Chinese and Sumerian

10 INITIAL AND FINAL SOUNDS, ETC.

LIZ.LIZ, NUZ.NUZ;) and a few other instances. In Chinese this final Z (s) reappears as t, so far as we can trace it; eg. GAZ, to smite, is gat, kat, now hai, to injure; GUZ, a bond, is kit, kieh, to bind; 1Z, GAZ, fire, is gat, kat, ka,ho. The final S is doubtful, as the writing is ambiguous. (MES, male, hero, might equally well be transcribed MEZ, SP 120; and SUS.LUG, to be bright, might be SUZ.LUG, Br. 7209.) The final L has sometimes displaced an older N, as appears from TIL, TI, and DIN, TIN, live; GAL, GUL, GIN, DILI, DIN, male, man; MEL and MUNU, flame, flash; SHU.DUL and SHU.DUN, yoke; SHUL and DUN, to dig; cf. the interchange of initial N, L, in NU, LA, not. (LA need not be derived from the Semitic /é4. It may be dialectic, like Se I, NI, LI, in Sumerian, or i, li, fiyi, G. 3354, in Chinese.) Kindred terms in Chinese suggest that this may have happened in other instances, such as DA.GAL, DA.MAL, broad, wide; where GAL, MAL, may be assumed to represent an older GAN, MAN, corresponding to kwan, fun, H. kon, fon, J. kan, broad; G. 6382. So GA(L), MAL, house, from GAN, MAN, will be equivalent to the Chinese BE kwan, kun, kon, ktie, kou, a residence, G. 6353, and cognate with EN, E, house (from GAN), which so strongly resembles J yen, im, ngé, J. gen, gon, roof, shelter, G. 13148 (R. 53: from ngam, ngan), and with ff an, am, ang, 6, eifi, hut, cottage, G. 50. So, again, Chinese analogy suggests that the Sumerian DUL, DU, mound (li, Te/?), was originally DUN = tun, dé, J.ton, A.doun, an artificial mound; a tumulus; G. 12205; andthat GUL, joy, rejoice, sprang from GUN = hin, yén, J. kin, kon, joy, rejoice; G. 4571 (cf KUN, to be bright, to shine, 7g. to be cheerful, glad).

Often, however, and perhaps most frequently, a Sumerian final L is represented by Chinese t: thus we have BAL (a character which has also the value BUL), to draw up water = pa, pat, J. bat-, Korean pal; G. 8527; BAL, pour out water = p'o, put, p'at, pwak, K. pal, A. bat, bak, G. 9428; BAL, pudendum muliebre ; coire = po, p‘at, K. pal, A. bat, wife, G. 9384; BAL, rebel, oppose, resist; battle; combat = po, put, A. bout, disobedient, rebellious, G. 93563 po, put, pat, bah, K. pal, A. bat, to walk, to travel, to traverse, G. 9386 = BAL, to travel, march, proceed (see the other equivalents of BAL; Ler. p. 14f). The Sumerian LIL, wind, storm-wind, blast, agrees with lieh, lyt, lih, (K. yél), violent gust, squall, G. 7090; and LUL, bad, rebellious, with lieh, lit, lih, K. yl, G. 7101; while LAL, to take, to seize, may be equated with la, lat, lak, (K. nal, J. nat-si, A. lat), to seize, to carry off, G. 6655 and Wells Williams. In numerous cases the final t has disappeared in Chinese, though the phonetic use of the character proves that it was formerly present : ¢.g. lo, K.ra, and na, J.ra, A. la, a bird-net; to spread out; to arrange; G. 7291, was once lat) PTo3 as so agreeing with the Sumerian LAL, a net; to lay out, extend, spread out or over.

A Sumerian final L sometimes represents a prior S (SH); as in (G)ISH, ISHI, MIL (= MISH), dust; DISH and perhaps DIL, one; GASH, ESH, and GA(L), MAL, house; GISH and GIL.DAN, ear; “y read DEL (= DISH) and LISH.