The ventive (called cislocative in linguistics) has two functions in Sumerian:
i)it functions as an allative deictic element, indicating motion towards the location of the speech event and/or by implication towards one of the speech act participants, the speaker or the addressee; ii)it functions as a 1st ps. sg.
pronominal prefix before the dative as well as the locative2 and locative3 prefix.13
In practice these functions are not always easily separated as both uses mentioned may indicate motion towards an entity. Nevertheless, when the ventive functions as a 1st ps. sg. pronominal prefix then there is nothing between it and the adverbial prefix, so the two morphemes together form a composite adverbial prefix as in ex. (217) below. When the ventive functions
“only” as a deictic element, then a pronominal prefix occurs in S5 or S6 between it and the adverbial prefix, should there be any in the prefix-chain. In ex. (218) below, for example, the 2nd ps. sg. initial pronominal prefix in S6 separates the ventive and the dative prefix.
(217) Gudea Cyl. A 10:28–29 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7) diŋir gal-gal lagaški-a-ke₄-ne,
diŋir gal~gal-ø lagaš=ak=enē=e god big~PL-TL GN=GEN=PL=ERG
gu₂ ma-si-si-ne
gu=ø S4m-S7a-S12si~si-S14enē neck=ABS VEN-DAT-fill~PF-3.PL.A
“(In the E-bagara, my dining place,) the great gods of Lagash gather around me.”
(218) Gudea Cyl. A 11:8 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7) an-ta ḫe₂-ŋal₂ ḫa-mu-ra-ta-ŋen
an=ta ḫeŋal=ø S1ḫa-S4mu-S6r-S7a-S9ta-S12ŋen-S14ø sky=ABLabundance=ABS MOD-VEN-2.SG-DAT-ABL-go-3.SG.S
“Abundance comes down to you from heaven.”
The prefixes of Slots 2–6
13 The pronominal use is secondary, developed from its function to indicate a motion towards the location of the speech event, see Mithun 1996 for similar developments in other languages.
The prefix has two basic allomorphs:
i) /m/ before a vowel, see ex. (217) above, or before /b/, see ex. (225), or immediately next to the verbal base, see ex. (219) below. The /b/assimilates to the /m/, see ex. (225), and the resulting sequence /mm/is reduced to /m/if followed by another consonant, see ex. (229);
ii) /mu/-in other environments, see, e.g., ex. (224), but its vowel may assimilate to the vowel of the next syllable (although not always shown in the writing), if the syllable starts with an ungeminated consonant, see exx. (226) and (227), but not if the syllable starts with a geminated consonant, see ex. (228) below.
The reference to the “here”, the location of the speech event, explains the use of the ventive in verbal forms describing the movement of people or goods towards the city of the scribe who created the document as in ex. (219) below.
(219) Nisaba 15, 873 obv. 10–12 (Irisagrig, 21st c.) (P387957)
2 sila₃ tu₇ 2 ku₆, ṣa-lu-um lu₂kiŋ₂-gi₄-a lugal,
2 sila tu 2 ku=ø ṣalum kiŋgia lugal=ak=ø
2 unit soup 2 fish=ABS PN₂ messenger king=GEN=ABS
ud udu ur₄-de₃ im-ŋen-na-a
ud udu=ø ur-ed=e S2i-S4m-S12ŋen-S14ø-S15ʾa-ʾa day sheep=abs pluck=PF=DAT.NH FIN-VEN-go-3.SG.S-SUB-L1
“2 liters of soup, 2 fishes: Salum, the royal messenger, when he came to pluck the sheep.”
In the verbal form describing the opposite movement there is no ventive prefix.
The verbal form in ex. (220) below contains the middle prefix /ba/- in its separative function, see below in section 11.4.
(220) Nisaba 15, 873 obv. 7–9 (Irisagrig, 21st c.) (P387957)
1 sila₃ tu₇ 1 ku₆, nu-hi-AN lu₂kiŋ₂-gi₄-a lugal,
1 sila tu 1 ku=ø nuhiilum kiŋgia lugal=ak=ø
1 unit soup 1 fish=ABS PN₁ messenger king=GEN=ABS
ud BAD₃.ANki-še₃ ba-ŋen-na-a
ud dēr=še S5ba-S12ŋen-S14ø-S15ʾa-ʾa day GN=term MID-go-3.SG.S-SUB-L1
“1 liter of soup, 1 fish: Nuhi-ilum, the royal messenger, when he left for Der.”
