V. V.

Emelianov

AKKADIAN LOANWORDS IN SUMERIAN REVISED1

Статья содержит пересмотренные и исправленные результаты

предыдущих русскоязычных публикаций автора на данную тему. В
ней рассматриваются аккадские заимствования в шумерском языке,
проводится морфологическая, семантическая и грамматическая клас-
сификация 369 шумерских лексем.
Ключевые слова: шумерский язык, аккадский язык, аккадизмы в
шумерском, шумерские этимологии, шумерская картина мира.

Sumerian etymology is a problematic field due to the well-

known indeterminacy of the language’s genetic relationship. This
leads to a lot of speculations, the authors of which compared
Sumerian words with lexemes (mainly nouns) of various languages
by similarity of sound (Ahlberg, Yoshiwara 1991; Autran 1925; Ball
1913; Bengtson 1997; Braun 2001; Fournet 2011; Gostony 1975;
Militarev 1995; Parpola 2010; Rubio 1999; Whittaker 1998)2. Much
more correct approach was demonstrated by I. M. Diakonoff who
compared not only nouns and verbs, but also grammatical markers of
Sumerian and Munda languages (Diakonoff 1997). To my mind,
more promising would be method of the gradual reconstruction of
Sumerian etymology. The first step of it is studying of loanwords:
from Akkadian and Semitic terms to Hurrian, Elamite and probable
Proto-Indo-European lemmata. This article aims to present an
overview of the plausible Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian.
In his Sumerian grammar the outstanding Assyriologist
D. O. Edzard wrote: “The CAD volumes […] include ca. 13.630
Akkadian lemmata. Of these, about 980 are Sumerian lonwords (ca.
1
The article contains reviewed and corrected results of my papers
previously published in Russian (Emelianov 2006; 2009; 2010a; 2011;
Emelianov 2013). All papers were discussed with Professor Manfred
Krebernik, to whom I am grateful for the invitation to the University of Jena
under academic exchange program. I also convey my heartfelt thanks to Ilya
Khait (Jena-Leipzig) and Alexei Kassian (Moscow) for their critical reading
of this paper.
2
For example, Chadic nVrV = lVrV: Mpn lāar ‘boulder, stone’ // Akk. narû
‘stone monument, boundary stone’ (Stolbova 2005: 95). In fact, Akk. narû
< Sumer. na-dru-a ‘erected stone’. Chadic lugu ‘a man’ // Sumerian lugal
‘military leader, king’ (Stolbova 2005: 64). In reality, lugal < lu2 ‘adult
man’ + gal ‘big’.
484 V. V. Emelianov

320 of which are only attested in lexical lists). This count yields a
little above 7% of Sumerian loanwords in Akkadian vocabulary […]
Unfortunately, no corresponding data may so far be offered for
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian because Sumerian lexicography is
still in its infancy […] There are only about 13 words of Akkadian
origin among ca. 350 entries in PSD B; of these 13,5 occur only in
lexical lists. This count yields 3, 7% of Akkadian loanwords for
Sumerian words beginning with the letter B” (Edzard 2003: 178).
Five years before him J. Bauer counted 32 Akkadian loanwords of
Old Sumerian time, mainly relating to the spheres of economic
activity, trade and military affairs (Bauer 1998: 437). Recently two
remarkable works on the Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian came off
print. G. Steiner issued a large inventory of Akkadisms in Sumerian,
placing 90 words alphabetically and by type of phonetic transitions
(Steiner 2003: 630–647). More recently, W. Sommerfeld published a
study of Early Semitisms in Sumerian from Protoliterate signs of
Uruk to archaic texts from Ur, Ebla and Fara. He averaged 14
Semitisms of the late-Uruk period (3200–3000 B.C.) and 36 words of
probable Semitic origin in the texts of later ages (XXVII–XXIV
centuries) (Sommerfeld 2006: 30–75). Also of interest is a recently
published article by M.Civil “Early Semitic loanwords in Sumerian”
(Civil 2007: 11–34), based mainly on the lexical texts of II–I
millennium BC.
All these works represent a big step forward in the study of this
problem, but they also have some remarkable drawbacks.
Sommerfeld mixes Semitisms with Akkadisms without separating
one of them from another. Steiner gives a continuous list of words
without specifying age and sources. It's not quite productive in
methodological aspect, since the types of inflection and phonetic
transitions changed from time to time. The same applies to Civil’s
paper. Therefore, additional work on the chronological arrangement
of Akkadian loanwords is necessary. One should also pay attention
to what kind of theme prevails in Akkadisms of certain time, which
is important for the reconstruction of the Sumerian picture of the
world through the lexical database.
The most recent Russian academic essay on Sumerian contains
section 2.6.0. “The source, amount, and the role of lexical
borrowing” (Vizirova, Kaneva, Koslova 2010: 88–92). It seems
necessary to review its conclusions. The authors notice that Akka-
dian verbs borrowed in the Sumerian language for the most part in
the form of Stative 3 Sg masc. Some Semitic verb stems
reinterpreted in the Sumerian language as containing nominal and
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 485

verbal part and look like Sumerian compound verbs. Akkadian nouns
could be borrowed in three forms: 1) base without flexion; 2) base
with a morpheme – a; 3) base with the ending -um. Borrowing the
first two types are characteristic for pre-Sargonic time, while
Akkadian loanwords ending -um are typical for Sargonic and Neo-
Sumerian periods. This section contains 64 lemmata, including:
Fara – 7
Abu-Salabikh and Ebla – 3
Old Sumerian – 22
Sargonic and Neo-Sumerian – 27
Old Babylonian – 5
It is noted that in the pre-Sargonic period names of tools,
products, legal and business vocabulary, the names of social and
religious institutions were often borrowed. In Old Akkadian and
Neo-Sumerian texts semantic groups of loanwords include designa-
tions of posts, cultic terms and names of holidays, names of plants
and animals, weapons, everyday life objects (furniture, utensils,
household items) (Vizirova, Kaneva, Koslova 2010: 88 – 90).
However, this section is not even a preliminary description of the
subject. One should note the obvious haste in the conclusions of the
authors. Akkadian verbs can be borrowed in the Sumerian not only in
the form of stative, but in the infinitive form (buluh < palācu, šu huz
< šūcuzu) (Vizirova, Kaneva, Koslova 2010: 91), as well as in a
more complex form of the truncation of the first vowel and
converting of ending -u to -a (as in the case ha-za < acāzu). Akka-
dian nouns included in the Sumerian language, not only in the three
forms, but also with the ending -u, without mimation (guziu < kussa /
i'um, hutpu < cutpum), and with the ending -i (erišti < erištum).
As the authors rightly note, “the current state of the Sumerian
lexicography does not allow us a full statistical calculations of
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian” (Vizirova, Kaneva, Koslova
2010: 88). However, the striving for such calculations is still
necessary. The basis of our work is the data of the online Sumerian
dictionaries (CDLA, ePSD, ETCSL) and a few text groups (primarily
royal inscriptions and economic texts (Behrens, Steible 1983; Gelb,
Kienast 1990). One should mention that the present work is
dedicated to the same language pair as S. Lieberman’s study on the
Sumerian loanwords in Akkadian, but regards the opposite direction
of borrowing (Lieberman 1977).
486 V. V. Emelianov

I. Pre-Ur III
Akkadian/Semitic Loanwords
-ø
1. abal ‘dry asphalt’ < abālu ‘to dry’ (G) aCaC OS
2. alad ‘a spirit, genius’ < w/maldu ‘born’ < walādu ‘to bear’ (R)
aCaC Gudea
3. burud ‘breach, hole, depth’ < būrtu (G) CuCuC OAkk
4. damgar, damgargal ‘merchant, senior merchant’, < tamkāru <
makāru ‘to sell for silver; to plan’ (Steiner 2003: 634) (J)
CaCCaC OS
5. garaš = karāšum ‘leek’ (G) CaCaC OS
6. gim (ginx) ‘like, just as’ (equative case) < kīma (Steiner 2003: 633)
Case CiC OS
7. gi(-n) < kên ‘(to be) permanent, true’ (Steiner 2003: 633;
Sommerfeld 2006: 61) Adj CiC OS
8. libir ‘old’ < labir < labāru ‘to be old’ (Steiner 2003: 633) Adj
CiCiC OS
9. lulim ‘stag’ < lulīmu (Steiner 2003: 634) (F) CuCiC OAkk
10. MAŠ+GAN2, maš-gan2 < maškānu ‘settlement’ (Steiner 2003: 633;
Sommerfeld 2006: 52) (M) CaCCaC OS
11. me-limx ‘frightening splendor’ < me ‘magic force’ + la’mu ‘ashes’
(or Semitic lm‘ ‘to shine’) > melammu (Emelianov 2010b: 1109–
1119) (R) CeCiC OS
12. mundu (mun-du) < mundu ‘groats’ (Powell 1986: 12–16)
(G) CuCCu OS
13. (m)uzug < masācu, masāku, mašāku ‘a ritually unclean, impure
person’ (Emelianov 2013) (R) CuCuC Gudea
14. nemur ‘leopard’ < nimru (F) CeCuC Gudea
15. rib ‘to be surpassing, outstanding’ < rabû ‘to be big, great’
(V) CiC OS
16. sam/sa12-rig7 ‘to donate’ < šarik < šarāku (Steiner 2003: 631) 3
(V) CaCCiC OS
17. sam2 < šīmu ‘purchase price’ < šâmu ‘to buy’ (Steiner 2003: 634;
Sommerfeld 2006: 57) (E) CaC OS
18. šeg9-bar, šenbar, sa-bar < s/šapparu ‘a deer or mountain goat’
(Kogan 2006: 278; Civil 2007: 21) (F) CeCCaC OAkk

3
ePSD: LEX/Old Babylonian/Sippar [[<(sam)> rig7]] = [...] =
[PA].KAB#.DU# = še-ri#-[ik]-tum!# ‘a gift’ OB Diri Sippar Seg.7, 8;
[[<(sam)> rig7]] = ša-ra#-[kum] ‘to donate’ OB Diri Sippar Seg.7, 9.
LEX/Old Babylonian/unknown [[<(sam)> rig7]] = ša-ra-kum OB Diri
“Oxford” 280. unknown/Old Babylonian/unknown sam rig7-ga = re-eš ši-ri-
ik-tim ‘the main gift’ (MSLSSI: 17–27 i 49).
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 487

19. silim ‘to be healthy; completeness; well-being’ < šalim, salīmu <
s/šalāmu (Steiner 2003: 634) (R) CiCiC OS
20. suhuš (var. s/šuruš) ‘foundation, base, root’ < šuršu (Civil 2007: 31)
(T) Gudea
21. sum < šūmu ‘garlic’ (Steiner 2003: 634; Sommerfeld 2006: 64)
(G) CuC OS
22. su-lim ‘awesome radiance’ (cf. me-limx) < su ‘body’ + la’mu
‘ashes’ (or Semitic lm‘ ‘to shine’) > šalummatu (R) CuCiC Gudea
23. uz ‘goose’ < usu (Militarev, Kogan 2005: 32; Sommerfeld 2006: 66)
(F) uC OS
24. sumur ‘angry’ < šamru (ePSD) Adj CuCuC Gudea
25. šurme(n) ‘cypress’ < šurmīnu (ePSD) (G) CuCCeC OS
26. uz3 ‘goat’ < enzu (Steiner 2003: 642; Sommerfeld 2006: 66)
(F) uC OS

