Editing Sumerian language (section)

==== Modal prefixes ====
The modal prefixes express [[Modality (linguistics)|modality]]. Some of them are generally combined with certain TAs; in other cases, the meaning of a modal prefix can depend on the TA.
* /Ø-/ is the prefix of the simple [[indicative mood|indicative]] mood; in other words, the indicative is unmarked. 
E.g.: 𒅔𒅥 ''in-gu<sub>7</sub>'' {'''Ø'''-i-n-gu} "He ate it."
* 𒉡 ''nu-'' and 𒆷 ''la-'', 𒇷 ''li-'' (𒉌 ''li<sub>2</sub>-'' in Ur III spelling) have [[negative mood|negative]] meaning and can be translated as "not". The allomorphs /la-/ and /li-/ are used before the "conjugation prefixes" 𒁀 ''ba-'' and 𒉈 ''bi<sub>2</sub>-'', respectively. A following vowel /i/ or /e/ is contracted with the preceding /u/ of ''nu-'' with compensatory lengthening (which is often graphically unexpressed): compare 𒉌𒁺 ''i<sub>3</sub>-du'' "he is walking", but /nu-i-du/ > /nuː-du/ 𒉡𒅇𒁺 ''nu''(-''u<sub>3</sub>'')''-du'' "he isn't walking". If followed by a consonant, on the other hand, the vowel of ''nu-'' appears to have been assimilated to the vowel of the following syllable, because it occasionally appears written as 𒈾 /na-/ in front of a syllable containing /a/.<ref>Jagersma 2010 (552-555)</ref> 
E.g.: 𒉡𒌦𒅥 '''''nu'''''(-''u<sub>3</sub>'')''-un-gu<sub>7</sub>'' {'''nu'''-i-n-gu} "He didn't eat it."
* 𒄩 ''ḫa- / 𒃶 ḫe<sub>2</sub>-'' has either [[Precative mood|precative]]/[[Optative mood|optative]] meaning ("let him do X", "may you do X") or affirmative meaning ("he does this indeed"), partly depending on the type of verb. If the verbal form denotes a transitive action, precative meaning is expressed with the ''marû'' form, and affirmative with the ''ḫamṭu'' form. In contrast, if the verbal form is intransitive or stative, the TA used is always ''ḫamṭu''.<ref name=":45">Jagersma (2010: 561-564)</ref> Occasionally the precative/optative form is also  used in a conditional sense of "if" or "when".<ref name=":45" /> According to Jagersma, the base form is 𒄩 ''ḫa-'', but in open syllables the prefix merges with a following conjugation prefix ''i<sub>3</sub>-'' into 𒃶 ''ḫe<sub>2</sub>-''. Beginning in the later Old Akkadian period, the spelling also shows assimilation of the vowel of the prefix to 𒃶 ''ḫe<sub>2</sub>-'' in front of a syllable containing /e/; in the Ur III period, there is a tendency to generalize the variant 𒃶 ''ḫe<sub>2</sub>-'', but in addition further assimilation to 𒄷 ''ḫu-'' in front of /u/ is attested and graphic expressions of the latter become common in the Old Babylonian period.<ref name=":44">Jagersma (2010: 558-561)</ref> Other scholars have contended that ''𒃶 ḫe<sub>2</sub>-'' was the only allomorph in the Archaic Sumerian period<ref>Rubio (2007: 1341)</ref> and many have viewed it as the main form of the morpheme.<ref>Edzard (2003: 117), Rubio (2007: 1341), Foxvog (2016: 104). Thomsen (2001: 202, 206) tentatively treats /ḫa-/ as the main form, but is hesitant.</ref>
E.g.: 𒃶𒅁𒅥𒂊 '''''ḫe<sub>2</sub>'''-eb-gu<sub>7</sub>-e'' {'''ḫa'''-ib-gu<sub>7</sub>-e} "let him eat it!"; 𒄩𒀭𒅥 '''''ḫa'''-an-gu<sub>7</sub>'' "He ate it indeed."
