Sumerian Lesson 5: Interpreting Cuneiform Signs

Getting Comfortable with 𒅴𒂠

Jun 07, 2024

Introduction

In this lesson, you’ll learn the basics of reading Cuneiform. While you’ll encounter a lot of cuneiform signs, you don’t have to memorize them yet! This is just a basic introduction, so it’s enough to look them over and start familiarizing yourself with them.

Helpful Terms

cuneiform: a wedge-shaped logo-syllabic script developed by the Sumerians and used by the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, and currently recognized as the oldest known writing system.
polyvalency: having more than one value, such as a sound or meaning, as in the cuneiform 𒂠, which can be read as éš, and šè, among others.
transliteration: writing the sounds of one language using the characters or alphabet of another.

Vocabulary

Here are some vocabulary words you’re encounter this lesson. Don’t worry about memorizing them now. Just take some time to familiarize yourself with the words, signs, and meanings.

eme 𒅴 n., tongue; language; speech.
eme-ĝir₁₅ 𒅴𒂠 n., Sumerian language.
éš 𒂠 v., to anoint. part., by it/them; to(ward); they/them; adverbial suffix.
ĝá 𒂷 v., to come/go. part., in/of my; nominalizing suffix when preceded by /ĝ/.
ĝir_{15 (}gi₇₎𒂠 v., to be native; local; domesticated. adj., native, domestic; noble.
ḫuĝ 𒂠 v., to pacify; hire, rent; rest.
ḫuĝ-ĝá adv., hired.
iri 𒌷 n., city, town, village, district.
ka 𒅗 n., mouth; opening; beginning, origin; body part.
lú 𒇽 n., man, male; human, person.
lú-ḫuĝ-ĝá 𒇽𒂠𒂷 n., hireling; Aries (zodiac sign).
me 𒈨 n., function, office, responsibility; divine power/decree. cop., I am (OS); you are (NS). v., to say, tell. adv., where?
me-eš 𒈨𒌍 cop., they are (OB).
me-éš 𒈨𒂠 cop., they are (NS).
šè 𒂠 n., portion. part., to(ward); they/them; adverbial suffix.
šeš 𒋀 n., brother; colleague; assistant.

Transliteration

The Sumerian language wasn’t called “Sumerian”, but rather 𒅴𒂠. This is useless information if you can’t read the cuneiform signs 𒅴 and 𒂠.

In order to read them, we must first transliterate them; that is, we need to write out the sounds each sign makes using a recognizable alphabet.

Sign Combinations

If you look closely, you’ll see that 𒅴 is actually two different cuneiform signs:

ka 𒅗 mouth
me 𒈨 function

When they combine, they become eme 𒅴, which means tongue, language, or speech. Not surprisingly, all three of these are functions of the mouth.

Polyvalency

The cuneiform sign 𒂠 can be read multiple ways. This phenomenon is called polyvalency, and it’s an important part of learning Sumerian!

For example, 𒂠 can be read as:

éš 𒂠 when used as the 3^rd person plural copula suffix, as in
- šeš-me-éš 𒋀𒈨𒂠 they are brothers (lit. brother-are-they) (NS)
šè 𒂠 when acting as the postposition ‘to(ward)’, as in
- iri-šè 𒌷𒂠 to the city (lit. city-to)
ḫuĝ 𒂠, which could mean to pacify, or to hire (OB, NA), as in the Babylonian zodiac sign for Aries,
- lú-ḫuĝ-ĝá 𒇽𒂠𒂷 the hired man (lit. man-hire-ed)
ĝir₁₅𒂠 or gi₇, 𒂠 which could mean native, local, domestic, or noble, as in
- lú-ĝir 𒇽𒂠 noble/local man