Sumerian Lesson 14: Intransitive and Transitive Verbs

They're Easier than You Think!

Jul 21, 2024

Introduction

In this lesson, you’ll learn about Sumerian Intransitive and Transitive Verbs. Don’t worry—they’re easier than they sound!

Helpful Terms

intransitive (trans.): a verb that doesn’t require a direct object to complete its meaning.

transitive (intrans.): a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning.

Vocabulary

It’s not a big vocabulary list this time, so I would definitely take the opportunity to memorize them!

a 𒀀 n., water, semen, progeny, canal, flood. part., in, at, when; nominalizing suffix.
an 𒀭 n., heaven; high. det., indicates the name of a deity. part., 3^rd person (pers.) infix when preceded by /a/.
ba 𒁀 n., allotment, portion, wages. v., to give; pay; divide; distribute; allot. part., conjugational prefix.
dúr 𒂉 n., anus, buttocks; dwelling. v., to sit (intrans.); be seated; set down; break wind; occupy, dwell.
durun 𒂉𒂉 v., to sit (pl.) (trans.).
e 𒂊 v., to speak, say; do; water. part., [performed] by (the agent); in, at, beside.
gu-za 𒆪𒃻 n., throne, chair.
lú 𒇽 n., man, male; human, person.
lugal 𒈗 n., king; owner, master, lord.
tuš 𒂉 n., home. v., to sit, lie down (trans.); to sing; to dwell, reside, be at home, settle; set up, establish.
úš 𒍗 n., blood, gore; death. v., to block; die; be dead; kill. adj., dead.

Intransitive and Transitive Verbs

When learning Sumerian, it’s important to understand the difference between intransitive and transitive verbs.

A sentence with:

an intransitive verb ONLY has a subject:
- The cat eats.
  - subject: cat
a transitive verb has a subject AND a direct object:
- The cat eats mice.
  - subject: cat
  - direct object: mice

When in doubt, just remember:

transitive—TRANSFERS the action from the subject to the direct object.
intransitive—DOES NOT TRANSFER the action, because there is no direct object.

Sumerian verbs can be intransitive or transitive depending on how they’re used in the sentence. Consider the following uses of the verb úš 𒍗 to die:

Intransitive: lú ba-úš: 𒇽𒁀𒍗 The man died.
- lú 𒇽 man
- ba 𒁀 conjugational prefix
- úš 𒍗 to die
Transitive: lugal-e lú ba-an-úš: 𒈗𒂊𒇽𒁀𒀭𒍗 The king killed the man.
- lugal 𒈗 king (agent/subject)
- e 𒂊 ergative marker indicating the agent
- lú 𒇽 man (patient/direct object)
- ba 𒁀 conjugational prefix
- an 𒀭 3^rd person personal infix -n-*
  - *we’ll discuss pronominal infixes in a later lesson
- úš 𒍗 to kill

Some Sumerian verbs have specific intransitive and transitive forms. For example:

Intransitive: dúr 𒂉 to sit
Transitive: tuš 𒂉 to sit (in/on a thing/place)

Unfortunately, the same cuneiform sign 𒂉 is used for both readings of the word. Fortunately, the correct reading can be determined by the surrounding context.