* 𒂵 ''ga-'' has [[cohortative mood|cohortative]] meaning and can be translated as "let me/us do X" or "I will do X". Occasional phonetic spellings show that its vowel is assimilated to following vowels, producing the allomorphs written 𒄄 ''gi<sub>4</sub>''- and 𒄘 ''gu<sub>2</sub>''-. It is only used with ''ḫamṭu'' stems,<ref name=":5">Jagersma (2010: 518)</ref> but nevertheless uses personal prefixes to express objects, which is otherwise characteristic of the ''marû'' conjugation: 𒂵𒉌𒌈𒃻 ''ga-ni-i'''b'''<sub>2</sub>''-''g̃ar'' "let me put '''it''' there!".<ref name="jagersma_ga">Jagersma 2010: 569-570</ref> The plural number of the subject was not specially marked until the Old Babylonian period,<ref name="jagersma_ga" /> during which the 1st person plural suffix began to be added: 𒂵𒉌𒌈𒃻𒊑𒂗𒉈𒂗 ''ga-ni-ib<sub>2</sub>-g̃ar-'''re-en-de<sub>3</sub>-en''''' "let us put it there!".<ref>Edzard (2003: 115)</ref>
E.g.: 𒂵𒀊𒅥 '''''ga'''-ab-gu<sub>7</sub>'' "Let me eat it!"
* 𒅇 ''u<sub>3</sub>-'' has [[prospective aspect|prospective]] meaning ("after/when/if") and is also used as a mild imperative "Please do X". It is only used with ''ḫamṭu'' forms.<ref name=":5" /> In open syllables, the vowel of the prefix is assimilated to ''i<sub>3</sub>''- and ''a-'' in front of syllables containing these vowels. The prefix acquires an additional /l/ when located immediately before the stem, resulting in the allomorph 𒅇𒌌 ''u<sub>3</sub>''-''ul-''.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 518-521)</ref>
E.g.: 𒌦𒅥 '''''u'''n-gu''<sub>''7''</sub> "If/when he eats it..."
* 𒈾 ''na-'' has [[Imperative mood|prohibitive]] / negative optative<ref>Foxvog (2016: 107)</ref> meaning ("Do not do it!"/"He must not do it!"/"May he not do it!") or affirmative meaning ("he did it indeed"), depending on the TA of verb: it almost always expresses negative meaning with the ''marû'' TA and affirmative meaning with the ''ḫamṭu'' TA.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 565-569, 579-581)</ref><ref>Edzard (2003: 118-119)</ref> In its negative usage, it can be said to function as the negation of the precative/optative ''ḫa-''.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 564)</ref> In affirmative usage, it has been said to signal an emphatic assertion,<ref>The view of Falkenstein cited in Jagersma (2010: 579). Cf. Edzard (2003: 119) for a slightly different description. Civil (2020: 139), too, admits that it sometimes simply gives "an emphatic sense".</ref> but some have also claimed that it expresses reported speech (either "traditional orally transmitted knowledge" or someone else's words)<ref>Foxvog (2016: 108), Rubio (2007: 1342-1343). Originally posited by Miguel Civil (also in Civil 2020: 139).</ref> or that it introduces following events/states to which it is logically connected ("as X happened (''na-''), so/then/therefore Y happened").<ref>Sallaberger (2023: 128), somewhat similarly in Edzard (2003: 119).</ref> According to Jagersma and others, "negative ''na-''" and "affirmative ''na-''" are actually two different prefixes, since "negative ''na-''" has the allomorph /nan-/ before a single consonant (written 𒈾𒀭 ''na-an-'' or, in front of the labial consonants /b/ and /m/, ''𒉆 nam-''), whereas "affirmative ''na-''" does not.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 579), Zamudio (2017: 183-184, 188-189), Attinger (1993: 289), Sallaberger (2023: 128, 132). In contrast, Zólyomi (2017: 240) assumes the form ''na(n)-'' with an underlying final nasal for both meanings.</ref>
E.g.: 𒈾𒀊𒅥𒂊 '''''na'''-ab-gu<sub>7</sub>-e'' "He must not eat it!"; 𒈾𒀭𒅥 '''''na'''-an-gu<sub>7</sub>'' "He ate it indeed."
