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Written Akkadian
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Akkadian
is written using cuneiform signs. Most texts are on clay tablets, but there
are also monumental inscriptions on stone. In written Akkadian a cuneiform
sign may play one of three possible roles. One is as a syllable, though many
signs have several possible syllabic values, not phonetically related, and
the precise one may only be clear from the context. Another role is as a
"determinative" indicating that the following or preceding word is
the name of a person, god, bird, plant, etc. Third, it can represent a whole
word or part of a word, but without the usual sound values; this usage derives
from Sumerian, and in this case the sign is called a
"Sumerogram". The
extent to which Sumerograms are used varies from text to text. The Hammurabi law code for example
never uses them for verbs — all verbs in the law code are spelled out
using syllables. On the other hand a medical text may well give a verb using
a single sign, regardless of its tense, mood or aspect. There are also
intermediate usages where a word sign is complemented by a syllable
indicating which of two or three alternate words are intended, and in what
form. To some extent a scribe's choice of whether to spell things out can
depend on the amount of space available on the tablet, and different copies
are written in different ways. |
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