Sumerian/Grammar

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Sumerian Grammar

In the lessons below, you'll be introduced to aspects of Sumerian grammar in (hopefully) bite sized chunks. If any of the lessons are confusing, don't hesitate to edit them for style, or use the discussion boards for suggestions! That's the spirit of the wiki, after all.

The Lessons

A ziggurat

Lesson One - The Plural Marker -- This lesson introduces us to some simple nouns and how to mark them as plural.

Lesson Two - Possessives -- Here we learn how suffixed particles can modify the meaning of a noun, like "house", to be possessive, like "my house".

Lesson Three - The Genitive -- The basics of the Sumerian case system for nouns is outlined here.

Lesson Four - The Copula -- Before introducing verbs in general, the copula is introduced, along with simple predicative sentences.

Lesson Five - The Verb Chain -- The Sumerian verb is discussed in simple situations.

Lesson Six - A Sumerian Sentence -- Putting it all together, we translate a complete Sumerian sentence.

Lesson Seven - Ergativity in Sumerian -- A discussion of ergativity and how it is used in Sumerian.

Lesson Eight - The Case System -- Discussion of the cases used in Sumerian

Lesson Nine - Cuneiform -- Some introductory comments about the system of writing used by the ancient Sumerians

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