Editing Sumerian language (section)

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The plural marker proper is (𒂊)𒉈 /-(e)ne/.{{efn|The initial vowel /e/ appears only after a consonant and is absent after a vowel.<ref name="foxvog23">Foxvog (2016: 23)</ref> Jagersma believes that it contracts with a preceding vowel, while lengthening it.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 107)</ref> In Old Babylonian Sumerian, spellings suggesting such assimilation are found: 𒇽𒅇𒉈 ''lu<sub>2</sub>-u<sub>3</sub>-ne'' "men".<ref name=foxvog23/>}} It is used only with nouns of the animate gender and its use is optional. It is often omitted when other parts of the clause indicate the plurality of the referent.<ref name=":24">Jagersma (2010: 109-113)</ref> Thus, it is not used if the noun is modified by a numeral (''𒇽''𒁹𒁹𒁹 ''lu<sub>2</sub> eš<sub>5</sub>'' "three men"). It has also been observed that until the Ur III period, the marker generally isn't used in a noun phrase in the [[absolutive case]],<ref name=":53">Attinger (2009: 22)</ref><ref name=":50">Sallaberger (2023: 47)</ref><ref name=":51">Jagersma (2010: 111-112)</ref> unless this is necessary for disambiguation.<ref name=":50" /><ref name=":51" /> Instead, the plurality of the absolutive participant is commonly expressed only by the form of the verb in the clause:<ref name=":51" /><ref name=":53" /> e.g. ''𒇽𒁀𒀄𒀄𒌍 lu<sub>2</sub> ba-'''zaḫ<sub>3</sub>-zaḫ<sub>3</sub>-eš''''' "the men ran away", 𒇽𒈬𒅇𒆪𒁉𒌍 ''lu<sub>2</sub> mu-u<sub>3</sub>-dab<sub>5</sub>-be<sub>2</sub>-'''eš''''' "I caught the men". The plural marker is not used when referring to a group of people, because a group of people is treated as inanimate; e.g. 𒀳 ''engar'' "farmer" with no plural marker may refer to "(the group of) farmers".<ref name=":24" />

As the following example shows, the marker is appended to the end of the phrase, even after a relative clause:<ref name=":24" />

{{interlinear|lu e-a ba-dab-a-(e)ne|man house-in MID-catch-NMLZ-PL.AN<!--Jagersma (2010: 595, ex.47, 599, ex. 73, but cf. p.110, ex. 28) reconstructs an underlying plural agreement suffix {-eš} in the verb before the nominalizer in clauses where, unlike this one, the head of the relative clause is an ergative participant. It is, however, not observable in the graphic form of the examples.-->|"the men who were caught in the house"
| top = 𒇽𒂍𒀀𒁀𒆪𒁀𒉈<br />
<small>lu<sub>2</sub> e<sub>2</sub>-a ba-dab<sub>5</sub>-ba-ne</small>
| indent = 4
| glossing = link
}}

Likewise, the plural marker is usually (albeit not always) added only once when a whole series of coordinated nouns have plural reference:<ref name=":24" />

{{interlinear|engar sipad šukuř-ene|farmer shepherd fisherman-PL.AN|"farmers, shepherds and fishermen"
| top = 𒀳𒉺𒇻𒋗𒄩𒂊𒉈<br />
<small>engar sipad šu-ku<sub>6</sub>-e-ne</small>
| indent = 4
| glossing = link
}}

Another way in which a kind of plurality is expressed is by means of reduplication of the noun: 𒀭𒀭 ''dig̃ir-dig̃ir'' "gods", 𒌈𒌈 ''ib<sub>2</sub>-ib<sub>2</sub>'' "hips". However, this construction is usually considered to have a more specialized meaning, variously interpreted as totality ("all the gods", "both of my hips")<ref name=":25">Thomsen (2001: 61)</ref><ref name="Attinger 2009: 23">Attinger (2009: 23)</ref> or distribution/separateness ("each of the gods taken separately").<ref name=":26">Jagersma (2010: 114-116)</ref><ref name="foxvog23"/> An especially frequently occurring reduplicated word, 𒆳𒆳 ''kur-kur'' "foreign lands", may have simply plural meaning,<ref name=":26" /> and in very late usage, the meaning of the reduplication in general might be simple plurality.<ref name=":25" />

At least a few adjectives (notably 𒃲 ''gal'' "great" and 𒌉 ''tur'' "small") are also reduplicated when the noun they modify has plural reference: 𒀀𒃲𒃲 ''a gal-gal'' "the great waters".<ref name=":28" /> In that case, the noun itself is not reduplicated.<ref>Sallaberger (2020: 46), Attinger (2009: 23)</ref> This is sometimes interpreted as an expression of simple plurality,<ref>Edzard (2003: 25, 31-32), Jagersma (2010: 270-271), Rubio (2007: 1329), Mihalowski (2004). Thomsen (2001: 65) holds the minority view that they express a superlative.</ref> while a minority view is that the meaning of these forms is not purely plural, but rather the same as that of noun reduplication.<ref name="foxvog23"/><ref>Attinger (2009: 23) glosses ''ensi<sup>2</sup> gal-gal'' as "''all'' the great [[Ensi (Sumerian)|ensi]].</ref>

Two other ways of expressing plurality are characteristic only of very late Sumerian usage and have made their way into [[Sumerogram]]s used in writing Akkadian and other languages. One is used with inanimate nouns and consists of the modification of the noun with the adjective 𒄭𒀀 ''ḫi-a'' "various" ({{lit|mixed}}), e.g. 𒇻𒄭𒀀 ''udu ḫi-a'' "sheep".<ref>Thomsen (2001: 62)</ref> The other is adding the 3rd person plural form of the enclitic copula 𒈨𒌍 ''-me-eš'' to a noun (𒈗𒈨𒌍 ''lugal-me-eš'' "kings", originally "they (who) are kings").<ref>Thomsen (2001: 63), Michalowski (2004)</ref>