In the lessons below, youll be introduced to aspects of sumerian grammar in hopefully bite sized chunks. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The publication of a new sumerian grammar is a rare event. Bram jagersma, including his 749page dissertation, a descriptive grammar of sumerian home page of daniel a. A sumerian word consists of a stem which may have one or more grammatical morphemes attached to it. Some remarks on the oblique object in jagersmas descriptive sumerian grammar. For that purpose one should study bram jagersmas magnificent work 2010. It concludes with a sketch of a number of theo logical, ethical, and literary ideas of the sumerians which seem. From the time of the publication of his revised dissertation, isumerian grammar in babylonian theoryi 1984, a reconsideration of the old. Sumerian nouns are organized in two grammatical genders based on. Sumeriangrammarlesson two possessives wikibooks, open.
The akkadian sources of the presargonic period are limited in size and number. If any of the lessons are confusing, dont hesitate to edit them for style, or use the discussion boards for suggestions. Please read our short guide how to send a book to kindle. Jagersmas new description, based in many repects upon a subtle system of orthographic and morphophonological rules, is now popular especially in europe, and it may well become the accepted description among many current students of sumerian grammar. A descriptive grammar of sumerian leiden university. Some of the most beautiful sumerian inscriptions are of this type, to be found in museums all over the world. Yet another suggestion about the origins of the sumerian. Sumerian morphology is preponderantly agglutinative. Review of hayes, a manual of sumerian grammar and texts, bior 50. Sumerian dictionary every letter must be pronounced. A descriptive grammar of sumerian leiden repository. Jagersmas monumental phd dissertation, a descriptive grammar of sumerian 2010 is a detailed reference grammar of the language building on the scholarly debates of the past. The sumerians called their language emegir eme language, gir of uncertain meaning, perhaps native classification.
Its position in a remote corner of the near east shows it to be a last remnant of the languages that preceded the arrival of semitic languages in the area. Anu the supreme god of heaven, enlil god of water, and ea god of magic were among the gods most worshipped by the sumerians. Pdf some remarks on the oblique object in jagersmas. A descriptive grammar of sumerian bram jagersma download. A newer restatement of the grammatical system is dietz otto edzards sumerian grammar leiden, 2003. Free introduction to sumerian grammar pdf its not as comprehensive as jagersma s work, but its perhaps more approachable for beginners. Jagersma s new description, based in many repects upon a subtle system of orthographic and morphophonological rules, is now popular especially in europe, and it may well become the accepted description among many current students of sumerian grammar. A manual of sumerian grammar and texts aids and research. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the module on successful completion of this module a student will be able to. It would have been useful, however, if the demarcations between exercises and grammatical explanations had been clearer. Sumerian was spoken several millennia ago in south mesopotamia now south iraq, the land between the tigris and euphrates rivers. More recent monographlength grammars of sumerian include dietz otto edzards 2003 sumerian grammar and bram jagersmas 2010 a descriptive grammar of sumerian currently digital, but soon to be printed in revised form by oxford university press.
Sumerian language project gutenberg selfpublishing. For that purpose, one should study bram jagersmas magnificent work 2010. Topics sumerian, mesopotamian, babylonian collection opensource. There are no vocabulary lists or exercises and there are only two cuneiform characters in the entire book. The sumerian gods personified local elements and natural forces. Foxvogs online available introduction to sumerian grammar2016. This book is not intended to be a comprehensive grammar of sumerian. During the 3rd millennium bc, an intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the sumerians and the semiticspeaking akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism. Pitfalls and peculiarities in the study of sumerian pdf. Details of the sumerian cuneiform script, the worlds oldest writing.
Author bram jagersma date 04 november 2010 links full text in leiden university repository. Primary sources, consisting of inscriptions written in the akkadian language. In this paper there are some presented linguistic data and examples, suggesting that the sumerian is not a language isolate, as it is regarded so far, but that it may be classified as an r. Syllabic signs are used in sumerian primarily to write grammatical elements. Sumerian langauge copenhagen, 19872, where additional information and further examples can often be found for individual topics. Vowels a as in father e as in whey i as in antique o as in boat but rarely found u as in zulu consonants most consonants are basically the same as in english. It represents my attempts to understand the old babylonian understanding of sumerian grammar and the methodological differences between their way of operating and ours. The louvre houses an impressive collection of all types of sumerian documents, for example. There are no sumerian complementary verbs thomsen 1984.