-a
27. ab-ba ‘father’ < abu (Steiner 2003: 632) (K) aCCa OS
28. amra ‘beam, timber’ < amrû (G) aCCa OS
29. arzana ‘groats’ < arsānu (Steiner 2003: 632) (E) aCCaCa OAkk
30. damhara ‘battle’ < tamcāru < macāru ‘to take, to accept’ (Steiner
2003: 634) (P) CaCCaCa OS
31. dim2-ma < ṭēmu ‘thought, planning, instruction’ (Steiner 2003: 634)
(Ab) CiCCa OAkk
32. gi(-na) < kên ‘true’ (Steiner 2003: 633; Sommerfeld 2006: 61) Adj
CiC OS
33. malga ‘(fore)thought, plan(ning); understanding; instruction, advice’
< malga < milku < malāku ‘to give advice’ (Steiner 2003: 633)
(P) CaCCa OS
34. habuda (urudha-bu(2,3,6)-da) ‘hoe, ax’ < cap/būtum (T) CaCuCa OAkk
35. ibila ‘heir’ < aplu < apālu ‘respond to someone, follow someone’
(Steiner 2003: 632) (K) iCiCa OS
36. ishu = iscu ‘Zuweisung’ (AHw: 387); ‘allocation ?’ (ePSD) (E) iCCu
Gudea
37. išgana (iš-gana2) ‘an extra payment’ = iškinū ‘a supplementary
payment’ (ePSD) (E) OAkk
38. lahama ‘a mythical sea monster’ < lacmu (Militarev, Kogan 2005:
197–199) (F) CaCaCa Gudea
39. lidga < litiktu ‘measuring vessel, a unit of capacity’ (Powell 1987–
90: 495, 497) (E) CiCCa OS
40. mada ‘country, state’ < mātu (Steiner 2003: 633) (P) CaCa OS
41. mana ‘a unit of weight’ < manû ‘to count’ (Steiner 2003: 633;
Sommerfeld 2006: 63) (E) CaCa
488 V. V. Emelianov

42. na-gada < nāqidum ‘herdsman’ (Steiner 2003: 634) (J) CaCaCa OS
43. nam-ugula ‘position of foreman’, см. ugula (P)
44. ni3-gi-na ‘permanence, truth’ < ni3 ‘thing’ + gina (< kên)
‘permanent’ (R) CiCiCa Gudea
45. ragaba ‘rider’ < rākibum < rakābu ‘to ride’ (Steiner 2003: 634)
(M) CaCaCa OAkk
46. šagina, šakkanak ‘governor’ < šakkanakku < ša3 ‘heart’ + gina
(< kên) ‘true’ (P) CaCiCa OS
47. šabra ‘administrator of a temple or other household’ < šāpirum <
šapāru ‘to send, to give instructions’ (Steiner 2003: 634) (P)
CaCCa OS
48. u3 < u ‘and’ (C) u OS
49. ugula < ‘foreman, overseer’ < waklum < wakālu ‘to trust smth. to
smbd.’ (Steiner 2003: 634; Sommerfeld 2006: 65) (P) uCuCa OS
50. ugula-e2 ‘foreman of a temple’, cf. ugula (P)
51. umma ‘old woman’ < ummu ‘mother’ (Steiner 2003: 634)
(K) uCCa OS
52. za-aš2-da (zi-iz-da, zi-iš-da) ‘crime, reimbursement’ < sartu, saštu <
sarāru ‘to tell lies, to be dishonest man’ (Wilcke 1991: 13–14;
Steiner 2003: 643) (L) CaCCa OS

-i
53. dari ‘eternity’ < dārītum < dawāru ‘to be continued’ (Steiner 2003:
633) (R) CaCi OS
54. sagi, šagia ‘cup-bearer’ < šāqû (šāqi’u) < šaqû ‘to water’ (Steiner
2003: 634) (J) CaCi OS

-u/um
55. budum < būdum ‘metal vessel’ (Sommerfeld 2006: 48)
(T) CuCuC OS
56. ginatum ‘guarantee’ < kawānu ‘to be constant, permanent, true’
(Steiner 2003: 633; Sommerfeld 2006: 48) (E) CiCaCuC OS
57. leum ‘writing board’ < lē’um < Semitic lwh (Steiner 2003: 633)
(T) CeuC Gudea
58. mar6-ra-tum ‘weapon’ < marratum, marrum (P) CaCCaCuC Gudea
59. mayaltum (ma-al-tum) ‘bed, sledge’ < mayyaltum (ePSD)
(T) CaCCaCCuC OAkk
60. mitum ‘a divine weapon’ < mittum (Steiner 2003: 634)
(P) CiCCuC OAkk
61. murnisku ‘young equid’ < murnisqu < mūr ‘young male donkey’+
nisqu ‘the best’ (F) CuCCiCCu Gudea
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 489

62. mušalum / mašalum ‘mirror’ < mušālum < mašālu ‘to be like smbd.
or smth.’ (T) CuCaCuC OAkk
63. nakabtum ‘stockyard’ < nagabtum (E) CaCaCCuC OAkk
64. našparum ‘kind of garment’ < našparum (E) CaCCaCuC OAkk
65. nisku ‘the best’ < nisqu < nasāqu ‘to choose’ (Steiner 2003: 634)
(Adj) CiCCu OAkk
66. rabum ‘grandee’ < rabûm (P) CaCuC OAkk
67. satu = šadû ‘mountain’ (ePSD) (G) CaCu Gudea
68. situm (si3-i-tum) ‘balance’ < šiātum < šêtu ‘to remain’
(E) CiCuC OAkk
69. šergum < šerkum ‘a string of fruit’ (ePSD) (E) CeCCuC OAkk
70. zahum ‘a metal basin’ < šācum (E) CaCuC OAkk
71. zatum ‘type of flour’ < zātum (E) CaCuC OS
72. zi-ri-lum/num, zi-ri-gum < zirīqum ‘an irrigation device, may be
shadouf’ (Sommerfeld 2006: 49) (T) CiCiCuC OS

Substratum/Adstratum
73. a-ru12-da (urudu) < werûm ‘copper’ (Sommerfeld 2006: 60)
(G) aCuCa OS
74. buršuma ‘widow, old woman’ < puršumu ‘old man, old woman’
(ePSD) (M) CuCCuCa OS
giš
75. e-ra-num2 (G) ‘a tree’ (?) (G) eCaCuC Gudea
76. gada < kitûm ‘cotton’ (Sommerfeld 2006: 56) (G) CaCa OS
77. harran = carrānu ‘route, path’ (ePSD; Kassian 2010/2011: 411) (G)
CaCCaC OS
78. hazi, hazin ‘an axe’ < cayyinnu < cayāyu ‘to hack’ (Steiner 2003:
633) (T) CaCi Gudea
giš
79. zabalum = sapālum, supālum ‘conifer tree’ (MAD 3: 240) (G)
CaCaCuC ‘juniper’ (?) (G) CaCaCuC Gudea

Dubia
80. alam/n ‘statue; form’ < yalmu (Steiner 2003: 643; Sommerfeld 2006:
60) (R) aCaC OS
81. amar ‘son, calf’ < māru ‘son’ (K) aCaC OS
82. anzu(d) (?) 4 ‘bird of destiny’ < anzû < Semitic‘nz/zz (Militarev,
Kogan 2005: 71–72) (F) aCCuC OS
83. biluda (pi-lu5-da) ‘ritual order’ < bēlūtu ‘power’ < ba‘ālu ‘to rule’ >
pelludû5 (Steiner 2003: 633) (R) CiCuCa OS

4
Or may be dIm-dugud (Alster 1991: 1–5).
5
ePSD: LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur biluda(PA.AN) OB Nippur Lu 172;
[[biluda]] = = PA.AN = pe2-el-lu-<du>-u2-um OB Diri Nippur 360;
490 V. V. Emelianov

84. di < dīnum ‘judgement’ (cf. di-ku5 = dīnum dânu ‘to judge’) (Steiner
2003: 643; Sommerfeld 2006: 61) (L) Ci OS
85. gi < qanû ‘reed’ (Steiner 2003: 643; Sommerfeld 2006: 62)
(G) Ci OS
86. halam ‘(to be) bad, evil; to forsake, forget; to destroy’ < calāqu ‘to
disappear, to die’ (Steiner 2003: 643)6 (V) CaCaC OS
87. IR 11 (urdud, arad, ere3) < wardum ‘slave’ (probably, from warādu
‘to remove, to lower’; (Krecher 1987: 7–19; Steiner 2003: 634;
Sommerfeld 2006: 62) (P) iC OS
88. keš(-d/ra) ‘to bind, to tie’ < kayāru ‘to bind, to tie’7 (V) CeCCa
89. pa4-šeš < pašīšu ‘a priest’ < pašāšu ‘to anoint’ (Steiner 2003: 634;
Krispijn 2004: 105–112; Sommerfeld 2006: 57) (R) CaCeC OS
90. suhur ‘to trim or comb the hair’ < šārtu < ša‘rtu (š‘r)8 ‘hair’ (Civil
2007: 30) (M) CuCuC OS
91. šita (nam-šita) < tištālum ‘a weapon’ (Wilcke 2005: 430–445)
(T) CiCa OS
92. ušum (ušumgal) ‘dragon’ < bašmu ‘type of snake’ (Steiner 2003:
643; Sommerfeld 2006: 58) (F) uCuC OS

Anlaut
Labial: w > u, w > ø (aruda, arad), b > ø (ušum)
Dental: d > t, ṭ > d
Gutturals: k > g, q > g
Sibilants: š > s, š > z, s > z
Nasals: m > m

[[biluda]] = = = up-ša-šu-u2 ‘magic’ OB Diri Nippur 361. LEX/Old

Babylonian/Sippar [[biluda]] = bi-lu-da = PA.AN = pi2-il-lu-du-u2 up-ša-
šu OB Diri Sippar Seg.7, 18. LEX/Old Babylonian/unknown
[[biluda/marza]] = = = [up]-ša-šu-u2 OB Diri “Oxford” 290; [[biluda]] = =
[PA.X] = pa#-ar#-yum ša pi2-lu-<di> ‘ritual (about rite)’ OB Diri “Oxford”
291.
6
Or may be borrowing from the West Semitic hlm with the same meaning
(Civil 2007: 19).
7
ePSD: lu2.zu2.keš2-da = be-el ki-iy-ri ‘lord of connection’ (lu2-azlag B =
C, 8, 7). It is difficult to explain this phonetic transition. Either we have
initially Sumerian verb with /dr/-ending, or there is a trace of very old
borrowing from kiyru. Then we can propose kiyru > kezra > keš(d)ra.
8
Borrowing from South Semitic is also quite possible (Civil 2007: 30).
According to ePSD: LEX/ED IIIb/Ebla [[suhur]] = SUHUR = šu-hu-ru12-
um Ebla Sign List 31. LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [[suhur]] = su2-hu#-
ur# = SUHUR = qi3-im-ma-tum ‘tuft of hair’ OB Aa 809:1. LEX/Old
Babylonian/unknown lu2 suhur = ša qi4-ma-tim OB Lu-Azlag A 388; lu2
suhur la2 = ke-ez-rum ‘hairstyle’ OB Lu-Azlag A 389; lu2 suhur = ša qi4-
im-ma-tim
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 491