Since the ventive indicates a movement towards the place of the speech event, it may also be used to indicate a movement to a person in the 3rd ps., if his or her location is construed as “here” by the speaker, i.e., the scribe. In ex. (221) LESSON11
152
below the scribe uses the ventive with the verb “to bring”, whose destination is Barag-namtara, the wife of the ruler. The verbal form used to describe the opposite transaction in ex. (222) does not contain the ventive.
(221) Nik 1, 300 obv. 2:2–rev. 1:2 (Lagash, 24th c.) (P222069)
ur-e₂-muš₃, gal dam-gar₃ e₂-mi₂-ke₄, barag-nam-tar-ra [dam]
uremušak gal-ø damgar emi=ak=e baragnamtara dam
PN₁ gal-TL merchant GN₁=GEN=ERG PN₂ spouse
lugal-an-da, ensi₂, lagaški-ka-ra, mu-na-de₆
lugalanda ensik lagaš=ak=ak=ra S4mu-S6nn-S7a-S11n-S12de-S14ø PN₃ ruler GN₂=GEN=GEN=DAT.H VEN-3.SG.H-DAT-3.SG.H.A-bring-3.SG.P
“Ur-Emusha, the chief merchant of the Emi, brought (various cosmetics) to Barag-namtara, spouse of Lugal-Anda, ruler of Lagash.”
(222) Nik 1, 300 rev. 2:3–3:4 (Lagash, 24th c.) (P222069) ur-e₂-muš₃-ra, barag-nam-tar-ra, dam lugal-an-da
“Barag-namtara, spouse of Lugal-Anda, ruler of Lagash, payed (with a certain amount of wool) to Ur-Emusha.”
One should not assume that the scribe and the wife of the ruler stay at the same location, rather it is a kind of subjective alignment between the two that is expressed using the ventive. Here one of the two participants of the transaction is identified as belonging to “here” from the point of view of the scribe.
In the trial records from the end of the 3rd millennium BCE the expression
“to come forward as witness” is regularly used with ventive, indicating that the witness occurs at the trial, construed as “here” by the scribe who wrote the text, see e.g., ex. (223) below.
(223) BPOA 1, 382 obv. 7– rev. 2 (Umma, 21st c.) (P339042)
mda-a-ga, mgeme₂-dašnan, mnin-en-sag₉ dayaga gemeašnanak ninensag=ø
PN₁ PN₂ PN₃=ABS
nam-lu₂-inim-ma-še₃ im-ta-e₃-eš₂
namluinimak=še S2i-S4m-S5b-S9ta-S12e-S14eš witness=TERM FIN-VEN-3.SG.NH-ABL-leave-3.PL.S
“Dayaga, Geme-Ashnan, and Nin-ensag came forward as witnesses.”
The prefixes of Slots 2–6
Apparently, the use of the ventive divides the deictic space into a “here”
and a “there” in Sumerian, and the association with the “here” may be based not only on considerations of physical proximity. When the ventive refers to neither the speaker nor the addressee, but to a 3rd ps. participant, then its use seems to be extended metaphorically to function as an emphatetic deictic element. Linguistic empathy is described as “the speaker’s attitude with respect to who, among speech event participants (the speaker and the hearer) and the participants of an event or state that he describes, the speaker takes sides with.”
(Kuno 1978: 174).
This use of the ventive is a logical extension of its basic deictic function to refer to a “here-ness”, or “hither-ness”: its use therefore may imply emotional closeness, an evaluative or subjective alignment between the writer or narrator and the participant(s) of an event he describes.
It is expected that in texts of an administrative nature the allative deictic use of the ventive is the typical. In literary texts, however, its more metaphoric, emphatetic use may also play a role. In exx. (224) and (225) below, for example, the reference to “here-ness” is more intangible than in an administrative text, but still understandable, as the movement here is directed towards Gudea and the main temple in Girsu respectively, the leader and the symbol of the political community the scribe must have belonged to.