Introductory sumerian masters 15pnmc429 soas university. Sumerian comes from the akkadian sumeru, of unknown meaning. Sumerian grammar bibliography compiled by carsten peust, 2017 intended to be complete from 1970 on, selective prior to that date. You will not learn to translate a sumerian text from this book. Introductory sumerian 155900103 soas university of london. At the end of the module the student should have acquired knowledge and understanding of basic sumerian grammar. An introduction to the grammar of sumerian avaxhome. Halloran the following lexicon contains 1,255 sumerian logogram words and 2,511 sumerian compound words. A logogram is a reading of a cuneiform sign which represents a word in the spoken language. After my graduation in 1988, i wanted to do a phd on the grammar of the old sumerian texts from lagash, with the aim to write a synchronic grammar of a single sumerian dialect. Ir 15 native tongue is the language of ancient sumer and a language isolate that was spoken in mesopotamia modernday iraq. It was his dissertation, so expect more up to date terminology and currents trends for understanding the grammar.
This book should be accompanied by the basic sumerian glossary, but is still useable without it with a little creativity on the part of the user. This essay, which elaborates upon my earlier articles huber 200711, 200812, is not on sumerian grammar or at least only indirectly so. More recent monographlength grammars of sumerian include dietz otto edzards 2003 sumerian grammar and bram jagersma s 2010 a descriptive grammar of sumerian currently digital, but soon to be printed in revised form by oxford university press. Sumerian is the language of ancient sumer and a language isolate that was spoken in. The sumerians held the belief that a sacred ritual marriage between the ruler and inanna, goddess of love and fertility, brought rich harvests. A manual of sumerian grammar and texts aids and research tools in ancient near eastern studies, no 5 hayes, john l. A manual of sumerian grammar and texts aids and research tools in ancient near eastern studies, no 5.
A descriptive grammar of sumerian universiteit leiden. The pdf version of the grammar is always synchronized with the html version. Its not as comprehensive as jagersmas work, but its perhaps more approachable for beginners. Mapping the sumerian mind conceptual metaphor patterns in sumerian language erika marsal. For that purpose one should study bram jagersma s magnificent work 2010. Conceptual metaphor patterns in sumerian language erika. Long before the bible, there were the sumerian tablets. Vocabulary studies are not normally included, with some exceptions for highly grammaticalized words. Its hard to come across evidence that is conclusive about how life really was back then, but suffice to say that sumeria has always been a. On the old babylonian understanding of sumerian grammar. I want to stress that in order to the learn sumerian grammar you need to work side by side with textscuneiform. The sumerians were possibly the earliest society to emerge in the world, in southern mesopotamia more than 5000 years ago. Sumeriangrammar wikibooks, open books for an open world. How should i go about learning akkadian or sumerian.
Jagersma is also a good source for learning the grammar if you cant get your hands on thomsen. Sep 04, 2015 this essay, which elaborates upon my earlier articles huber 200711, 200812, is not on sumerian grammar or at least only indirectly so. The sumerian language still keeps the prestigious position of being the first ever written language. Secondary sources, such as akkadian proper names and loan words appearing in sumerian inscriptions. Sumerian grammar in babylonian theory studia pohl, series maior, 12. Jan 04, 2016 sumerian langauge copenhagen, 19872, where additional information and further examples can often be found for individual topics.
This grammar describes the sumerian language on the basis of written sources dating. Morpheme boundaries are easily identifiable and have from one to three syllables each. Akkadian writing and grammar contain practically the same number of pages, the second edition is twothirds larger in terms of contents than the first edition. The influence of sumerian and the east semitic language akkadian on each. Isbn 9004126082 dietz edzard s sumerian grammar is not a book for an absolute beginner. An introduction to the sumerian script and grammar, to include readings from elementary texts such as early dynastic royal inscriptions, the inscriptions of gudea and ur iii kings, etc. Sumerian grammar by dietz otto edzard bram jagersma. My experience as a teacher has been that for students of sumerian, it is intimidating and frustrating to have to face so much uncertainties and vagueness when starting to learn sumerian.