Inlaut
Vowels: a > i, i > e, ē > i
Dental: t > d, t > t
Gutturals: k > g, q > k
Sibilants: s > z, y > z
Laryngeals: ‘ > c
Sonants: r > c

Several words in G. Steiner’s list are difficult to accept. For

example, it is a common place to derive Sumerian sa-gaz ‘murderer,
thief’ from Akkadian šaggāšu ‘killer’ (Steiner 2003: 634). But it is
necessary to pay attention to:
a) a separate occurrence of the verb gaz in Old Sumerian royal
inscriptions from Lagash with meaning ‘to slaughter’;
b) excellent Sumerian etymology of this compound word (sa
‘sinew’, gaz ‘to cut, to slaughter’, i.e, ‘the cutter of sinews’);
c) the occurrence in the Sumerian language combinations kind of
e2-gu4-gaz ‘house of slaughtering oxen’, sam-gaz ‘cutter of heads’9.
The big surprise is Steiner’s etymology aratta ‘praise, glory’
from Akkadian tanattu with the same meaning (Steiner 2003: 643). It
is known Akkadian word arattû ‘excellent, excellent quality’, which
became then ‘nice’. The Akkadian word formed from the Sumerian
word Aratta – i.e., from the place or country named Aratta whose
goods were known in Sumerian time for their excellent quality. Also
Aratta was a synonym of something important and glorious (as well
as Dilmun)10.

9
In the Sumerian language, verbs of type CaC with final -z are extremely
rare. Besides gaz, there is only maz (< Drehem mazbium) ‘to rejoice, enjoy’.
It could be a root derived from a Semitic verbal noun. Quite probably, gaz
has a similar origin. The ePSD gives such Akkadian equivalents as: cayāyu
‘to cut off, break off’ (also Arabic, Ethiopian) (AHw: 330), kayāyu/gayāyu
‘to cut off, bite off, grind’ (the Semitic qyy ‘abschneiden’) (AHw: 457; Lane
VII: 2526). Sign GAZ can also be read as GAY/ KAY (Labat 1952: 192).
See also writing of GAZ as KAZ8 and correspondence ka-azKAZ = ka-ya-yu
(CT 12, 20a II: 8) (Aa). Transition y > z in Auslaut is well-known (at least,
paryu > garza), and variants k/g stand for q in cuneiform writing. Thus,
there are strong reasons to believe that the Sumerian verb gaz in two
variants of its writing – gaz, kaz8 – can be derived from the Semitic verb
qyy, also with two variants of writing – kayāyu/gayāyu.
10 dil-mu-un
NI+TUKUki = kab-tu ‛heavy, important’ (Ea II 39; Diri VI C 121;
Igituh I 258); a-rat-taLAMxKUR.RUki = kab-tum (Diri IV 88; Proto-Diri
547a).
492 V. V. Emelianov

Another strange etymology derives Sumerian šu bal ‘to change,

modify, turn over’ from Akkadian šupêlu with the same sense
(Steiner 2003: 634). Sumerian compound verb may be perfectly
decomposed into noun šu ‘hand’ and verb bal ‘turn’, and the root
form šupêlu has no Semitic equivalents in the dictionaries of
Akkadian (AHw: 1279; CAD Š 3: 320–323). So, most likely, we can
probably talk about reverse borrowing – from Sumerian to Akkadian.

Akkadian loanwords borrowed before Ur III give us unique data

for understanding the origin of many features and categories of
Sumerian culture. The Sumerians were taken from the eastern
Semites:
a) all business vocabulary (as sales agent, scales, a measure of
weight, price, deficit) ;
b) all major religious categories (ritual, proper order of things ,
the truth , eternity, terrible radiance, the greeting of prosperity);
c) the concept of guilt, sin ;
d) the military terminology and some weapons ;
d ) terms for the nobles and the temple administrators;
e) the term refer to the slave.
This list highlights all abstract categories of religion and law, and
the vocabulary of trade is abstract as well. In the Sumerian language,
there was no such word as ‘eternity’: to say ‘forever’, one had to use
a complicated construction ud ul-li2-a-še3 ‘on the early days’, in the
sense ‘on the days that had already passed’, which was related to an
idea of cyclical time. The Semitic /dari/ is much shorter and more
parsimonious for the language. The same goes for silim (... du11) ‘to
be prosperous, to wish someone well-being’ (silim he2-me-en ‘be
healthy!’), which is shorter and more convenient than the Sumerian
inim-du10 ... du11 ‘to tell someone a good word’. To talk about the
ritual and the true world order in the Sumerian language is possible
only through a use of the noun me. Meanwhile, me originally meant
only the vitality and the attributes of an animate subject, and it did
not mean ‘a rite, a ritual’ in archaic texts. This meaning of the noun
me was adopted as late as after its comparison with both an Akkadian
word paryu and its derivative marza dated back to the Second
dynasty of Lagash. Consequently, it is necessary to note an influence
of this Semitism to an expansion of the semantic field of the
Sumerian word. The adjective zid ‘right, true’ originates from a
certain direction (šu-zid ‘right hand’); however, this adjective can
represent neither the truth of an abstract judgment nor the world
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 493

order. Only the Akkadism /gina/ can bind the two categories –
‘permanence’ and ‘truth’ – into a single category ni3-gi-na. No less
important for the formation of the abstract categories of the Sumerian
culture was an introduction of the term for a legally punishable
offense of a person. We know only two words for this concept. The
first one is lul ‘the lies, treachery, a criminal’; the second one is
zašda ‘falsehood, dishonesty, crime’. Both words indicate the right
connection between the telling of lies, dishonesty and crime. There is
also a word ni3-gig ‘a black thing’, meaning ‘a taboo and taboo-
breaking’. Still, this term was associated only with witchcraft and
spoilage rather than with a category of law; however, unlike all the
foregoing, zašda had an additional meaning of ‘a punishment for the
crime’.
An adoption of Semitic derivatives from the root rbj ‘to be great,
to be a ruler’ by the Sumerian language was quite a remarkable fact:
up to then, the dominant position had been represented in Sumerian
only by one of the two definitions of the noun: -gal ‘great’ or -mah
‘high’. Since the Akkadian time, it became possible to omit both
definitions and to call a nobleman with one convenient word. The
borrowing of the word mātu, meaning not only ‘a country’ (for
which there was a Sumerian word kalam ‘our territory’) but also ‘the
state’, is worth mentioning. It is likely that the borrowing of quite a
number of trade-related terms may indicate an underdeveloped state
of trade and exchange before Sumerians had contacted with the
Eastern Semites. An active use of an Akkadism damhara might be
explained through an assumption that the native Sumerian me3
‘battle’, when sputtered, had been heard as me ‘magic force’, so that
the meaning was eventually confused. As to the term for a slave, its
synonym in the Sumerian language has not been found, so this is
hard to say what it meant. Nevertheless, one may assume that the
practice of capturing slaves during the wars in the mountains and
then selling them used to be a profitable business among the Eastern
Semites, so it is only later that such a practice had been adopted by
Sumerians. On the other hand, the native Sumerian term for a slave
might simply have been substituted with a more accurate Akkadian
word.
Generally speaking, it may be concluded that the main reasons
for Sumerians to borrow words from the Akkadian language were as
follows: a) to achieve parsimony of speech, b) to get a greater degree
of abstracting from objects to ideas and ratios, c) to give proper
names to social and legal institutes that had been poorly developed,
such as state, council or legal punishments for social offences.
494 V. V. Emelianov

II. Ur III
By the end of the 3rd millennium BC, southern Mesopotamia had
gradually shifted to Semitic languages, the Akkadian and the
Amorite ones. The Akkadian language of the Neo-Sumerian period
has been recently described in a separate monograph (Hilgert 2002),
unlike the Sumerian language of the Ur III time, which has still been
waiting for further research. By the 21st century BC, the Sumerian
language had ceased to be spoken but saved its status at schools,
temples and offices. The larger part of the corpus of the Ur III
Sumerian texts consists of bureaucratic documents, including those
having quite a lot of common names that feature the Akkadian
structure and mimation. Evidence of these documents has been
collected by I. J. Gelb in “The Dictionary of the Old Akkadian
Language” (MAD 3). This dictionary is an extremely valuable
source, and, strangely enough, it has not been used much by the older
investigators of relations between the Akkadian and Sumerian
languages (Steiner 2003; Sommerfeld 2006). Gelb tended to apply
the term “Old Akkadian” to an entire time period of the initial
spreading of the Akkadian language in Mesopotamia – from casual
Akkadian loanwords of the Old Sumerian time to the Akkadian texts
of the Ur III (MAD 3: IX). He used to mark every Sumerian word
that has remained in the texts of the Ur III time and been featured
with mimation as “Akk. lw. in Ur III Sum.” (MAD 3: 15f). It is quite
possible that some of those words had been borrowed as early as
during the Sargonic period but later proved to appear within the
corpus of the texts of the Third Dynasty of Ur. Therefore, they may
be dated based on the time when they were written down; besides,
the fact that the Akkadian loanwords survived in the Sargonic texts
tend to appear in their altered forms counts in favor of an assumption
that they had been borrowed during the period of the Third Dynasty
of Ur.
I could agree with I. J. Gelb, who wrote in his grammar of the
Old Akkadian language: “A very large number of Akkadian words
used in the Sumerian language of the Ur III Period indicate a
growing influence of the Akkadian” (MAD 2: 17). Yet, there is an
opposite view. In M. Hilgert’s monograph on the Akkadian language
of the Ur III period, several pages are devoted to the problem of
Akkadian loanwords in the Sumerian language. The author’s position
about an Akkadian influence during this historical period is most
skeptical. First, a large number of craft-related terms and words for
trees are of a Semitic rather than of a purely Akkadian origin, and the
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 495

fact that they are mentioned in administrative texts may be explained

by a necessity to have used them as technical terms for naming
imported goods. Therefore, it was quite natural for craftsmen and
traders who were native speakers of Semitic languages (mainly the
West Semitic ones) to have been bringing some local words,
basically associated with a typical list of goods they used to sell, into
the languages of southern Mesopotamia. Second, according to
W. Sallaberger, a fast growth of the number of holidays that had
Semitic names was associated with a name Shulgisimtum. A wife of
Shulgi, the king of Ur, came from a northern region of Mesopotamia,
where those holidays were celebrated, and adopted the rituals of her
native land at the south of the country. It is characteristic that after
her death a number of Akkadisms in the names of Sumerian holidays
drastically reduced, so that many holidays had been completely
forgotten. Thus, according to M. Hilgert, unlikely are there any
objective reasons to consider that Akkadian words had been
appearing in the Sumerian everyday speech on a regular basis. It
means that Gelb’s list is not a reliable enough evidence to attest the
words featured with mimation as precisely Akkadian loanwords that
used to change the synchronous Sumerian vocabulary of the time
(Hilgert 2002: 80–85; Sallaberger 1993 I: 202).
Hilgert’s skepticism deserves attention; yet, one could hardly
agree with all his arguments. At the end of the 3rd millennium B. C.,
southern Mesopotamia was literally overflowed with Amorite tribes,
and each tribe contributed its own dialect to both Sumerian and
Akkadian vocabularies, which were dissolved in everyday speech
and later appeared in literary texts. Evidence of this is hymns to
Shulgi featured with an extensive use of Semitic words. Due to a
continuous growth of the Amorite influence in the south of Sumer,
from which the kings of Ur were unable to get protected even after
they had built the Great Wall, Semitic words might first adopt both
the Akkadian mimation and forms and then enter into the speech of
Sumerian native speakers. It is also worth noting that Sumerians
themselves might either invent words of an Akkadian paradigm that
are absent in Akkadian texts or readopt their own words bearing
Akkadian endings back from the Akkadian language. Words of this
sort undertook their long journey from language to language and,
therefore, became clear to all peoples of ancient Mesopotamia
without translation. At that point, there is a good reason to consider
certain Akkadian loanwords of the Ur III period as some vital
elements of interethnic communication.
496 V. V. Emelianov

