The arbitrary nature of Sumerian grammar

It was relatively easy for the scribe to invent Sumerian nouns, a little more difficult to invent Sumerian verbs, extremely difficult to invent Sumerian adjectives and impossible to invent Sumerian grammar words. Grammatically speaking Sumerian is dead from the start.

aba [WHO?] (326x: ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Lagash II, Ur III, Old Babylonian, unknown) wr. a-ba"who?" Akk. mannu

[1]

a-ba

14 distinct forms attested; click to view forms table.

1. who? (326x/100%)

~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur a-ba-kam OB Kagal 506; a-ba-am₃ OB Kagal 507; a-ba-gin₇OB Kagal 508; a-ba ki-tum₂ ni-x-gal ak-a OB Kagal 512; a-ba šu en-ra TU-TU^!?-NE OB Kagal 513; [[a-ba-am₃]] = = A-BA-AM₃ = ma-[an-nu]-um OB Diri Nippur Seg.9, 49.LEX/unknown/unknown [a]-ba-am₃ = mi-nu-um MSL 04 46 IB + Ia (+) Ib + unpubl. fragment [OBGT I/2] ii 28'=4'. ELA/ED IIIb/Girsu e še-a₂ en-an-na-tum₂-gin₇ geštu₂ a-ba ga₂-ga₂za₃-bi VS 14, 130 o ii 2. ELA/ED IIIb/unknown dumu a-ba-mu Nik 1, 117 o ii 4. ELA/Old Akkadian/Girsu nu-banda₃ a-ba-mu ITT 1, 01337 4; 2(aš@c) dumu a-ba-ne-um RTC 249 o i 9. ELA/Ur III/Adab a-[ba šeš]-mu-gin₇ MVN 03, 351 2. ELA/Ur III/Drehem a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ PDT 2, 1312 9; a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ TCL 2, 5610 2; u-bar-tum a-ba TIM 06, 15 4. ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(aš@c) 1(barig) ur-^den-ki^* im^* dumu a-ba^* HLC 030 (pl. 029) o ii 8;a-ba ama-[mu-gin₇] ITT 3, 06511 4; ki a-ba-a-ta TTL 261 2. ELA/Ur III/Nippur mu 2(diš)1/2(diš) gin₂ ku₃-babbar ur₅ a-ba in-su-ga-še₃ NATN 131 14; a-ba ti-la ur-nigar^gar-ra^! NATN 131 5; mu e₂ a-ba i₃-na-ba-še₃ NATN 131 11; a-ba ti-la ur-nigar^gar-raNATN 131 6; dumu a-ba^* NRVN 1, 143 2; a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ TMH NF 1-2, 354 2.ELA/Ur III/Umma 1(diš) a-ba-mu BIN 05, 302 33; sikil^? lu₂^!? ša₃ gal₂ ra₂-gaba a-ba MVN 04, 174 5; kišib₃ a^!-ba-mu MVN 13, 619 o ii 17; 4(ban₂) zi₃ 2(ban₂) kaš a-ba-ni-a Nik 2, 329 ii 16; 2(aš) 2(barig) a-ba-ni sum-gi SET 240 4; ma₂-a a-ba-ar Syracuse 095 3; a-bau₆ Ontario 2, 250 1. ELA/Ur III/Ur a-ba^* [šeš]-mu^*-gin₇ UET 3, 0003 2; a-ba UET 3, 1415 2. ELA/Ur III/unclear a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ MVN 03, 332 3; igi a-ba min-šu TIM 03, 147 (pl.55) 1; a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ YOS 04, 114 1; a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ TCS 1, 131 2; a-bašeš-mu-gin₇ TCS 1, 132 3; a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ TCS 1, 200 3; a-ba šeš-mu-gin₇ TCS 1, 346 5. unknown/ED IIIb/Lagash a-ba mu-da-ti BiMes 03, 31 ii 2. unknown/ED IIIb/unknowna-ba ^den-lil₂-le ITT 5, 09215 1. unknown/Ur III/Girsu 3(iku) GAN₂ 2(barig) 3(ban₂) a-basipa udu gukkal Zinbun 21, pl. 11 44 o ii 13. unknown/Ur III/Umma 1(diš) udu a-ba SNAT 467 3.

~ uLEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [a]-ba in-da-[...] N 5107 o i 2'; [a]-ba in-da-[...] N 5107 o i 3'. unknown/ED IIIb/unknown a-ba [...] ITT 5, 09202 o ii 4.

~ dim[create]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [a]-ba-gin₇ al-[dim₂] N 5107 o i 1'; a-ba-gin₇ al-dim₂ OB Kagal 509.

~ e[leave]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur a-ba in-da-an-e₃ OB Kagal 510.

~ kitum[burial] uLEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [a]-ba ki-tum₂ [...] N 5107 o i 4'.

~ namlugal[kingship] teĝ[approach]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur a-ba nam-lugal-ta im-ti OB Kagal 514.

~ sa[equal]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur a-ba in-da-sa₂ OB Kagal 511.

~ šu[hand] uLEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [a]-ba šu en-[...] N 5107 o i 5'.

See: tu aba silim.

Akk. mannu "who?".

A
water + BA
allot = a-ba [who] is a pun of Akkadian as Sumerian A
[water = Akkadian = mu hence it refers to the letter M of Akkadian mannu "who?" and Sumerian BA
allot refers to Sumerian bad [OPEN] (147x: ED IIIa, Old Akkadian, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. bad; ba; be₂ "(to be) remote; to open, undo; to thresh grain with a threshing sledge" Akk.  nesű 

A
water + BA
allot = a-ba [who] is a pun of the ideograms
Mu +
Nesû = Akkadian mannu "who?"

But why a-ba and not some other word combination. The grammar word is an abstract word and the combination is arbitrary. However, the scribe actually extracted the Sumerian syllables, more accurately a vowel and a syllable from an Akkadian word.

u [ADMIRATION] (55x: ED IIIb, Lagash II, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. u₆ "admiration"

See u dug[admire].

[1]

u6

3 distinct forms attested; click to view forms table.

1. admiration (55x/100%)

~ ELA/ED IIIb/Nippur 1(iku@c) 1/2(iku@c) <GAN₂> u₆-e OSP 1, 121 r ii 2. ELA/Ur III/Girsu da-da-du-gi-sig u₆-še₃ ITT 5, 08232 3; x u₆ x lu₂-[...] MVN 09, 137 5. ELA/Ur III/Umma u₆sa₁₂-du₅-ka SACT 2, 140 6; a-ba u₆ Ontario 2, 250 1. unknown/Old Babylonian/unknown u₆ e= ba-ru-u₂ MSLSSI, 17-27 iv 43. unknown/Ur III/Girsu [...] kaš u₂ sag₁₀ u₆ unu^ki MVN 19, 150 4.

See ETCSL: u₆=wonder.

u dug [ADMIRE] (92x: Old Babylonian) wr. u₆ dug₄ "to admire; to regard, observe" Akk. amāru; barû

(u[admiration] + dug[speak])

[1]

u6 dug4

6 distinct forms attested; click to view forms table.

1. to admire (3x/3%)

~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [[u₆ <(dug₄)>]] = = IGI.E₂ = a-ma-ru-[um] OB Diri Nippur 157;[[u₆ <(dug₄)>]] = = = ba-a-ru-um OB Diri Nippur 159.

2. to regard, observe

Akk. amāru "to see"; barû "to see, look at".

The Sumerian scribe chopped the Akkadian word [[u₆ <(dug₄)>]] = = = ba-a-ru-um "to see, look at, wonder" and created the grammar word a-ba `who' meaning `I wonder who'

The scribe used the Sumerian expression a-ba u₆ Ontario 2, 250 1. [wonder who] and by the means of association he created on the spot a new Sumerian grammar word from the chopped Akkadian verb ba-a-ru-um "to see, look at, wonder".

The selection of the chopped Akkadian vowel and syllable and then the use of metathesis is purely arbitrary. However, the scribe used the means of association to the Akkadian idiom in order to give his creation some credit of meaningfulness.

---