Editing Sumerian language (section)

=== Consonants ===
Early Sumerian is conjectured to have had at least the consonants listed in the table below. The consonants in parentheses are reconstructed by some scholars based on indirect evidence; if they existed, they were lost around the Ur III period in the late 3rd millennium BC.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Sumerian consonant phonemes
! colspan="2" |
! [[bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|m}} {{angle bracket|m}}
| {{IPA|n}} {{angle bracket|n}}
|
| {{IPA|ŋ}} {{anglebracket|g̃}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
! plain
| {{IPA|p}} {{anglebracket|b}}
| {{IPA|t}} {{anglebracket|d}}
|
| {{IPA|k}} {{anglebracket|g}}
| ({{IPA|ʔ}})
|-
! aspirated
| {{IPA|pʰ}} {{anglebracket|p}}
| {{IPA|tʰ}} {{anglebracket|t}}
|
| {{IPA|kʰ}} {{anglebracket|k}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA|s}} {{angle bracket|s}}
| {{IPA|ʃ}} {{anglebracket|š}}
| {{IPA|x}} {{anglebracket|ḫ~h}}
| ({{IPA|h}})
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! plain
|
| {{IPA|t͡s}} {{anglebracket|z}}
|
|
|
|-
! aspirated
|
| {{IPA|t͡sʰ}}? {{anglebracket|ř~dr}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA|l}} {{angle bracket|l}}
|({{IPA|j}})
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Flap consonant|Tap]]
|
| {{IPA|ɾ}} {{anglebracket|r}}
|
|
|
|}

* a simple distribution of six [[stop consonant]]s in three [[place of articulation|places of articulation]], originally distinguished by [[Aspirated consonant|aspiration]]. In the late 3rd millennium BC, the unaspirated stops are thought to have become [[Voiced consonant|voiced]] in most positions (although not word-finally),<ref name="Jeger">Jagersma (2010: 43-45)</ref> whereas the voiceless aspirated stops maintained their aspiration.<ref>Attinger (2009: 10-11)</ref>{{efn|Since Akkadian, too, had developed aspiration in the realization of its voiceless (non-emphatic) consonants by that time,<ref name=jagersma35_36>Jagersma (2010: 35-36), Kogan & Krebernik (2021: 418-419)</ref> that aspiration was also preserved after the extinction of Sumerian, in Akkadian native speakers' pronunciation of the language, and is hence reflected even in [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] transcriptions of Sumerian words with the letters [[φ]], [[θ]] and [[χ]].<ref name=jagersma35_36/>}}
** ''p'' {{IPA||audio=Voiceless bilabial plosive.ogg|lang=en}}([[Voiceless bilabial stop|voiceless aspirated bilabial plosive]]),
** ''t''{{IPA||audio=Voiceless alveolar plosive.ogg}}  ([[Voiceless dental and alveolar stops|voiceless aspirated alveolar plosive]]),
** ''k'' {{IPA||audio=Voiceless velar plosive.ogg}}([[Voiceless velar stop|voiceless aspirated velar plosive]]),
*** As a rule, the voiceless aspirated consonants (''p'', ''t'' and ''k'') did not occur word-finally.<ref>[Keetman, J. 2007. "Gab es ein ''h'' im Sumerischen?" In: ''Babel und Bibel'' 3, p.21]</ref>
** ''b''{{IPA||audio=Voiced bilabial plosive.ogg}} ([[Voiceless bilabial stop|voiceless unaspirated bilabial plosive]]), later voiced;
** ''d'' {{IPA||audio=Voiced alveolar plosive.ogg}}([[Voiceless dental and alveolar stops|voiceless unaspirated alveolar plosive]]), later voiced;
** ''g'' {{IPA||audio=Voiced velar plosive 02.ogg}}([[Voiceless velar stop|voiceless unaspirated velar plosive]]), later voiced.
* a [[phoneme]] usually represented by ''ř'' (sometimes written ''dr''), which became {{IPA|/d/}} or {{IPA|/r/}} in northern and southern dialects, respectively, after the Old Akkadian period. It was first reconstructed as a voiced alveolar tap {{IPA|/ɾ/}}, but Bram Jagersma argues that it was a [[Voiceless alveolar affricate|voiceless aspirated alveolar affricate]] because of its reflection in loanwords in Akkadian, among other reasons,<ref name="Jeger" /> and this view is accepted by Gábor Zólyomi (2017: 28). Other suggestions that have been made is that ''ř'' was a [[voiceless alveolar tap|''voiceless'' alveolar tap]]{{IPA||audio=Voiceless alveolar tap.wav}}.<ref>Sallaberger (2023: 36)</ref>
* a simple distribution of three [[nasal stop|nasal consonants]] in similar distribution to the stops:
** ''m'' {{IPA||audio=Bilabial nasal.ogg}}([[bilabial nasal]]),
** ''n'' {{IPA||audio=Alveolar nasal.ogg}}([[alveolar nasal]]),
** ''g̃'' {{IPA||audio=Velar nasal.ogg}}(frequently printed ''ĝ'' due to typesetting constraints, increasingly transcribed as ''ŋ'') {{IPA|/ŋ/}} (likely a [[velar nasal]], as in ''si'''ng''''', it has also been argued to be a [[Labialization|labiovelar]] nasal {{IPA|[ŋʷ]}} or a [[nasalization|nasalized]] [[Labial–velar consonant|labiovelar]]<ref name=michal08/>).
* a set of three [[sibilant consonant|sibilants]]:
** ''s''{{IPA||audio=Voiceless alveolar fricative.ogg}}, likely a [[voiceless alveolar fricative]],
** ''z'', likely a [[Voiceless alveolar affricate|voiceless unaspirated alveolar affricate]], {{IPA|/t͡s/}}, as shown by Akkadian loans from {{IPA|/s/}}={{IPA|[t͡s]}} to Sumerian {{IPA|/z/}}. In early Sumerian, this would have been the unaspirated counterpart to ''ř''.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Sound change in Sumerian: the so-called /dr/-phoneme|url = https://www.academia.edu/7754980|journal = Acta Sumerologica 22: 81–87|access-date = 2015-11-23|last1 = Jagersma|first1 = Bram|date = January 2000|archive-date = 2023-03-19|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230319103555/https://www.academia.edu/7754980|url-status = live}}</ref> Like the stop series ''b'', ''d'' and ''g'', it is thought to have become voiced /dz/ in some positions in the late 3rd millennium.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 42-43)</ref>
** ''š''{{IPA||audio=Voiceless postalveolar fricative.ogg}} (generally described as a [[voiceless postalveolar fricative]], {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, as in '''''sh'''ip''{{efn|Another, relatively uncommon opinion based on loanwords to and from Old Akkadian is that it was actually a [[voiceless dental fricative]] {{IPA|/θ/}} as in '''''th'''ink'' or a sound similar to it.<ref>Kogan and Krebernik (2021: 420-421)</ref><ref>Attinger (1993: 145)</ref>}}
* ''ḫ'' {{IPA||audio=Voiceless velar fricative.ogg}}(a [[voiceless velar fricative|velar fricative]], {{IPA|/x/}}, sometimes written <h>)
* two [[liquid consonant]]s:
** ''l'' (a [[lateral consonant]])
** ''r'' (a [[rhotic consonant]]), which Jagersma argues was realized as a tap {{IPA|[ɾ]}} because of various evidence suggesting its phonetic similarity to {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}}.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 53)</ref>