Akkadian/Semitic Loanwords
-ø
93. baraš = naprušu ‘to fly’ (ePSD) (V) CaCCuCu
94. durah = turācu ‘wild mountain goat’ (ePSD; AHw: 1372) (F)
CuCaC
95. garan ‘bunch of fruit’ < karmu ‘heap, mound’ (CDA, 149; ePSD)
(G)
96. halulaya < callulaja ‘an insect’ (MAD 3: 128; AHw: 312
‘Maulwurfsgirlle’) (F) CaCuCaCa
97. katab = katammu, katappu ‘lid, cover’ (ePSD) (E) CaCaC
-a
giš
98. mašdara ( maš-dara3) ‘cuneiform inscription on the pedestal of
statue’ = maštaru ‘inscription’ (ePSD; AHw: 631) (Ab) CaCCaCa
99. simda (urudsimda) ‘brand, branding mark’ = šimtu ‘destiny,
predestination’ (T) CiCCa
100. šadurra, šeturum = šeturrum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 290; AHw: 1221)
(E) CaCuCCa, CeCuCuC
101. šinida, šinitum, sinitum = šinītum ‘kind of veil ‘ (MAD 3: 278;
AHw: 1242) (E) CiCiCa
-u/um
102. abrum (ab2-ru-um) ‘Holzstoss’ (AHw: 7; MAD 3: 15), ‘storage
facility’ (ePSD) (E) aCCuC
103. abum ‘a festival; mound for funerary use’ = apu (ePSD; AHw: 62
‘Röhricht’) (R) aCuC
104. agium (a-gi4-um) = agijum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 20) (E) aCiuC
105. allanum (al-la-num2) = allānu ‘oak’ (MAD 3: 39; AHw: 37)
(G) aCCaCuC
106. allikum (al-li2-ku-um) ‘plant or tree ‘ (MAD 3: 39; AHw: 37)
(G) aCCiCuC
107. alum (al-lum) = alum ‘hoe’ (MAD 3: 41; ‘sum. Lw.’ – AHw: 37)
(T) aCuC
108. alu = alum ‘ram’ (‘a type of sheep’ – MAD 3: 37; ‘Himmelsstier’ –
AHw: 39) (F) aCu
109. aralum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 65)
110. arganum = argānum ‘conifer’ (MAD 3: 63); ‘Mekka-Melisse?’
(DAB: 359; AHw: 67) (G) aCCaCuC
111. arhum ‘type of brick’ (MAD 3: 63); ‘Halbziegel’ (AHw: 67)
(T) aCCuC
112. arinum (a-ri2-num2) ‘product of stone’ (MAD 3: 65) (E) aCiCuC
113. armatum (ar-ma-tum) = armatu ‘a door part’ (MAD 3: 65);
‘Bergziege’, ‘B.-Figürchen aus Kupfer’ (AHw: 69) (E) aCCaCuC
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 497

114. ašbatum = ašb/patum ? (MAD 3: 74); ‘ein Gegenstand’ (AHw: 80)

(E) aCCaCuC
115. ašlum ‘a plant’ (MAD 3: 75); ‘Binse, Seil’ (AHw: 81) (G) aCCuC
116. azalum (a-za-LUM) = azallum ‘a plant’ (MAD 3: 85; AHw: 92)
(G) aCaCuC
117. baluhum, buluhum = baluccum, buluccum ‘a resinous plant’ (MAD
3: 95; ‘Galbanum-Kraut’ – AHw: 101 ‘sum. Lw. ?’) (G) CaCuCCuC
118. bantum (ba-an-tum3) ‘a bird’ (ePSD) (F) CaCCuC
119. batium, patium ‘vessel’ = batium (MAD 3: 103; AHw: 116)
(E) CaCiuC
120. binitum ‘a beam for houses and boats’ = binītu ‘wooden beam’
(MAD 3: 99; AHw: 126–127) (T) CiCiCuC
121. binum = bīnum ‘tamarisk’ (MAD 3: 91; AHw: 127) (G) CiCuC
122. gišbuganum (KA-ga-num2) = bukannum ‘wooden rod’ (MAD 3: 95;
AHw: 136) (P) CuCaCuC
123. burašum = burāšum ‘pine-tree’ (MAD 3: 101; AHw: 139)
(G) CuCaCuC
124. dabatum = tappatum ? ‘a garment’ (MAD 3: 298) (E) CaCaCuC
125. dabiltum = tabiltum ‘vessel?’ (MAD 3: 294; AHw: 1298)
(E) CaCiCCuC
126. dagširum ‘(worker), firming (a building)’ = tagšīrum ‘consolidation’
(MAD 3: 123; AHw: 1300, 1308 takšīrum ‘Reparatur’)
(M) CaCCiCuC
127. dahabaštum = tacabaštum (MAD 3: 125; AHw: 1300 ‘ein
Rohrggst.’) (T)
128. dakirum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 121)
129. dakirum = takkīrum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 296; AHw: 1307 ‘ein
Gewand’) (E) CaCiCuC
130. damšelum = tamšilu ‘resin’ (MAD 3: 186) (G) CaCCeCuC
131. damšilum = tamšīlum ‘image, similarity ‘ (MAD 3: 186; AHw: 1316
‘Abbild’) (Ab) CaCCiCuC
132. gušduksium = tukšu ‘leather shield’ (AHw: 1368; ePSD)
(E) CuCCiuC
133. elammagum (e-lam-ma-gum2) = elammakum, elimmakum ‘a tree’
(MAD 3: 41; AHw: 196 ‘ein wertvolles Bauholz aus Syrien’)
(G) eCaCCaCuC
134. elunum ‘a holiday’ = elūlu, ulūlu ‘cleansing (of Ishtar’s statues in the
river of sacred ordeal)’ (MAD 3: 41; AHw: 210; Cohen 1993: 229,
397–399; Emelianov 1999: 91–98) (R) eCuCuC
135. eralum = erānum, erālum ‘a tree’ (MAD 3: 65) (G) eCaCuC
498 V. V. Emelianov

136. erebum ‘?’ (ePSD) ‘refugee’11 (P) eCeCuC

137. erianum, elianum = eri’ānum, eli’ānum ‘a tree’ (MAD 3: 61); AHw:
386 iriānum ‘ein Baum bzw. Strauch’; probably, e-ra-num2 of Gudea
cylinders – A XV 33) (G) eCiaCuC
138. erubatum = erubbatum ‘tax, gift, holiday’ (MAD 3: 62; AHw: 248
‘Einzugsfest’) (R) eCuCaCuC
139. erum ‘a plant’ (MAD 3: 59; DAB: 298 ‘a laurel’) (G) eCuC
140. eškurum = iškūru ‘wax’ (MAD 3: 75; AHw: 396) (G) eCCuCuC
141. eštum (eš3-tum) = ištum ‘straw’ (MAD 3: 81; AHw: 259) (E) eCCuC
142. gablium, kablium ‘middling (of quality)’ = qablīum ‘middle, medial’
(MAD 3: 224; AHw: 888) (Adj) CaCCiuC
143. gagartum = kakkartum ‘a type of bread’ (MAD 3: 143; AHw: 421
‘Rundbrot’) (E) CaCaCCuC
144. gagatum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 116)
145. gallatum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 117)
146. gamamtum = kamamtum, kammantu ‘vegetable’ (MAD 3: 147;
AHw: 430) (G) CaCaCCuC
147. gannum = kannum < gan ‘vessel’ (MAD 3: 147–148; AHw: 437)
(E) CaCCuC
148. gillum ‘product of silver’ (MAD 3: 117] (E) CiCCuC
149. giranum = gerrānum ‘wailing, wailing ceremony’ (MAD 3: 120)
(R) CiCaCuC
150. gugutum ‘plant’ = ku(k)kud/tum ? (MAD 3: 116; AHw: 296 ‘ein
Futterkraut’) (G) CuCuCuC
151. gukrum (guk2-ru-um) = kukurum, kukrum ‘resinous plant’ (MAD 3:
143) (G) CuCCuC
152. gullatum ‘a ball’ (MAD 3: 117) (E) CuCCaCuC
153. guzebatum = kusiptum ‘a pie?’ (MAD 3: 153; AHw: 514
‘Brotbrocken’) (E) CuCeCaCuC
154. guziu (gu-zi-u3) = kussa/i’um > gu-za, gu-ze2 ‘a throne’ (MAD 3:
152; AHw: 515) (P) CuCiu
155. habalum (ha-ba-LUM) ‘product of wood’ (MAD 3: 124)
(E) CaCaCuC
156. habum ‘animal’ (MAD 3: 123; AHw: 306 ‘eine Art Gazelle’)
(F) CaCuC
157. hadarum = cattaru ‘?’ (MAD 3: 127; AHw: 307)
158. hašianum = cašiānum ‘plant’ (MAD 3: 135; AHw: 334)
(G) CaCiaCuC

11
This word is known only from entirely broken line from glorifying poem
of Shulgi (Shulgi C, sg. A 64). Unfortunately, we do not know real
translation of it.
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 499

