e-ni 𒀀/𒂊𒉌, and bi 𒁉, which become ĝá 𒂷, za 𒍝, (a/e)-na 𒀀/𒂊𒈾, and ba 𒁀 respectively.

In other words, Sumerian locative -a 𒀀 always appears in some form of /a/.

However, it may be spelled with the preceding auslaut, especially after a stop (/b/, /d/, /g/, /k/) or nasal (/m/, /ĝ/). There are no examples of the locative appearing as -za.

NOTE: For most of the examples I provide, I’ll be spelling locative case marker as -a 𒀀.

The Sumerian Locative Infix

The locative infix cannot start the verb chain, which means it must either be preceded by another element or conjugational prefix.

For the most part, the locative infix appears as -ni- 𒉌, as in:

ba-ni-(in)-dù 𒁀𒉌(𒅔)𒆕 he/she built it there

The ergative infix may be unwritten

However, sometimes, when the locative infix appears immediately before the root verb, the /i/ of /ni/ may be lost, resulting in:

ba-an-dù 𒁀𒀭𒆕 was built it there

Of course, this incarnation of ni 𒉌 looks identical to the third person personal ergative infix -n-. In this situation, you’ll need to determine the meaning via the surrounding context.

é-gal iri-a ba-an-dù 𒂍𒃲𒌷𒀀𒁀𒀭𒆕 The palace was built in the city.
é-gal ba-an-dù 𒂍𒃲𒁀𒀭𒆕 A palace was built in it.

The Sumerian Locative Case in Use

Now, let’s see the Sumerian Locative case in action!

lugal-e é iri-a ba-ni-in-dù 𒈗𒂊𒂍𒌷𒀀𒁀𒉌𒅔𒆕 The king built the temple in the city.
munus é-a ba-ni-in-ĝen 𒊩𒂍𒀀𒁀𒉌𒅔𒁺 The woman went into the temple.
ní-te-né dùb-a ba-ni-in-tuš 𒉎𒋼𒉌𒄭𒀀𒉌𒅔𒂉 She knelt herself down (lit. she prostrated herself on knee).
u₄-da ĝá-e iri-a ba-ni-ĝen 𒌓𒁕𒂷𒂊𒌷𒀀𒁀𒉌𒁺 Today, I went into the city.
ama-ĝu₁₀ é ^dnanna-ka-àm 𒂼𒈬𒂍𒀭𒋀𒆠𒅗𒀀𒀭 My mother is in the Temple of Nanna.

Your Sumerian Language Journey Continues!

In the next lesson, you’ll learn about the Sumerian comitative case, so be sure subscribe to my Substack to get all of my articles as soon as they post!

Jump to Lesson 31: Sumerian Comitative Case