The existence of various other consonants has been hypothesized based on graphic alternations and loans, though none have found wide acceptance. For example, [[Igor Diakonoff|Diakonoff]] lists evidence for two lateral phonemes, two rhotics, two back fricatives, and two g-sounds (excluding the velar nasal), and assumes a phonemic difference between consonants that are dropped word-finally (such as the ''g'' in 𒍠 ''zag'' > ''za<sub>3</sub>'') and consonants that remain (such as the ''g'' in 𒆷𒀝 ''lag''). Other "hidden" consonant phonemes that have been suggested include semivowels such as {{IPA|/j/}} and {{IPA|/w/}},<ref name=etcsl2005/> and a [[voiceless glottal fricative|glottal fricative]] {{IPA|/h/}} or a [[glottal stop]] that could explain the absence of [[Contraction (phonology)|vowel contraction]] in some words<ref>Attinger, Pascal, 1993. ''Eléments de linguistique sumérienne''. p. 212 [http://web.archive.org/web/20110103084319/http://doc.rero.ch/lm.php?url=1000%2C40%2C4%2C20080304131832-QE%2Fth_AttingerP.pdf]()</ref>—though objections have been raised against that as well.<ref>[Keetman, J. 2007. "Gab es ein ''h'' im Sumerischen?" In: ''Babel und Bibel'' 3, ''passim'']</ref> A recent descriptive grammar by Bram Jagersma includes {{IPA|/j/}}, {{IPA|/h/}}, and {{IPA|/ʔ/}} as unwritten consonants, with the glottal stop even serving as the first-person pronominal prefix. However, these unwritten consonants had been lost by the Ur III period according to Jagersma.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 38-41, 48-49, 53-54)</ref>

Very often, a word-final consonant was not expressed in writing—and was possibly omitted in pronunciation—so it surfaced only when followed by a vowel: for example the {{IPAslink|k}} of the [[genitive case]] ending ''-ak'' does not appear in 𒂍𒈗𒆷 ''e<sub>2</sub> lugal-la'' "the king's house", but it becomes obvious in 𒂍𒈗𒆷𒄰 ''e<sub>2</sub> lugal-la-kam'' "(it) is the king's house" (compare [[Liaison (French)|liaison]] in French). Jagersma believes that the lack of expression of word-final consonants was originally mostly a graphic convention,<ref>Jagersma (2010: 62-63).</ref> but that in the late 3rd millennium voiceless aspirated stops and affricates ({{IPAslink|pʰ}}, {{IPAslink|tʰ}}, {{IPAslink|kʰ}} and {{IPAslink|tsʰ}}) were, indeed, gradually lost in syllable-final position, as were the unaspirated stops {{IPAslink|d}} and {{IPAslink|ɡ}}.<ref>Jagersma (2010: 35-36, 38)</ref>