Chinese and Sumerian

20 THE CHINESE CLASSIFICATION OF CHARACTERS

recall to the Sumerian scholar the values of the polyphonic Sumerian foot-symbol YL (modern 3%), viz. GIN, DI, DU, SHA, GUB, DUN, TUM. And we have seen that the Chinese word for ‘leg’, ‘foot’, viz. ¢swk, ¢su, tuk, is practically identical with S. DUG, ZAG, ‘knee’. To complete the parallelism of the two series, compare S. <7 RA (from RAG = LAG), ‘to walk’, ‘to go’, and E&Y or >] J LAG, ‘to walk about’, with the Chinese #% /w, from /ok (P. 865), ‘road’, and Ae lat from lak (P. 409), ‘to come’.

(v) Chuen-chu, ‘Inverted’ or ‘ Deflected’ characters ; in which a new sound and a change of sense are indicated by inverting a character, or turning it partly or completely round. Thus the old form of Fi 42/7 is said to be simply the old form of [[] mountain turned up on its right side. This device does not seem to be very common. It is, however, exemplified in the Sumerian BAN, a dow (D. 118), which is apparently identical with \Af warrior (D. 173). The warrior is the bowman: cf. the Egyptian pd-t, ‘bow’, and the gzdézz, ‘bows’ or troops, of the Tell el-Amarna letters. Similarly in Chinese Fe peng, fin, is both ‘soldier’ and ‘weapon’ (G. 9279). Another Sumerian example of apparent inversion may be seen in & PIG, SIG, ‘ weak’ or ‘ill’ (D. 256) as compared with XY (the rising or risen sun) ‘bright’, ‘cheerful’ (D. 234). The strict suggestion of the former character seems to be suzdown, and so gloom or darkness, which is a natural metaphor for sickness, (It is also used for SIG, ‘down’, ‘below’.) Mayers understands by the Chinese name of this class (Chwen-chu, ‘Turned Meanings’?) ‘Mutable Signifcations’, and makes it comprise such characters as ¥¥, which ‘signifies’ more than one sound, viz. cum, tuc, tiao and twan. The class would thus consist of polyphonic symbols, or characters which have more than one value, as is the case with most of the primitive Sumerian symbols, and with many of the Chinese Phonetics. We saw that the foot-symbol in Sumerian represents seven or eight different sounds; and 4] (y)the sun-character is even more polyphonic, with its known values GAD, GUD, UD, UTU, U, UG, UG, GAL, AL, UL, GAS, GES, GIS, PAR, BIR, BABBAR (from BAR-BAR), LA, LAG, RA, SAG, TAM, TAN, ZAL, and the compounds ZA-LAG and PI-RIG (see Br. 7758 ff.; C. T. xii. 6), besides other values, some of which are lost owing to fracture of the tablet. It is obvious, however, to remark that this amazing polyphony of a simple primary character admits of material reduction by the consideration that many of the sounds are clearly variants of a single root, as may

be more evident if we arrange them thus :1. (GAD), GAD, GAS, GES, GIS, GAL, AL (D = S = L) EWIO), Old, OITU, Ui, UD = 1) (GUG), UG, UG, U. 2. (BAR), BABBAR, PAR, BIR; > BAR, ‘the sun’; read MAS, ‘bright’, ‘to glitter’.