Following Black (2002: 74-75 and 2003) the present grammar posits a separate word class of ideophones for Sumerian. It is a fairly small class and our corpus contains only a handful of attestations. The ideophones are onomatopoeic words expressing various kinds of noises. They contain sounds that approximate the noises they express, but at the same time they also have a fairly rigid phonemic structure. All ideophones are fully reduplicated forms, but with only the vowel /u/ in their first halves and only the vowel /a/ in their second halves. The ideophones are construed like nouns but they occur in only one construction, as the direct object of the verb za
‘make the noise’. E.g.:
(44) [n]a4 tur-tur [n]a4 gal-gal-[e] murgu-ĝá bu-[u]d-ba-ad h~~~~i-[b]í-íb-za-àm
na4 tur -tur na4 gal-gal=e murgu=ĝu=÷a stone small-small stone big-big=ERG back =my=LOC
bu.ud.ba.ad=Ø h~~~~a =Ø -bi -b -za -Ø =÷am budbad =ABSMOD=VP-3N:on-3N.A-make.the.noise-3N.S/DO=be:3N.S
‘It was so that small stones and large stones were clattering on my back!’ (SLTNi 82 side a 3 = Shulgi A 68-69; N; 21)
As stated above, the phonemic structure of bu-ud-ba-ad is typical for an ideophone. Often, however, this structure is somewhat concealed by the spelling, as the other three attestations from our corpus illustrate to some extent. Thus, in the following example, bùl-bal is actually written BAL.BAL, with twice the same sign:
(45) ki muš-ĝír-da / bùl-bal am6-da-za
ki =e muš.ĝír=da bùl.bal=Ø ÷a-m(u) -da -b -za -Ø earth=ERG scorpion=COM bulbal =ABSVP-VENT-with-3N.A-make.the.noise-3N.S/DO
‘Earth sounded bulbal with the scorpion.’ (MBI 1 2:11-12; N; 24)
Likewise, in the next example, gunx-ga-an is written KUN.GA.AN. Since there is no separate sign for /gun/, I assume that the scribe used to sign KUN to write /gun/ here. The form has also been harmonized as kà-an (e.g., Black 2003: 48), but that would have been written kun-ka-an, with the sign KA instead of GA:
(46) é-bappir3 é á sikil-ba / ú-lu5-ši-e a pa4-sír-gen7 / gunx-ga-an za-a-da é.bappir3 é á sikil=ak =be=÷a ú.lu5.ši.n =e
brewery house strength pure =GEN=its=LOC emmer.beer=ERG
a pa4.sír=ak =gen gun.ga.an=Ø za -Ø -÷a =da water Pasir =GEN=EQU gungan =ABS make.the.noise-NFIN-NOM=COM
‘with that in its brewery, the house of pure strength, emmer beer splashes like the waters of Pasir’ (Cyl B 7:1-3; L; 22)
Finally, there is wu-wá (PI.BA), also with a rather unusual spelling. (Note that the phoneme /w/ does not occur in other Sumerian words.):
(47) [ud5 m]áš guru5-a-gen7 wu-wá mu-ši-íb-za ud5 máš guru5 -Ø -÷a =gen
goat kid cut.off-NFIN-NOM=EQU
wu.wá=Ø Ø -mu -n -ši-b -za -Ø wuwa =ABSVP-VENT-3SG-to-3N.A-make.the.noise-3N.S/DO
‘Like a goat from which the kid has been separated, it bleats towards him/her.’ (PSD B p.
171 6 N-T 450 3'; N; 21)
5.1. Introduction
A Sumerian clause consists of a finite verbal form and, as a rule, one or more noun phrases (see chapter 11 for details). Consider, for example, the following clause:
(1) ensi2-ke4 é mu-řú
ensi2.k=e é =Ø Ø -mu -n -řú -Ø ruler =ERG house=ABSVP-VENT-3SG.A-erect-3N.S/DO
‘The ruler built the temple.’ (Cyl A 22:9; L; 22)
This clause is made up from three parts. Its most important part is the finite verbal form mu-řú
‘he erected it (hither)’, which refers to a certain action and to the two participants having roles in that action. The properties of the verbal form will, however, not concern us here any further, as they will be the topic of later chapters (chapter 11 and following). The two other parts of clause (1) are noun phrases, ensi2-ke4 ‘the ruler’ (in the ergative case) and é ‘the house’ (in the absolutive case). Their properties and those of similar grammatical units are the topic of this chapter.
