Sumerian Lesson 16: The Enclitic Copula ‘To Be’

Aug 07, 2024

In this lesson, you’ll learn about the Sumerian enclitic copula ‘to be’, which will start you on the path of creating basic copular phrases!

copula: a verb that connects the subject of a sentence to a subject complement; often the word ‘was’, ‘is’, or ‘will be’.
enclitic: a word that only occurs in combination with the preceding word.
intransitive (trans.): a verb that doesn’t require a direct object to complete it’s meaning.
perfective (perf.): In Sumerian, an aspect indicating actions which have been completed, or are fully expected to be completed in the future.

Many of these should be familiar to you, so it’s a good time to start memorizing the vocabulary words!

àm 𒀀𒀭 cop., he/she/it is.
am₆ 𒀭 cop., he/she/it is (OS).
dumu 𒌉 n., child, son, daughter.
gal 𒃲 v., to be big, great, large, mighty. adj., big, great, large, mighty.
ĝál 𒉌𒅅 v., to exist; be (somewhere); to cause to be; to dwell.
ì 𒉌 n., butter, oil, fat, cream; oil container. part., stand-alone agentive prefix ‘I’; conjugational prefix (indicates distance from speaker).
lugal 𒈗 n., king; owner, master, lord.
me 𒈨 n., function, office, responsibility; divine power/decree. cop., I am (OS); you are (OS, NS); they are (NS). v., to say, tell. adv., where?
me-en 𒈨𒂗 cop., I am, you are (sg.).
me-en-dè-en 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 cop., we are (pl.).
me-en-zé-en 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 cop., you are (pl.).
me-eš 𒈨𒂠 cop., they are (pl.).
me-eš 𒈨𒌍 cop., they are (OB).
nin 𒎏 n., lady, mistress, owner, queen; lord (sometimes found in male names).
nin₉ 𒎐 n., sister.
nu 𒉡 v., to not be. adv., no, not, without.
šeš 𒋀 n., brother; colleague; assistant.
tur 𒌉 n., child; young; second [in rank]. v., to be/make small; to be insufficient; to reduce. adj., young, small, little.

The Verb ĜÁL 𒅅

There are two ways to express ‘to be’ in Sumerian. The first is with the verb ĝál 𒅅, which means to be present, or to exist, as in:

ì-ĝál 𒉌𒅅 there is
- ì 𒉌 is a conjugational prefix which indicates distance from the speaker
nu-ĝál 𒉡𒅅 there is not
- nu 𒉡 creates negation

Another way to express ‘to be’ is with an enclitic copula, which can take a few different forms depending on how it’s used in a sentence:

Singular
- 1^st/2^nd Person: me-en 𒈨𒂗 I am, you are
  - me 𒈨 in OS
- 3^rd Person: àm 𒀀𒀭 he/she/it is (pers./impers.)
  - am₆ 𒀭 in OS
Plural
- 1^st Person: me-en-dè-en 𒈨𒂗𒉈𒂗 we are
- 2^nd Person: me-en-zé-en 𒈨𒂗𒍢𒂗 you are
- 3^rd Person: me-éš 𒈨𒂠 they are (pers.)
  - me 𒈨 in NS
  - me-eš 𒈨𒌍 in OB

Using the Sumerian enclitic copula is as simple as suffixing it to the noun or adjective.

When using the enclitic copula, remember that for the most part, the enclitic copula:

describes states (not actions)
links subjects to descriptions or states (nouns to adjectives)
is used in intransitive sentences (no action is passed from agent to patient)
is used in the past or present perfective aspect (was/is/are)
- you’ll have to determine tense by the surrounding context

In the next lesson, you’ll learn about independent personal pronouns, so be sure to subscribe!