Editing Sumerian language (section)

===== Dimensional prefixes =====
The generally recognized dimensional prefixes are shown in the table below; if several occur within the same verb complex, they are placed in the order they are listed in.  
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!dative
!comitative
!ablative
!terminative
!directive
!locative
|-
|/-a-/{{efn|group=dimensional|However, the plural pronominal markers usually don't take the dative marker and never take the directive marker; intead, they express a dative or directive participant on their own (although there are some attestations of the expected /-ne-a/ and /-me-a/ from the Ur III period and Old Babylonian periods.<ref name="ReferenceA">Jagersma (2010: 386-387, 389-392, 404, 409-410)</ref>}}
|''𒁕 -da-'' (𒋾 ''-di<sub>3</sub>-''{{efn|The allomorph ''-di<sub>3</sub>-'' is used before the locative prefix ''/-ni-/'').<ref>Jagersma 2010: 449</ref>) The variant 𒉈 ''de<sub>3</sub>'' / 𒉈 𒋼 ''de<sub>4</sub>'', found in Old Babylonian Sumerian, is the result of the contraction of ''-da-'' and a following ''-e-'', but sometimes also seems to occur because of assimilation to a '''preceding' -e-'': /ba-e-da-/ > /ba-e-de-/.<ref>Thomsen (2001: 223)</ref>}}{{Efn|Thomsen and Foxvog believe that there is also an allomorph /-ra-/ used between vowels.<ref>Thomsen 2001: 226-227, Foxvog 2016: 79</ref> Jagersma (2010) generally assumes idiosyncratic case use in such cases.}})
|''𒋫 -ta-'' (𒊏 -''/ra/-''){{efn|The allomorph ''-ra-'' is used after vowels.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 454-455)</ref>}}
|''𒅆 -ši-'' (early 𒂠 ''-še<sub>3</sub>-'')
| -/i/-~-/e/- 𒂊{{efn|group=dimensional|However, the plural pronominal markers usually don't take the dative marker and never take the directive marker; instead, they express a dative or directive participant on their own (although there are some attestations of the expected /-ne-a/ and /-me-a/ from the Ur III period and Old Babylonian periods.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>}}{{efn|According to Jagersma (2010: 476-482) and Zólyomi (2017: 206, 215), the allomorph ''-i-'' is used after consonant, while ''-e-'' is used after vowels. In the latter case, ''-e-'' may be assimilated to the preceding vowel, while the vowel undergoes [[compensatory lengthening]]: 𒈬𒂊 ''mu-e-'' > 𒈬𒅇 ''mu-u<sub>3</sub>-'' etc. In Old Babylonian Sumerian, it is the preceding vowel that assimilated to ''-e-'': 𒁕𒂊 ''-da-e-'' > 𒉈 ''de<sub>3</sub>'' The prefix does not seem to surface at all between a vowel and a subject/object prefix as in ''ma<sub>2</sub>-a mu-na-*(e)-n-g̃ar'' "he loaded it on the boat for her".<ref>Jagersma (2010: 481-482)</ref> This restricts the possibilities of the co-occurrence of directive forms and forces the grammar to choose which participant to express: e.g. the dative prefixes and ''ba-'' take precedence over the inanimate directive ''-b-i'', while there is vacillation in the choice between prioritizing it or the locative (Jagersma 2010: 442-444).}}
|𒉌 ''-ni-''{{Efn|The locative prefix is unique in that it is never attached to a pronominal prefix, but rather combines in itself the pronominal and dimensional meanings, meaning "there" or "in there".}}
|}

The ablative does not co-occur with the terminative, and the directive does not co-occur with the locative, so these pairs may be argued to share the same slot.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 442, 445)</ref>{{Efn|For this reason, it appears that a directive participant is sometimes untypically cross-referenced with a ''dative'' prefix in order to allow the locative to also occur in the verb form (/b-i-/, but /'''b-a'''-ni-/).<ref name="Jagersma 2010: 444">Jagersma (2010: 444)</ref>}} Accordingly, the template can be said to include the following dimensional slots: dative - comitative - ablative/terminative - directive/locative.<ref>Zólyomi (2017: 78)</ref>

A major exception from the general system of personal and dimensional prefixes is the very frequent prefix 𒉌 ''-ni-'' "(in) there", which corresponds to a noun phrase in the locative, but doesn't seem to be preceded by any pronominal prefix and has demonstrative meaning by itself. This prefix is not to be confused with the homographic sequence 𒉌 ''-ni-'' which corresponds to an animate noun phrase in the directive. In the latter case, ''ni'' is analysed as a combination of pronominal /-nn-/ and directive /-i-/ (roughly: "at him/her", "on him/her", etc.), whereas in the former, ''ni'' is unanalysable.<ref name="Zólyomi2000">{{cite journal |last=Zólyomi |year=2000 |title=Structural interference from Akkadian in Old Babylonian Sumerian |url=http://www.assziriologia.hu/downloads/gz_structural_interference.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Acta Sumerologica |volume=22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228041703/http://www.assziriologia.hu/downloads/gz_structural_interference.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-28 |access-date=2008-07-20}}</ref>

An example of a verb chain where several dimensional slots are occupied can be:

{{interlinear|i- -nn- -a- -ta- -ni- -n- -ed|FIN- -3.SG.AN- -DAT- -ABL- -LOC- -3.AN.A- -go.out|'He made it (the dike) go out of it (a canal) for him into it (a locality)'
| top = 𒅔𒈾𒋫𒉌𒅔𒌓𒁺 <br />
<small>in-na-ta-ni-in-ed<sub>2</sub></small>
| indent = 4
| glossing = link
}}

The comitative prefix ''-da-'' can, in addition, express the meaning "to be able to". In that case, there is a preceding pronominal prefix agreeing with the subject of the action: e.g. {nu-mu-'''e-da'''-n-dab-en} "you cannot catch him" ({{lit|you won't catch him with yourself}}).<ref>Jagersma (2010: 453)</ref> The directive has the meaning "on(to)" when the verb is combined with a noun in the locative case: e.g. {banšur-'''a''' ninda b-'''i'''-b-g̃a-g̃a-en} "I will put bread on the table".<ref>Jagersma (2010: 482-486)</ref>