Chinese and Sumerian

6 INITIAL AND FINAL SOUNDS, ETC.

belongs to the Phonetic 34. The Radical, added later for distinction’s sake, has nothing to do with sound, but only with sense.

Again, 4— wang, wong, W. oa, J. 0, A. vong, king, prince (G. 12493, P. 65), and 4 huang, wong, fong, oa, K.A.hwang, J.kwé, the ruler or sovereign, and the Almighty (G. 5106; P. 574), are related in the same way. They are the modern representatives of the Sumerian GUN, MUN, UGUN, UMUN, king, lord, used of both heavenly and earthly potentates. (The connexion of the modern with the primitive terms is further happily confirmed by the resemblance of the character for huang to that of GUN: see List of Similar Characters: No. 82.)

Again, the Chinese 7X mu, muk, K. mok, J. moku, wood, a tree (G. 8077; P. 80), is used as a Phonetic with the sound hiu, in the word #{ hiu. The old sound was kut (P. 278). Now these sounds mu, kut, which belong to the tree-character, find a close parallel in the Sumerian MU and GU, which are given as values of the treecharacter (C.T. xii. 30), which itself is the obvious prototype of the corresponding Chinese symbol (see List, No. 25). The Sumerian expression ZAG.MUG, ‘ Beginning of the Year’ (ZAG, ‘head’; MU, MUG, ‘year’), shows that one lost final of MU, tree, may have been G, in exact correspondence with the Chinese mu, muk. On the other hand, we have also in Sumerian the synonymous GISH, MESH, wood, tree; properly, as the character suggests, a stripped trunk, a piece of timber. This sound GISH (from GUSH? cf GU = MU) agrees with the old Chinese kut (P. 80); and also with yeh, yt, A. k‘iet, stake, post (G. 13014), formerly ngit (P. 744), and with nieh, A. niet, ngiet, a small post (G. 8278), and yeh, nieh, ngit, Am. giat, a tree-stump (G. 8283). These words and the like all point to the Sumerian GISH, also read NISH, trunk, timber, wood, tree. (MUG is related to MESH as MUG, to beget, bear, to MUD in the same senses.)

In like manner, the four words hu, u, wu, throat, neck, P. 544; hou, wu, throat, gullet (G. 4007); king, keng, J. kei, neck, throat (G. 2126); hiang, ngong, J. ko, nape of neck (G. 4291); are the modern representatives of the G- and M-forms covered by the single Sumerian character >a, read GUN, GU, and MU (=wu), neck, throat: and the Chinese kou, dirt (from got, P. 101, 268), G. 6163; mei, mui, mé, dust (from mot, P. 719), G. 7746; and mo, mut, mat, Kk. mal, dust, G. 7999 (cf. also mo, mok, dust, G. 7979); answer with equal completeness to the sounds belonging to the old Sumerian character for dust, dirt, earth, viz. ISH (from GISH, GASH=GAR): SA.GAR; and MIL (MAL). The SA of the compound SA.GAR may be the Chinese sha, sa, from sak, sand, G. 9624. c

Similarly, Ch. hwang, A. kwang, bright, dazzling, G. 5137 (old sound kom); kuang, kong, J. ko, light, brightness, G. 6389; king, kin, bright, beautiful, G. 2143, and other kindred words (¢.g. 2142, 2149); and Ch, ming, min, light, bright, represent the Sumerian KUM, flame, fire; KUN, to shine; and MEL (MEN), MUN, flame, flashing, brightness.