42 PRINCE— PRONOUNS AND VERBS OF SUMERIAN. [April 23, 



persons, although a- and e- usually occur in this sense. Thus, a- 

 indicates the 3 p.: a-rim-rim-ne=it-ti-bu-{u), 'they have been im- 

 mersed'; kas-f a-ab-du (kak) =si-ka-ra i-ba-ba-di and a-ne-in-gi- 

 = ik-f-su, both clearly third persons, although the meaning of the 

 stems is unknown (cf. Br., p. 548). On the other hand, a- generally 

 indicates the i p. (Prince, AJSL. XIX., p. 211). The prefix e- is 

 frequently used of the 3 p. as : e-ag, ' he made ' ; e-gaz, ' he killed ' ; 

 e-gen, 'he went' (Delitzsch, §135 and §i84a). As for ^i{i), 

 Poebel himself gives examples cited above of n{i) used for both 

 the I and 2 persons, while for the 3 personal use, cf . Br., p. 543 : ni- 

 su = both i-du-u, ' they know ' and ti-di, ' thou knowest ' ; iii-gal 

 (ik) =i-ba-as-si, 'it is,' etc. ad nauseam. In other words, a, e 

 and n{i) appear used for all three persons indiscriminately with a 

 preference in favor of the i, 2 and 3 persons respectively. On the 

 other hand, is Poebel correct in supposing that the suffixed forms 

 -en attached to verbs are characteristic of the i and 2 persons only? 

 As in the case of a, e and n they appear indiscriminately for all three 

 persons : ni-la-en, ' I pay ' ; ' thou payest,' as cited above, but mu-un- 

 tag-en=^in-naq-qu-u, IV. R. 19, 48 b; mu-un-si-in-gi-en = is-pu-ra- 

 an-ni, ' they have sent me,' Br., p. 560. As to Poebel's 3 p. -e, it, of 

 course, occurs often with the 3 p.; cf. til(JiE)-e=ig-da-mar, Br., 

 1499, etc., but also an-na-ab-us-e=^tu-sa-ax-xa-za-su, 'thou shalt 

 cause him to seize it ' ; it is also a frequent sign of the imperative, 

 as ku-e = akul, 'eat thou'; us-e^=ri-da-an-ni, 'have connection 

 with me,' Br., 553. 



There can be no doubt that Poebel is right in giving m-s and 

 n-b as the respective characteristics of the endings of the postposi- 

 tive conjugation, as -mu-, -zu- and -ni, -na- and -bi-, -ba- are the 

 ordinary i, 2 and 3 personal suffixes, respectively, of the postposi- 

 tive /ia/-clause ; yet even here we find a variation, as the third per- 

 son also appears with the ordinarily first personal -mu in relative 

 clauses. This is the so-called -mu of the third person which I be- 

 lieve I was the first to call attention to (MSL. XXIX, § 32). The 

 best illustration of it will be seen in the following phrases from IV. 

 R. 27, No. I, 4-1 1 : 



sinig-ga sar-sar a nu-nag-a-mu 



bi-i-nu sa ina mu-sa-ri-e me-e la is-tu-u 