A noun phrase is, broadly speaking, a grammatical unit of one or more words which is in some case. Its case is expressed by an enclitic case marker which is attached to the last word of the noun phrase. The case marker thus serves a double purpose. It not only indicates the case of the noun phrase but it also makes clear where the noun phrase ends, having an important demarcating function too. Take, for example, the following noun phrase, which refers to the location of certain crops in a field:
(2) zà šúm é-gal-ka-ta
zà.g šúm é.gal =ak =ak =ta border garlic palace=GEN=GEN=ABL
‘from the border of the garlic of the palace’ (VS 14:189 1:1; L; 24)
This noun phrase is in the ablative case, as indicated by the ablative case marker {ta}. It, in turn, contains the noun phrase šúm é-gal-ka ‘garlic of the palace’, which is in the genitive case, as indicated by the second genitive case marker {ak}.This second noun phrase again includes a third noun phrase, é-gal-k ‘of the palace’, which is also in the genitive case, as indicated by the first of the two genitive case markers {ak}. Since é-gal is the last word of all three the noun phrases, all case markers are attached to it. Such an accumulation of case markers on the last word of a complex noun phrase is very common in Sumerian. (See chapter 7 for a detailed discussion of the cases and case markers.)
Since a noun phrase functions as a unit, the words belonging to it follow each other without being separated by other words. There is only one exception to this general rule. An anticipa-tory genitive (see §7.2.4 for details) can be separated from the rest of the noun phrase, so that this particular construction can lead to a discontinuous noun phrase, as, for instance, in the following clause (the noun phrase in question is underlined):
(3) é-a den-ki-ke4 ĝiš-h~~~~ur-bé si mu-na-sá
é.j =ak en.ki.k=e ĝiš.h~~~~ur=be=e si =Ø house=GEN Enki =ERG plan =its=DIR horn(?)=ABS
Ø -mu -nna -n -sá -Ø
VP-VENT-3SG.IO-3SG.A-be.equal-3N.S/DO
‘Enki straightened out for him the ground-plan of the temple (lit. “Of the house ... its plan”).’ (Cyl A 17:17; L; 22)
A noun phrase can refer to one or more persons, animals, things, to a time, a place, etc., just like a noun. Consequently, a noun phrase can perform several different syntactic functions, either as a part of a clause or as a part of a larger noun phrase. As a part of a clause, a noun phrase refers to a participant or a circumstance which plays a role in the action or state ex-pressed by the verb. Accordingly, it expresses the subject, an object, or an adjunct. Which function applies to a given noun phrase is always made clear by the case it is in. E.g.:
(4) u4-ba ensi2-ke4 kalam-ma-na zi-ga ba-ni-ĝar
u4.d=be =÷a ensi2.k=e kalam =ane=÷a zi.g-Ø -÷a =Ø day =this=LOC ruler =ERG country=his =LOC rise -NFIN-NOM=ABS
Ø -ba -ni-n -ĝar -Ø
VP-3N.IO-in-3SG.A-place-3N.S/DO
‘Then the ruler organized a levy for it in his country.’ (Cyl A 14:7; L; 22)
This clause is made up from five parts, the finite verbal form ba-ni-ĝar as well as four noun phrases. The noun phrases function as time adjunct (u4-ba), transitive subject (ensi2-ke4), place adjunct (kalam-ma-na), and direct object (zi-ga). (For the cases and the functions they signal, see chapter 7.)
As a part of a noun phrase, a noun phrase can also perform various functions, also made clear by the case it is in. Take, for instance, the following clause:
(5) gù-dé-a ensi2 lagaski-ke4 / temen-bé mu-si
gù.dé.a ensi2.k lagas =ak =e temen =be=Ø Gudea ruler Lagash=GEN=ERG foundation.pegs=its=ABS
Ø -mu -n -si.g -Ø
VP-VENT-3SG.A-put.in-3N.S/DO
‘Gudea, the ruler of Lagash, put in its foundation pegs.’ (Cyl A 30:4-5; L; 22)
The first part of this clause is the noun phrase gù.dé.a ensi2.k lagas=ak=e ‘Gudea, the ruler of Lagash’. It is in the ergative case, functioning as the subject of the clause. What interests us here, though, is that it, in turn, contains the noun phrase ensi2.k lagas=ak ‘the ruler of Lagash’, which functions as an apposition with the proper noun gù.dé.a ‘Gudea’, sharing the ergative case marker with it (§5.3). Furthermore, the noun phrase ensi2.k lagas=ak itself contains a noun phrase in the genitive case, lagas=ak ‘of Lagash’.
The next section (§5.2) gives a brief outline of what parts a noun phrase can contain. Each of these parts will be discussed in more detail in one of the following chapters. Two construc-tions, though, of noun phrases used as parts of a larger noun phrase will already receive a comprehensive treatment in this chapter: appositive (§5.3) and coordinated noun phrases (§5.4).