(224) Gudea Cyl. A 15:10 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7)
gu₃-de₂-a iri-ne₂ ŋir₂-suki-še₃ gu₂ mu-na-si-si
gudea=ra iri=ane ŋirsu=še gu=ø S4mu-S6nn-S7a-S12si~si-S14e PN=DAT.H city=3.SG.H.POSS GN=TERM neck=ABS VEN-3.SG.H-DAT-fill~PF-3.SG.A
“(Magan and Meluhha) gathered for Gudea at his city Girsu.”
(225) Gudea Cyl. A 9:18 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7)
mu-be₂-e an-zag-ta
“In response to its fame all lands will gather from as far as heaven’s borders.”
But then we also have numerous examples where no movement is involved and the use of the ventive may only express some kind of alliance or involvement with participants of the verbal event as in the examples below.
LESSON11
154
(226) Gudea Cyl. A 12:1–2 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7) e₂ ud-de₃ ma-ra-du₃-e,
e=ø ud=e S4ma-S6r-S7a-S12du-S14e house=ABS day=ERG VEN-2.SG-DAT-build-3.SG.A
ŋi₆-e ma-ra-ab-mu₂-mu₂
ŋi=e S4ma-S6r-S7a-S11b-S12mu~mu-S14e night=ERG VEN-2.SG-DAT-3.SG.NH.P-build~PF-3.SG.A
“The day will build the temple for you and the night will make it rise for you.”
(227) Gudea Cyl. A 23:7 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7) e₂-a mi-ni-šu₄-šu₄
e=ʾa S4mu-S10ni-S11n-S12šug~šug-S14ø temple=L1 VEN-L1-3.SG.H.A-stand.PL~PL-3.SG.P
“He had each of them (= stone basins) stand in the temple.”
(228) Gudea Cyl. B 19:20–21 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7)
den-lil₂-ra, dnin-mah mu-ni-us₂
enlil=ra ninmah=ø S4mu-S6nn-S10i-S11n-S12us-S14ø DN₁=L3.H DN₂=ABS VEN-3.SG.H-L3-3.SG.H.A-be.next-3.SG.P
“He (= Gudea) seated Ninmah next to Enlil.”
(229) Gudea Cyl. B 20:14 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7) e₂-⸢da⸣ lugal ⸢im⸣-da-⸢hul₂⸣
e=da lugal=ø S2i-S4m-S5b-S8da-S12hul-S14ø house=COM owner=ABS FIN-VEN-3.SG.NH-COM-rejoice-3.SG.S
“The owner rejoiced over the temple.
The exact determining factors affecting the emphatetic deictic use of the ventive are impossible to discover in the case of an extinct language. One can only speculate that the very frequent use of the ventive in votive and royal inscriptions reflects the alignment that the composers of these texts felt between them and the royal and divine participants. One may mention as support for this assumption the text Iri-kagina 5, where ex. (230) below comes from.14This text narrates from the point of view of Iri-kagina, ruler of Lagash, how Lugal-zagesi, king of Uruk, loots and destroys many of the temples of Lagash. Remarkably all verbal forms in this 105 line long narrative text are without ventive, indicating probably the sense of alienation the composer felt towards the events described.
The prefixes of Slots 2–6
14 For an online transliteration and translation of the text, see http://oracc.museum.
upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001133.
(230) Iri-kagina 5 obv. 4:1–4 (RIME 1.9.9.5) (Lagash, 24th c.) (P222618)
kug za-gin₃-be₂, ba-ta-keš₂-keš₂,
kug zagin=be=ø S5ba-S9ta-S11n-S12keš~keš-S14ø precious.metal lapis.lazuli=3.SG.NH.POSS=ABS MID-ABL-3.SG.H.A-bind~PL-3.SG.P
alan-be₂, i3-gul-gul
alan=be=ø S1i-S11n-S12gul~gul-S14ø statute=3.SG.NH.POSS=ABS FIN-3.SG.H.A-destroy~PL-3.SG.P
“(He set fire on the temple of the goddess Gatumdug,) collected all its precious metal and lapis lazuli from it for himself, and destroyed all its statues.”