159. haum = ca’um ‘covering of chair?’ (MAD 3: 122; AHw: 338 ‘eine
Throndecke’) (E) CauC
160. hazanum = cazānum ‘governor (?)’ (MAD 3: 136; AHw: 338)
(P) CaCaCuC
161. hilatum = cillatum ‘sort of wool’ (MAD 3: 128) (E) CiCaCuC
162. hilzum = calyum ‘fortress’ (ePSD; AHw: 313 ‘Festung’)
(P) CiCCuC
163. hintum = cindum ‘vessel’ (MAD 3: 129) (E) CiCCuC
164. hiriatum, hiritum = ciritum ‘metal product’ (MAD 3: 13; AHw: 348
‘ein Ornament’) (E) CiCiaCuC, CiCiCuC
165. hubum = cuppum ‘bronze product’ (MAD 3: 131) (E) CuCuC
166. hurium = curium, curiānum ‘plant’ (MAD 3: 131; AHw: 359 ‘eine
Gewürzpflanze’) (G) CuCiuC
167. imduhšum, indahšum = imtucšum, intucšum ‘vessel’ (MAD 3: 47;
AHw: 379) (E) iCCuCCuC, iCCaCCuC
168. išbatum = išpatum ‘quiver’ (MAD 3: 76) (T) iCCaCuC
169. kabbum = kabbum ‘wooden product’ (MAD 3: 141; AHw: 417
‘glühend gemacht’) (E) CaCCuC
170. kamkammatum (MAD 3: 147; AHw: 432 ‘Ring’) = kamkammatum <
gam-gam ‘to surround’ (E) CaCCaCCaCuC
171. kamlum, gamlum = gamlum ‘weapon’ (MAD 3: 118) (T) CaCCuC
172. kikurum ‘wooden object’ (MAD 3: 143) (E) CiCuCuC
173. kililum = kilīlum ‘wreath, garland’ (MAD 3: 146; AHw: 476
‘Kranz’) (E) CiCiCuC
174. kirrum = kirrum ‘type of cup’ (MAD 3: 151; AHw: 484 ‘ein grosser
Krug’) (F) CiCCuC
175. kiršum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 152)
176. kizrum = kiyrum ‘military detachment’ (ePSD) (P) CiCCuC
177. kubullum ‘something edible’ (ePSD) (E) CuCuCCuC
178. lubuštum = lubuštu ‘garment’ (ePSD) (E) CuCuCCuC
179. lulumtum = lulumtum, luluntum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 162; AHw: 563
‘ein Reise- u. Kampf-Gewand’) (E) CuCuCCuC
180. madalum = mad/tallum (MAD 3: 170; AHw: 571 ‘ein Ggst. aus
Kupfer’)
181. mahatum ‘reed object’ (MAD 3: 171) (E) CaCaCuC
182. maltum = maltu ‘type of vessel’ (ePSD; AHw: 596 ‘ein Napf, flache
Schale’) (E) CaCCuC
183. manzaštum, manzattum = manzaštum, manzattum ‘station’ (MAD 3:
304) (Ab) CaCCaCCuC
184. maratum = marratum ‘tree’ (MAD 3: 183; AHw: 612 ‘ein Bittere’)
(G) CaCaCuC
185. masatum = maššatu ‘spear’ (ePSD; AHw: 629) (T) CaCCaCuC
500 V. V. Emelianov

186. mašgium (maš-gi4-um) = mašqium (MAD 3: 282; AHw: 629 ‘ein

Wasserstelle’)
187. mašhum = mašcum ‘vessel’ (MAD 3: 185; AHw: 625 ‘ein
Bierbecher’) (E) CaCCuC
188. mašlium, mašliatum = mašlijum, mašlilum ‘leather bucket’ (MAD 3:
270; AHw: 628) (E) CaCCiuC, CaCCiaCuC
189. matqum = matqum ‘sweetness’ (MAD 3: 187) (E) CaCCuC
190. mazharum = maṣ/scarum ? ‘metal object’ (MAD 3: 238)
(E) CaCCaCuC
191. meburkum = meburkum ‘plant’ (MAD 3: 169; AHw: 639
‘Halfagras’) (G) CeCuCCuC
192. metenum = metēnum ‘wooden object’ (MAD 3: 187; AHw: 649
‘Mahlkasten’) (E) CeCeCuC
193. miritum, zamiritum (za3-mi-ri-tum) = mīrītum, zamirītum (< Semitic
zmr ‘to emit musical sounds’)12 ‘musical instrument’ (MAD 3: 182)
(T) CiCiCuC, CaCiCiCuC
194. mudulum = muddulu ‘preserved meat’ (MAD 3: 169; AHw: 666)
(E) CuCuCuC
195. mudum (mu-du8-um) = mudûm ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 169; AHw: 666)
(E) CuCuC
196. nabašuhum = nabašucum, nawašucum, namašucum ‘garment’
(MAD 3: 196; AHw: 726 namaššu’um) (E) CaCaCuCuC
197. nabatum, napatum = napatum ‘a part of a chariot’ (MAD 3: 203)
(T) CaCaCuC
198. nabaum = naba’um ‘detail of boat’ (MAD 3: 196; AHw: 697 ‘ein
Bootshaus’) (T) CaCauC
199. nabhatum = nacbātum ‘leather or reed cover’ (MAD 3: 126; AHw;
714) (E) CaCCaCuC
200. nabihum = nabicu ‘gold jewelry’ (MAD 3: 12; AHw; 697)
(E) CaCiCuC
201. nabrium = nabriu ‘detail of plough; sacrifice; a holiday’ (MAD 3:
100; AHw: 699; Cohen 1993: 394–39513) (R) CaCCiuC

12
According to CDA, miritum < mārītu ‘from Mari’ (CDA: 198, 208). In
this case, zamiritum may be a result of folk etymology which have two main
versions: 1) Sumerian za3-mi2 ‘hymn, glory’ + Akkadian mīrītum; 2) or,
from Akkadian verb zamāru ‘to play music’.
13
M. Cohen suggests the origin of the word from the verb barû ‘getting
signs to make predictions’. He also notes that the holidays called nabrium
occur during the winter months of the year, which may indicate that they are
connected with the prediction of the future for the coming year. One must
also take into account the hypothesis of S. Langdon, who suggested that the
winter holidays with verbs of radiance devoted to revival the Sun-god in the
days of the winter solstice (Langdon 1935: 30). In this case, we can assume
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 501

202. nadum = nādum ‘a waterskin’ (MAD 3: 189; AHw: 704) (E) CaCuC
203. nahbaštum = nacbaštum ‘an instrument’ (MAD 3: 125; AHw: 714
‘ein Rohrggst.’) (T) CaCCaCCuC
204. namarum = nāmaru ‘mirror’ (MAD 3: 202; AHw: 726) (T) CaCaCu
205. namarum = nāmaru ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 47; AHw: 726 ‘ein
glänzender Stoff’) (E) CaCaCu
206. namzarum = namyarum ‘sword’ (MAD 3: 183; AHw: 729)
(T) CaCCaCuC
207. nabdanum = naptanum ‘meal, repast’ (MAD 3: 220; AHw: 741
‘Mahl(zeit)’) (E) CaCCaCuC
208. natum = nātum ‘knife handle?’ (MAD 3: 194; AHw: 766 ‘(Messer-,
Sichel-) Griff?’) (T) CaCuC
209. negibum = nēkepum ‘metal object’ (MAD 3: 200; AHw: 776)
(E) CeCiCuC
210. nemetum = nēmedum ‘stand’ (MAD 3: 45; AHw: 776) (E) CeCeCuC
giš
211. neribum = nērebum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 62; AHw: 780)
212. niktum = niqdu ‘plant used as a dye’ (MAD 3: 200, 205; AHw: 792
‘Feldkümmel’) (G) CiCCuC
213. nirum, nirrum ‘mat with a jumper’ = nīrum ‘yoke’, ‘jumper’ (MAD
3: 193) (E) CiCuC, CiCCuC
214. nurum = nurum ‘?’ (MAD 3: 193)
215. nushu = nuscum ‘vessel’ (MAD 3: 206; AHw: 805) (E) CuCCuC
216. nuzuhum = nussucum ‘wooden object’ (MAD 3: 206; AHw: 806)
(E) CuCuCuC
217. pizirium = pezzerium ‘gold object’ (ePSD) (E) CiCiCiuC
218. puhrum = pucru ‘assembly’ (ePSD) (P) CuCCuC
219. rabatum ‘a garment’ (ePSD) (E) CaCaCuC
220. sabitum = sabītum, šebītum ‘musical instrument, a type of lyre
(‘Sabian’?)’ (MAD 3: 263) (T) CaCiCuC
221. samsatum (sa-am-sa-tum) ‘solar emblem’ (MAD 3: 277; AHw:
1158) (R) CaCCaCuC
222. satium (sa12-ti-um, sa12-di-um) ‘east wind; east; easterner’ < sa-tu
‘mountain’ < šadû + -ī + -um ‘(going) from mountains’ (ePSD;
AHw: 1125) (G) CaCiuC
223. sesehum (se11-se11-hu-um) = šišicum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 290; AHw:
1250) (E) CiCiCuC
224. simtum = simtum ‘jewelry’ (MAD 3: 69) (E) CiCCuC
225. sursurrum = šuršurrum ‘chain’ (MAD 3: 290) (E) CuCCuCCuC
226. šagultum = šakultum ‘a meal’ (MAD 3: 25) (E) CaCuCCuC

the origin of the feast from the verb nmr / nwr ‘to shine (about the heavenly
bodies)’ (* nawrium).
502 V. V. Emelianov

227. šalatum (ša3-la2-tum) = šallatum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 271; AHw:

1148) (E) CaCaCuC
228. šaranum = šarānum ‘a tree or bush’ (MAD 3: 285; AHw: 1185)
(G) CaCaCuC
229. šarrabdu (šar2-ra-ab-du/du8) ‘official; demon of the Nether World’ =
šarrabtû (ePSD; AHw: 1187) (R) CaCCaCCu
230. šarumium = šarūmīum ‘kind of sheep’ (ePSD; AHw: 1193)
(F) CaCuCiuC
231. šašurum = šaššurum ‘reed object’ (MAD 3: 290; AHw: 1198)
(E) CaCuCuC
232. šazabtum = šaz/yabtum ‘jewelry’ (MAD 3: 207) (E) CaCaCCuC
233. šerhunum = šircūnum ‘adornment’ (MAD 3: 284; AHw: 1216)
(E) CeCCuCuC
234. šerrum = šērum ‘mat’ (ePSD) (E) CeCCuC
235. širum = širum ‘garment’ (MAD 3: 262) (E) CiCuC
236. tialum = tiāl(r)um, lijārum ‘a tree’ (MAD 3: 292; AHw: 1353
‘Weisszeder’) (G) CiaCuC
237. tium = t/dium ‘?’ (MAD 3: 292; AHw: 1363)
238. uduhhum, utuhum = utuccum (MAD 3: 82; AHw: 1445 ‘eine
Brotsorte’) (E)
239. ukurum = ukurru ‘sort of brick’ (ePSD; AHw: 1406 ‘ein Bauziegel’)
(T) uCuCuC
240. urakum = urākum ‘instrument’ (MAD 3: 64; AHw: 1427)
(T) uCaCuC
241. urkidanum = urkidānum ‘a tree’ (MAD 3: 64; AHw: 1432)
(G) uCCiCaCuC
242. urnum (ur-num2) ‘a tree’ (MAD 3: 65; AHw: 1431 ‘eine kleine
Zeder’) (G) uCCuC
243. ururu = yarūru ‘wailing, lamentation’ (ePSD) (R) uCuCu
244. wadaltum, badaltum ‘a shed where animals are born?’ (MAD 3: 19;
ePSD]) (E) CaCaCCuC
245. wadaum = wada’um ‘bronze object’ (MAD 3: 18; AHw: 1454)
(E) CaCauC
246. zahalum (za-ha-LUM) = zacannu (MAD 3: 306; CDA: 443 ‘beam,
rafter’)
247. zapihum = zapicum ‘a bird’ (ePSD) (F) CaCiCuC
248. zazagum = zazakkum ‘official’ (MAD 3: 312) (P) CaCaCuC
249. zehrum = sicrum ‘edge of seal’ (MAD 3: 237–238) (T) CeCCuC
250. zeturum (ze2-tu-ru-um) = ziturum ‘vessel’ (MAD 3: 311)
(E) CeCuCuC
251. zibatum = zibbatum ‘tail’ (MAD 3: 308) (A) CiCaCuC
252. zibtum = zibtu ‘stone’ (MAD 3: 305) (G) CiCCuC
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 503

