The Conjugational Prefixes i₃-ba and i₃-bi₂
Function and Phonological Change within the Sumerian Verbal Chain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65074/017be339Keywords:
الفعل السومري, السابقتينAbstract
The conjugational prefixes in the Sumerian language constitute essential markers that characterize the full verbal chain, and their occurrence varies according to the syntactic and semantic needs of the sentence. Multiple conjugational elements may appear together within a single verbal phrase, particularly the prefix i₃, which may combine with ba to form i₃-ba, realized phonetically as imma, or with bi₂ to form i₃-bi₂, which is realized as immi.
Consequently, scholars have proposed various interpretations for these compound forms—interpretations that have often moved away from recognizing i₃-ba and i₃-bi₂ themselves. In reality, however, these forms represent the original conjugational prefixes im-ma and im-mi. Thus, the phenomenon in question is best understood as a phonological development of the two prefixes.
This will be demonstrated through evidence drawn from verbal transitivity, the appearance of post-positional (ventive) infixes, and the number of participants involved in the verbal action. These features will be shown clearly in verbal constructions containing the conjugational prefixes im-ma and im-mi.
References
1- سجى مؤيد عبد اللطيف، قواعد اللغة السومرية في ضوء سلالة لكش الأولى، أطروحة دكتوراه غير منشورة، جامعة بغداد،2004.
المصادر الاجنبية
1-Attinger, P. (1993). Éléments de linguistique sumérienne: La construction de du11/e/di “dire”. Orbis Biblicus et Orientailis, Sonderban,p.286.
2- Delnero, P. A. (2010). The Sumerian verbal prefixes im-ma- and im-mi-. In L. Kogan, N. Koslova, S. Loesov, & S. Tishchenko (Eds.), Language in the ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 53e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Moscow–Saint Petersburg, 23–28 July 2007 (Vol. 4/2, pp. 535–536). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
3-Limet, H. 1971. "Le poème épique 'Inanna et Ebih'. Une version des lignes 123 à 182". In Orientalia 40. 11-28.
4-Krecher, J. (1985). Die /m/-Präfixe des sumerischen Verbums. Orientalia Nova Series, 54,pp. 133–181.
5-Michalowski, P. (2004), Sumerian In R. D. Woodard (Ed.), The Cambridge encyclopedia of the world’s ancient languages Cambridge University Press., pp. 19–59.
6- Thomsen, M. L. (1984). The Sumerian language: An introduction to its history and grammatical structure. Copenhagen.
7- Zamudio,J, R. (2013). Antología de textos sumerios. Alicante: UA diciones
المصادر الالكترونية
ETCSL: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
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