* 𒁀𒊏 ''ba-ra-'' has emphatic negative meaning ("He certainly does/will not do it")<ref name=":20" /> or [[Imperative mood|vetitive]] meaning ("He should not do it!"),<ref name="Edzard 2003: 117">Edzard (2003: 117)</ref> although some consider the latter usage rare or non-existent.<ref>Rubio (2007: 1341-1342) considers the vetitive meaning rare and cites other authors who reject it. Jagersma (2010) does not mention such a meaning.</ref> It can often function as the negation of cohortative ''ga-''<ref>Edzard (2003: 116)</ref> and of affirmative ''ḫa-''.<ref>Rubio (2007: 1341-1342)</ref> It is combined with the ''marû'' TA if the verb denies an action (always present or future), and with the ''ḫamṭu'' TA if it denies a state (past, present or future) or an action (always in the past).<ref name=":20">Jagersma (2010: 574-575)</ref> The vetitive meaning requires it to be combined with the ''marû'' TA,<ref>Thomsen (2001: 193)</ref> at least if the action is transitive.<ref name="Edzard 2003: 117"/>
E.g.: 𒁀𒊏𒀊𒅥𒂗 '''''ba-ra'''-ab-gu<sub>7</sub>-en'' "I certainly will not eat it!"; 𒁀𒊏𒀭𒅥 '''''ba-ra'''-an-gu<sub>7</sub>'' "He certainly didn't eat it."
* 𒉡𒍑 ''nu-uš-'' is a rare prefix that has been interpreted as having "frustrative" meaning, i.e. as expressing an unrealizable wish ("If only he would do it!"). It occurs both with ''ḫamṭu'' and with ''marû.''<ref>Thomsen (2001: 212-213)</ref>
E.g.: 𒉡𒍑𒌈𒅥𒂊 '''''nu''-''uš'''''-''ib<sub>2</sub>-gu<sub>7</sub>-e "''If only he would eat it!"
* ''𒅆 ši-'', earlier 𒂠 ''še<sub>3</sub>-'', is a rare prefix, with unclear and disputed meaning, which has been variously described as affirmative ("he does it indeed"),<ref name="jagersma_sha">Jagersma (2010: 578-579), citing Falkenstein.</ref> contrapunctive ("correspondingly", "on his part"<ref>Thomsen (2001: 207-208), citing Th. Jacobsen.</ref>), as "reconfirming something that already ha(s) been stated or ha(s) occurred",<ref name="Edzard_sha" /> or as "so", "therefore".<ref>Foxvog (2016: 109)</ref> It occurs both with ''ḫamṭu'' and with ''marû.''<ref>Thomsen (2001: 207)</ref> In Southern Old Sumerian, the vowel alternated between /e/ before open vowels and /i/ before close ones in accordance with the vowel harmony rule of that dialect; later, it displays assimilation of the vowel in an open syllable,<ref name="jagersma_sha" /> depending on the vowel of the following syllable, to /ša-/ (𒊭 ''ša-'' / 𒁺 ''ša<sub>4</sub>-'') and (first attested in Old Babylonian) to 𒋗 ''šu-''.<ref name="Edzard_sha">Edzard (2003: 120)</ref>
E.g.: 𒅆𒅔𒅥 '''''ši'''-in-gu<sub>7</sub>'' "So/correspondingly/accordingly(?), he ate it."

Although the modal prefixes are traditionally grouped together in one slot in the verbal chain, their behaviour suggests a certain difference in status: only ''nu-'' and ''ḫa-'' exhibit morphophonemic evidence of co-occurring with a following finite "conjugation prefix", while the others do not and hence seem to be mutually exclusive with it. For this reason, Jagersma separates the first two as "[[Clitic|proclitics]]" and groups the others together with the finite prefix as (non-proclitic) "preformatives".<ref>Jagersma (2010: 287, 743)</ref>