253. zibitum = zibītum, zibnatum ‘species’ (ePSD; MAD 3: 305 ‘a grain’)

(G) CiCiCuC
254. zimtum = simdum ‘sort of flour ‘ (MAD 3: 239) (E) CiCCuC
255. ziktium = ziqtium ‘?’ (MAD 3: 310)
Substratum/Adstratum
256. aguhum (a2-gu4-hu-um) = aguccu ‘girdle’ (MAD 3: 20; AHw: 17
‘Schärpe, Gürtel’) (E) aCuCuC
257. allaharum = allacarum, allucarum ‘plant’ (MAD 3: 38; AHw: 38
‘eine Paste für Leder’) (G) aCCaCaCuC
258. kumul/gamul, gamun = kamunu ‘cumin’ (MAD 3: 147) (G) CuCuC,
CaCuC
259. nurma = nurmû ‘pomegranate’ (MAD 3: 205; AHw: 804)
(G) CuCCa
Dubia
260. šerda (šer7-da) = šērtu < nērtu ‘misdeed, sin; punishment’ (ePSD)
(L) CeCCa
Anlaut
Diphthongs: yu > u, ya > u
Labial: p > b
Dental: t > d
Gutturals: k > g, q > k
Sibilants: š > s
Inlaut
Vowels: i > e, ī > i
Labial: pp > b
Dental: t > d, d > t
Gutturals: kk > g
Sibilants: s > z, y > z
Auslaut
num > lum, lum > num

Among the lemmata cited above dominated economic terms for

bronze, copper, silver and wood, as well as textiles. Apparently, they
were made by Akkadian- or Semitic speakers, products were run and
their purpose understood without translation. At the second place are
plants (especially, conifers). The third place occupy animals,
including insects.
The most interesting case in the field of social terminology is the
replacement of Sumerian unken ‘assembly’ for the Akkadian word
pucru, adopted without change of its form. One can find a small
504 V. V. Emelianov

amount of borrowed abstract words. There were many terms in the

Sumerian for monuments in which the inscription is made, as well as
for the process of carving inscriptions, but the inscription as the text
had no its own term and needed Akkadian maštaru. Another example
is abstract notion of similarity. In the Sumerian even the equative
case -gim formed from the Akkadian kīma ‘just as’. Also known
expression of identity -am3 ‘it is so’. But actual Sumerian
designation of similarity is absent. In Ur III time appeared tamšīlum
‘copy’ < mašālu ‘to be like...’ Among the lemmata we could not find
terms related to professions, law procedures, education. A number of
terms remain without an accurate translation, even their reading in
question now.
The Sumerian word šerda (dated back to the Ur III period), as
well as its connection with the Akkadian word šērtu, still remain
etymologically unclear. Both lexical units have the same meaning of
‘crime, punishment’ (ePSD). During many years, lexicographers
have unsuccessfully tried to understand whether this word had been
an Akkadism in Sumerian or vice versa. Since this word has occurred
more often in the cuneiform writing of NIR.DA, which can be read
as šer7-da, there are attempts to derive it from the Akkadian nērtu
‘murder’ in the reading of nert /dû (CDA: 368). However, W. von
Soden offered to interpret nert /dû as a borrowing from Sumerian
(AHw: 780), without proposing any clear etymology of the Akkadian
šērtu (AHw: 1218). In the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, nert /dû is
absent, though šērtu is marked as a lexical unit known since the Old
Akkadian time and lacking its reliable etymology with the following
meanings: ‘1. misdeed, offense, sin, guilt. 2. penalty, punishment’
(CAD Š 2 : 324).
The least controversial reconstruction would be as follows. The
Akkadian šērtu was a variant of nērtu, which emerged as a result of
reading this sign as NIR (šer7). A combination of the signs NIR.DA,
formerly read as ner-da, was later re-read as šer7-da, and then this
artificial word was re-borrowed by the Akkadian language. Thus, an
entire chain would look as follows: nērtu > nerda > šerda > šērtu.
Now, one needs to explain how and why the n shifted to the š. M.
Civil explains it as a result of a transformation of the emegir-word
from the male dialect into emesal-word in the female one, for which
this particular kind of transitions (e.g., a-nir > a-šer ‘weeping’) is
quite characteristic (Civil 1993 : 75).
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 505

III. Old Babylonian

Akkadian/Semitic Loanwords
-ø
261. buluh = palācu ‘to fear, tremble, be afraid’ (ePSD) (V) CuCuC
262. karam = karmu ‘heap, ruin mound’ (ePSD) (G) CaCaC (see above
garan)
263. kurum = kurummatum, kurmatum ‘food ration’ (AHw: 513; ePSD)
(E) CuCuC
264. mašga’en = muškēnu ‘Palasthöriger; Armer’ (AHw: 684);
‘dependant’ (ePSD) (P) CaCCaCeC
265. pahal (pa4-hal) = pacallu ‘leg’ (ePSD) (A) CaCaC
266. pahar ‘gathering’ < pacāru ‘to gather’ (ePSD) (P) CaCaC
267. penzer = biyyūru ‘female genitals’ (AHw: 131; ePSD) (A) CeCCeC
268. puzur = puzru ‘secret, magic protection’ (ePSD) (R) CuCuC
269. sikin/šikin = šikinnu ‘container for oils’ (AHw: 1233; ePSD)
(E) CiCiC
270. šu huz = šūcuzu ‘to birn’ (ePSD) (V) CuCuC
271. šu tubul/r ‘to mix’ = šutābulu ‘to mix’ (Infinitiv) or ‘mixed’ (ePSD)
(V) CuCuCuC
272. urrub = urrumbu, curcumbu ‘a vessel with knobs?’ (ePSD)
(E) uCCuC
dug
273. ursub = uryuppu ‘a vessel with knobs?’ (ePSD) (E) uCCuC
274. zahal ‘disappearance’ = šacālu ‘to sieve, filter’ (ePSD) (Ab) CaCaC
275. zuhul ‘pierced’ = saclu ‘to pass through a hole, to thread’ (ePSD)
Part CuCuC
-a
276. anna = annu, anna, anni ‘approval; ‘indeed’ (AHw: 52; ePSD)
(I) aCCa
277. badara (OB) ~ badar (Ur III) ~ pa2-tar2 (OAkk) < pattaru, patarru
‘dagger’ (AHw: 848; ePSD) (T) CaCaCa
278. harišta = carištum ‘woman in labor’ (AHw: 326; ePSD) (M) N < Adj
CaCiCCa
279. haza, hahaza ‘to hold, grasp; to retain’ (ePSD) = acāzu ‘to take, to
hold’ (V) CaCa, CaCaCa280.
280. iškila = išqillatu ‘Flusskies(el)’ (AHw: 397); ‘pebble: a container’
(ePSD) (E) iCCiCa
281. kanšaša, ganšaša = muktaššaššu ‘overpowering’ (ePSD)
Part CaCCaCa
282. ligidba = nikiptu ‘ein Euphorbia-Strauch’ (AHw: 788); ‘a medicinal
plant’ (ePSD) (G) CiCiCCa
283. ne-ha < nēctu ‘calm, peace’ (AHw: 775; ePSD) (Ab) CeCa
506 V. V. Emelianov

284. udra ‘to be darkened’ = udduru (’dr) (ePSD) (V) uCCuCu

-i
285. erišti = eršum, erištum ‘wise’ (AHw: 246; ePSD) Adj eCiCCi
286. šanabi = šinipu ‘2/3’ (ePSD) Num CaCaCi
287. zi-bi, zibum ‘a form of caraway seed’ = zību ‘black cumin’ (ePSD)
(G) CiCi, CiCuC
-u/um
288. abrušum = aprušu ‘eine Pflanze (nach DAB 233 Siderites?)’ (AHw:
61); ‘(a medical plant)’ (ePSD) (G) aCCuCuC
289. abulillum = bulilu ‘boxthorn berry’ (ePSD) (G) aCuCiCCuC
290. ajalum (a-ia10-lum) = ajalum ‘deer’ (AHw: 24; ePSD) (F) aCaCuC
291. akkanum = akkannu ‘wild donkey’ (AHw: 29; ePSD) (F) aCCaCuC
292. arazum = arasu ‘ein Ggst. aus Stein?’ (AHw: 66); ‘a container for
salt?’ (ePSD) (E) aCaCuC
dug
293. a-ra-num2 = arānu ‘cashbox?’ (ePSD) (E) aCaCuC
dug
294. arutum = arūtu ‘clay pipe’ (AHw: 72; ePSD) (E) aCuCuC
295. askumbitum = asqumbittu, asqubītu ‘camel hump; hump’ (AHw: 75;
ePSD) (A) aCCuCCiCuC
giš
296. aslum (as4-lum) = aslu ‘measuring rod’ (AHw: 74; ePSD)
(T) aCCuC
297. ašbaltum = ašpaltu ‘man of low social standing’ (AHw: 82; ePSD)
(P) aCCaCCuC
298. ayartum = ayartu ‘white coral?’ (ePSD) (G) aCCaCCuC
299. bakirum ‘a carrying strap’ (ePSD) (T) CaCiCuC
300. bariratum = barīratum ‘(a plant, phps.) sagapenum’ (DAB: 359;
AHw: 107; ePSD) (G) CaCiCaCuC
301. barutum = parūtu ? ‘eine Art v. Köcher ?’ (AHw: 837); ‘a quiver or
other leather item’ (ePSD) (T) CaCuCuC
tug
302. 2bazihum ‘textile’ (ePSD) (E) CaCiCuC
303. birtu = birtu ‘fort’ (AHw: 129; ePSD) (T) CiCCu
giš
304. dinetum ‘a wooden object’ (ePSD) (E) CiCeCuC
305. dulum = dullum ‘duty, toil, misery’ (AHw: 175; ePSD) (R) CuCuC
306. emittum = ? ‘?’ (ePSD) eCiCCuC
307. ezizu = ezizzu ‘ein Gemüse’ (AHw: 270); ‘(an alliaceous vegetable)’
(ePSD) (G) eCiCu
308. gababum = k/gabābum ‘shield’ (AHw; 414; ePSD) (T) CaCaCuC
309. gabaldu (gabal-du3) ‘to be hostile, to challenge’ = qablu ‘battle’ +
du3 ‘to erect’ (ePSD) (V) CaCaCCu
310. garradum ‘warrior’ = qarrādum ‘a hero’ (ePSD) (J) CaCCaCuC
311. hazbum = caybum ‘Töpferton; Scherbe’ (AHw: 332): ‘terracotta’
(ePSD) (G) CaCCuC
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 507

312. hiritum = cirītum ‘Graben’ (AHw: 348); ‘ditch’ (ePSD)

(G) CiCiCuC
313. hurum = acurrû ‘a younger child; social inferior’ (M) aCUCCu
u
314. 2hurium ‘plant’ (ePSD) (G) CuCiuC
315. hutpu = cutpu ‘arrowhead’ (AHw: 362; ePSD) (T) CuCCu
316. ibilu ‘utterance, saying, pronunciation’ (ePSD) (< apalu ‘to
answer’?) (Ab) iCiCu
317. ilu = ilu ‘deity’ (R) iCu
urud
318. imittu = imittu ‘spear’ (AHw: 377; ePSD) (T) iCiCCu
319. imittum ‘an item of jewelry’ = imittum ‘support, shoulder’ (ePSD)
(T) iCiCCuC
320. kallu (ka(-al)-lu5) ‘a vessel, bowl’ = kallu (AHw: 426; ePSD)
(E) CaCCu
321. kititum ‘a grade of wool’ = kitītum ‘linen garment’ (AHw: 493;
ePSD) (F) CiCiCuC
tug
322. 2kurum (ku-ru-um) ‘mourning clothes’ (ePSD) = kūrum
‘mourning, depression’ (AHw: 512) (Ab) CuCuC
dug
323. lakbum = lakbum ‘a vessel’ (AHw: 529; ePSD) (E) CaCCuC
324. lalanu = lalānu ‘destitute person’ (AHw: 529; ePSD) Part CaCaCu
325. ligtum = liqtu ‘Gesammeltes’ (AHw: 555); ‘selection, gathered
material’ (ePSD) (T) CiCCuC
326. lilibu ‘a leather object’ = lilibu, lilippu ‘a leather part of horse
trappings’ (AHw: 552; ePSD) (E) CiCiCu
327. limum (ugula limum ‘foreman of 1000 men’) = limum ‘1000’
Num CiCuC
na
328. 4madanum ‘type of stone’ = madalum (AHw: 571; ePSD)
(G) CaCaCuC
329. malalum = mālalum ‘wooden mortar’ (AHw: 594; ePSD)
(T) CaCaCuC
330. malgatum = malgâtu ‘musical instrument from Malgium’ (ePSD)
(T) CaCCaCuC
331. maktarumzabar = maqtarum ‘a metal item, perhaps censer’ (AHw:
608; ePSD) (T) CaCCaCuC
332. marguzum = margūyum ‘ein Harz-Busch’ (AHw: 611); ‘a resinous
bush’ *ePSD) (G) CaCCuCuC
333. maršum = maršum ‘a bed’ (AHw: 613–614; ePSD) (E) CaCCuC
334. mašhalum = mašcalu ‘sieve’ (AHw: 625; ePSD) (E) CaCCaCuC
urud
335. mašum ‘metal object’ (ePSD) (T) CaCuC
336. miktum ‘social class’ (Lipit-Ishtar XIV) < maqātu ‘to fall’ (CAD M
2: 105; ePSD) (P) CiCCuC
giš
337. mubum ‘type of tree’ (ePSD) (G) CuCuC
338. muširummušen ‘a bird’ (ePSD) (F) CuCiCuC
508 V. V. Emelianov

339. nagbu ‘spring; sources’ < naqbu (ePSD) (G) CaCCu

340. nakamtum = nakkamtu ‘storehouse’ (AHw: 721–722; ePSD)
(E) CaCaCCuC
341. pagdu ‘expert’ = paqdu ‘entrusted, appointed official, expert’ (AHw:
826–827; ePSD) (P) CaCCu
dug
342. pihu = pīcu ‘beer cup’ (AHw, 862; ePSD) (E) CiCu
343. rabianum = rabiānum ‘commander, a high official’ (ePSD)
(P) CaCiaCuC
344. rabizigatum = rabi sikkati ‘an official (literally, ‘a lord of peg’)’
(ePSD) (P) CaCiCiCaCuC
345. sekrum = sekretum ‘enclosed woman’ (AHw: 1036; ePSD)
(M) CeCCuC
346. šilum = šīlum ‘Vertiefung’ (AHw: 1237); ‘depression ?’ (ePSD)
(Ab) CiCuC
347. šiktum = šiqdu ‘almond-tree’ (ePSD) (G) CiCCuC
348. šubtum ‘dwelling’ = šubtum (E) CuCCuC
349. šulalum ‘punishment’ = šalālu ‘to plunder, to deprive’
(Ab) CuCaCuC
350. šurum ‘to sprinkle oil’ = zarû ‘to winnow, scatter’ (CDA, 445;
ePSD) (V) CuCuC
351. talium ‘vegetable’ (ePSD) (G) CaCiuC
352. umamu = umāmu ‘animal, beasts’ (ePSD) (F) uCaCu
na
353. 4unitum = unītu ‘a stone’ (ePSD) (G) uCiCuC
na
354. 4urbitum = urbītu ‘a stone’ (ePSD) (G) uCCiCuC
giš
355. urnum = urnu ‘small cedar’(ePSD) (G) uCCuC
na
356. 4usium ‘stone’ (ePSD) (G) uCiuC
357. utuplu = utuplu ‘scarf, shawl?’ (ePSD) (E) uCuCCu
358. zahirum = šāciru ‘shoe straps?’ (ePSD) (E) CaCiCuC
359. zapitumušen = šapītu ‘a bird’(ePSD) (F) CaCiCu
360. zarraštum, zariaštum = zarraštum ‘a plant’ (ePSD) (G) CaCCaCCuC
361. zikru ‘name, mention’ = zikru ‘utterance, name’ (ePSD) (Ab) CiCCu
362. zizanu = zizānu ‘cricket’ (ePSD) (F) CiCaCu

Substratum/Adstratum
im im
363. duruna, ti-nu-ur = tinûru ‘clay oven’ (AHw: 1360; ePSD)
(T) CuCuCa, CiCuC
364. harub = carūp/bu ‘Johannisbrot’ (AHw: 329); ‘carob (tree)’ (ePSD)
(G) CaCuC
365. nigib (ni-gi4-ib2) = nikiptu ‘spurge’ (AHw: 788; ePSD) (G) CiCiC
366. saman ‘tethering rope’ = šummannu ‘halter, tether’ (AHw: 1273;
ePSD)
367. šušum = šûšu ‘licorice’ (ePSD) (G) CuCuC
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 509

368. yarahi (a-a-ra-hi) = yaraccu ‘a kind of good quality grain’ (ePSD)

(E) CaCaCi
giš
369. zamrutum, zamirtum, zamritum, zaritum, šaridu = azmarû ‘lance’
(ePSD) (T) CaCCiCuC
Anlaut
Vowels: a > ø
Labial: p > b, b > p
Dental: t > d
Gutturals: k > g, q > k
Sibilants: s > z, z > š, š > z
Nasal: n > l
Inlaut
Vowels: i > e, ī > i
Labial: pp > b
Dental: t > d, d > t
Gutturals: kk > g, q > g
Sibilants: yy > nz, s > z, y > z
Auslaut
u>i
û > um
um > a
mb > b
num > lum, lum > num

The repertory of borrowings is extremely diverse. One may note

a presence of many names for plants (especially conifers), animals,
minerals, weapons and everyday objects. The number of social and
professional terms, as well as of religious and cultural categories, is
relatively small. However, the fact that some abstract nouns, ex-
pressing psychological conditions associated with fatigue, suffering
and depression, were borrowed from the Akkadian language is quite
remarkable, for there are no terms of this sort in the Sumerian one.
Another interesting feature was the borrowing of many verbs (a lot
more than during any previous periods). In some cases, verbs
borrowed from the Akkadian language adopted the forms of
composite Sumerian verbs: for example, in šu huz < šūcuzu, šu tubul
/ r ‘to mix’ < šutābulu, the first element is formed by a noun šu
‘hand’, whereas the second verb-like element had no homonyms in
the Sumerian language and was meaningless. One could also assume
that the old-Sumerian verb hu-luh (ha-luh, ha-ha-luh) ‘to fear, to
tremble, to be afraid’, whose first part varies and the second one
reminds the verb luh ‘to clean, to wash’ (semantically irrelevant in
510 V. V. Emelianov

this case), is actually the earliest version of an Akkadian loanword

from the verb palācu ‘to fear’ (the Old Babylonian buluh (bu-luh)).
It very well might be that, for the sake of an onomatopoetic imitation
of trembling, the Anlaut form of the verb had adopted the sounding
of its Auslaut.
Preliminary Results
As a result of our study based on evidence of three hypertext
databases of the Sumerian language (ePSD, CDLI, ETCSL), 369
Akkadian loanwords of the Sumerian period from Fara and Abu-
Salabikh till the time of Hammurabi (the 26th–18th centuries BC)
have been revealed. The preliminary results referred to the semantic
and grammatical groups are as follows: 334 nouns, 12 verbs, 8
adjectives, 9 participles, 2 numerals, 1 conjunction, 1 interjection and
1 case indicator. Recently made assumptions about the relationship
between the Sumerian pronoun 3Sg masc. -am3 and the Akkadian
enclitic -ma (Karahashi 2008: 85–91) require a separate discussion.
Each era of the Mesopotamian history led to a necessity to
borrow some very particular terms. Thus, during the Old Sumerian
and Sargonic periods, it was mainly business, legal, and religious
terms, as well as titles, that had been borrowed. During the time of
the Third Dynasty of Ur, economic terms for bronze, copper, silver,
wood and textiles used to dominate. During the Old Babylonian
period, a significant portion of the loanwords included the names of
plants, animals and minerals; however, economic and technical terms
had still been dominating.
All selected Akkadian borrowing is to be divided into five groups
according to the way of borrowing: a) full borrowing forms and
meanings (puhrum < pucrum ‘assembly’); b) change in form and
conservation of meaning (mada < mātu ‘country’); c) change in form
and meaning (piluda ‘ritual order’ < bēlūtu ‘power’); d) derivation of
the Sumerian compound word from Sumerian and Akkadian simple
words (ni3-gi-na ‘truth’ < ni3 ‘thing’ + gi-na (< kên) ‘constant’); e)
derivation of a compound Sumerian word from one simple Akkadian
word (šu d/tubul < šutābulu ‘mix’ ).
Semantic groups
Anatomy (A): 2
Abstract words (Ab): 11
Kinship (K): 5
Economics (E): 105
Law (L): 3
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 511

Technics (T): 44
Politics (P): 27
Religion (R): 21
Geography and minerals (G): 74
Fauna (F): 24
Man (M): 8
Job (J): 4
Unknown meaning: 7
Grammatical groups
Verb (V) – 12
Adjective (Adj) – 8
Participle (Part) – 9
Conjunction (C) – 1
Interjection (I) – 1
Numerals (Num) – 2
Case – 1

Abbreviations
Gudea – the Second dynasty of Lagash (XXII–XXI B.C.), OAkk – Old
Akkadian (XXIV–XXII), OB – Old Babylonian (XX–XVI), OS – Old
Sumerian (XXVII–XXIV), Ur III – the Third dynasty of Ur (XXI).
References
Ahlberg, Yoshiwara 1991 – Ahlberg R., Yoshiwara R. Sumerian and Japa-
nese: a Comparative Language Study. Japan English Service, 1991.
AHw – von Soden W. Akkadisches Handwörterbuch. Wiesbaden, 1958–
1981.
Alster, 1991 – Alster B. Contributions to the Sumerian Lexicon. 1. The
Reading of AN.IM.DUGUD.mushen // Revue d’assyriologie. 1991.
Vol. 85. P. 1–5.
Autran 1925 – Autran Ch. Sumérien et indo-européen. L’aspect
morphologique de la question. Paris, 1925.
Ball 1913 – Ball C. J. Chinese and Sumerian. Oxford, 1913.
Bauer 1998 – Bauer J. Der vorsargonische Abschnitt der mesopotamischen
Geschichte // J. Bauer, R. K. Englund, and M. Krebernik (eds.).
Mesopotamien: Späturuk-Zeit und Frühdynastische Zeit. Freiburg;
Göttingen, 1998. S. 429–585 (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 160/1).
Behrens, Steible 1983 – Behrens H., Steible H. Glossar zu den altsumeri-
schen Bau- und Weihinschriften. Wiesbaden, 1983.
Bengtson 1997 – Bengtson J. D. The riddle of Sumerian: a Dene-Caucasian
language? // Mother Tongue. 1997. Vol. III. P. 63–74.
Braun 2001 – Braun J. Sumerian and Tibeto-Burman. Warszawa, 2001.
CAD – Chicago Assyrian Dictionary. 1956–
CDA – Black J., George A., Postgate N. A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian.
Wiesbaden, 2000.
512 V. V. Emelianov

CDLI – Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

(http://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search.pt).
Civil 1993 – Civil M. On Mesopotamian Jails and Their Lady Warden //
The Tablet and the Scroll. Near Eastern Studies in Honor of
W. W. Hallo. Bethesda, 1993. P. 72–78.
Civil 2007 – Civil M. Early Semitic Loanwords in Sumerian // Fs. R. D.
Biggs. Chicago, 2007. P. 11–34.
Cohen 1993 – Cohen M. E. The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East.
Bethesda, 1993.
DAB – Campbell Thompson R. A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany. London,
1949.
Diakonoff 1997 – Diakonoff I. M. External Connections of the Sumerian
Language // Mother Tongue. Journal of the Association for the Study of
Language in Prehistory. 1997. Vol. III. P. 54–62.
Edzard 2003 – Edzard D. O. Sumerian Grammar. Leiden; Boston, 2003.
Emelianov 1999 – Емельянов В.В. Ниппурский календарь и ранняя
история Зодиака. СПб., 1999.
Emelianov 2006 – Емельянов В. В. Поэтапная реконструкция шумер-
ской этимологии (шумерский интегрированный тезаурус) // Индо-
европейское языкознание и классическая филология – X: Матери-
алы Десятых чтений памяти И. М. Тронского. СПб., 2006. С. 78–
84.
Emelianov 2009 – Емельянов В. В. Аккадские заимствования в
шумерском (до III династии Ура) // Индоевропейское языкознание
и классическая филология–XIII: Материалы чтений, посвященных
памяти профессора И. М. Тронского. СПб., 2009. С. 171–183.
Emelianov 2010a – Емельянов В. В. Аккадские заимствования в
шумерском (III династия Ура) // Индоевропейское языкознание и
классическая филология–XIV: Материалы чтений, посвященных
памяти профессора И. М. Тронского. СПб., 2010. Ч. 1. С. 296–312.
Emelianov 2010b – On the Early History of melammu // Proceedings of the
53e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. Vol. 1. Language in the
Ancient Near East. Winona Lake, Indiana, Eisenbrauns, 2010. P. 1109–
1119.
Emelianov 2011 – Аккадские заимствования в шумерском
(Старовавилонский период) // Индоевропейское языкознание и
классическая филология – XV. Материалы чтений, посвященных
памяти профессора И. М. Тронского. 20–22 июня 2011 г. СПб.,
2011. С. 165–177.
Emelianov 2013 – Емельянов В.В. К истории шумер. (m)uzug: орфо-
графия, семантика, этимология // Индоевропейское языкознание и
классическая филология – XVII. Материалы чтений, посвященных
памяти профессора И. М. Тронского. СПб., 2013. С. 282–289.
ePSD – Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (electronic view)
http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/index.html.
Fournet 2011 – Fournet A. About Some Features of Loanwords in Hurrian
// Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 2011. Vol. 6/1.
P. 43–59.
ETCSL – The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/.
Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised 513

Gelb, Kienast 1990 – Gelb I. J., Kienast B. Die Altakkadischen Königs-

inschriften des dritten Jahrtausends v. Chr. Stuttgart, 1990.
Gostony 1975 – Gostony, C. G. Dictionnaire d’étymologie sumérienne et
grammaire comparée. Paris, 1975.
Hilgert 2002 – Hilgert M. Akkadisch in der Ur-III Zeit. Münster, 2002 (=
IMGULA 5).
Karahashi 2008 – Karahashi F. Sumerian Enclitic -am and Akkadian
Enclitic -ma: From Copula to Focus Marker // RAI LI. Chicago, 2008.
P. 85–91.
Kassian 2010/2011 – Kassian A. Hurro-Urartian from the Lexicostatistical
Viewpoint // Ugarit-Forschungen. 2010/2011. Bd. 42. P. 383–451.
Kogan 2006 – Kogan L. Animal Names of Biblical Hebrew: An
Etymological Survey // Babel und Bibel 3. Moscow, 2006. P. 257–320.
Krecher 1987 – Krecher J. ‘/ur/ ‘Mann’, /eme/ ‘Frau’ und die sumerische
Herkunft des Wortes urdu(-ud) ‘Sklave’ // Welt des Orients. 1987. Bd.
18. S. 7–19.
Krispijn 2004 – Krispijn Th. J. H. pa4.šeš ‘Ältester’ // Von Sumer nach Ebla
und zurück. Festschrift Giovanni Pettinato zum 27. September 1999
gewidmet von Freunden, Kollegen und Schülern. Heidelberger
Orientverlag, 2004. S. 105–112.
Labat 1952 – Labat R. Manuel d’épigraphie accadiénne. Paris, 1952.
Landsberger 1949 – Landsberger B. Jahreszeiten im Sumerisch-Akkadi-
schen // Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 1949. Vol. 8. S. 248–272,
273–297.
Langdon 1935 – Langdon S. Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic
Calendars. London, 1935.
Lieberman 1977 – Lieberman S. J. The Sumerian Loanwords in Old
Babylonian Akkadian. Harvard, 1977
MAD 2 – Gelb I. J. Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar. Chicago, 1961 (=
Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary 2).
MAD 3 – Gelb I. J. Glossary of Old Akkadian. Chicago, 1957 (= Materials
for the Assyrian Dictionary 3).
Militarev 1995 – Милитарев А. Ю. Шумеры и афразийцы // Вестник
древней истории. 1995. № 2. С. 113–127.
Militarev, Kogan 2005 – Militarev A., Kogan L. Semitic Etymological
Dictionary. Vol. II. Animal Names. Münster, 2005.
MSL SS1 – Civil M., Kennedy D. A. Middle Babylonian Grammatical
Texts // Materials for the Sumerian lexicon. Supplementary series, 1.
Rome, 1986
Parpola 2010 – Parpola S. Sumerian: A Uralic Language (I) // L. Kogan et
al. (eds.). Language in the Ancient Near East. Compte rendu de la 53e
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, 23–28 July 2007. Moscow,
2010. P. 181–210 (= Babel und Bibel 4/6).
Powell 1986 – Powell M. A. mun-du as an Akkadian Plural Loan Word in
Sumerian // Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische
Archäologie. 1986. Bd. 76. S. 12–16.
Powell 1987–90 – Powell M.A. Masse und Gewichte // Reallexikon der
Assyriologie 7 (1987–90). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. S. 457–517.
PSD – Pennsylvania Sumerian Dicitonary. Philadelphia, 1984–
Rubio G. On the Alleged “Pre-Sumerian Substratum” // Journal of
Cuneiform Studies. 1999. Bd. 51. P. 1–16
514 V. V. Emelianov

Sallaberger 1993 – Sallaberger W. Der Kultische Kalender der Ur-III Zeit.

Teil I–II. Berlin; New York, 1993.
Sommerfeld 2006 – Sommerfeld W. Die ältesten semitischen Sprachzeug-
nisse – eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme // G. Deutscher, N. J. C. Kou-
wenberg (ed.). The Akkadian Language in its Semitic Context. Leiden:
Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2006. P. 30–75.
(= Publications de l’Institut historique-archéologique néerlandais de
Stamboul. T. 106).
Steiner 2003 – Steiner G. Akkadische Lexeme im Sumerischen // Fs. Pelio
Fronzaroli. Wiesbaden, 2003. P. 630–647.
Stolbova 2005 – Stolbova O. Chadic Lexical Database. Issue I. L, N, NY,
R. Kaluga, 2005.
Vizirova, Kaneva, Koslova 2010 – Визирова Е. Ю., Канева И. Т.,
Козлова Н. В. Шумерский язык // Языки мира. Древние
реликтовые языки Передней Азии. М., 2010.
Wilcke 1991 – Wilcke C. Die Lesung von AŠ2-da = kiššātum // Nouvelles
Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires. 1991. Vol. 1. No. 16. P. 13–14.
Wilcke 2005 – Wilcke C. ED Lú A und die Sprache(n) der archaischen
Texte // W. H. van Soldt et al. (hrsg.). Ethnicity in Ancient
Mesopotamia. Papers read at the 48th Rencontre Internationale. Leiden,
1.–4. July 2002. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten,
2005. S. 430–445(= CRRAI 48).
Whittaker 1998 – Whittaker G. Traces of an Early Indo-European Language
in Southern Mesopotamia // Göttinger Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft.
1998. Vol. 1. P. 111–147.
V. V. Emelianov. Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian revised
The article contains revised and corrected results of the author’s papers
previously published in Russian. It devoted to the problem of Akkadian
loanwords in Sumerian and discusses morphological, semantic and
grammatical classification of 369 Sumerian lemmata.
Keywords: Sumerian language, Akkadian language, Akkadian loanwords in
Sumerian, Sumerian etymology, Sumerian Weltanschauung.