Akkadian:Glossing recommendations

Examples for common forms

For examples of glossings of common Akkadian forms, see here.

Extra Glossing transcription line

Traditional scholarly transliteration as well as bound transcription of Akkadian Cuneiform uses punctuation, too. This punctuation is in conflict with the punctuation as defined by the Glossing Rules.

Compare the following table:

Puctuation	Meaning in scholarly transliterations of Akkadian	Meaning in scholarly bound transcription of Akkadian	Meaning in Glossing transcription line	Meaning in Glossing line
.	Separates sumerograms		—	Portmanteau morpheme
-	Seperates phonograms	Clitic	Affix
=	—		Clitic
( )	—	Non-overt phonemes, scholarly reconstruction	—	Inherent category
[ ]	Completely destroyed text (lacuna), potentially with reconstructed content		—	‘Zero’ morpheme
⌈ ⌉	Partially destroyed text, usually with reconstructed content		—
{ }	Emendation of a scribal error (deletion)		—
< >	Emendation of a scribal error (addition)		Infix
~	—		Reduplication morpheme
\	—		—	Transfix
_	—		Fixed phrase	Fixed phrase
\	—		—	Ablaut phenomenon
/	(Options)		—	Ambigous morpheme

In order to prevent any confusion, it is strongly advisable or, as far as “-” and “< >” are concerned, even mandatory not to use these symbols in their traditional meaning in the Glossing transcription line (directly above the Glossing line). Keep in mind that the number and sequence of “-”, “=”, “~”, and “< >” in the Glossing transcription and the gloss needs to match exactly.

Problematic examples

Transliteration	LÚ.ENGARMEŠ	ù	LÚ.MEŠ[sé]-ki-ri	ša	ÍD.DA	aṭ-ru-<dam>-ma
Glosses	field_worker(M)-ACC.PL	and	block\PTCP-ACC.PL	of	canal(M)-M.GEN	1SG-send\PRT-VENT-SP

‘[...], I sent field workers and canal sealers (before).’.
 

Bound transcription	ikkar(ī)	u	[sé]kirī	ša	nār(im)	aṭru<dam>-ma
Glosses	field_worker(M)-ACC.PL	and	block\PTCP-ACC.PL	of	canal(M)-M.GEN	1SG-send\PRT-VENT=SP

‘[...], I sent field workers and canal sealers (before).’.
 

Consequently, the encoder needs to add an extra ‘Glossing transcription line’ between the traditional Transliteration line (or traditional Bound transcription line) and the Glossing line.

Examples

Transliteration	LÚ.ENGARMEŠ	ù	LÚ.MEŠ[sé]-ki-ri	ša	ÍD.DA	aṭ-ru-<dam>-ma
Glossing transcription	ikkar-ī	u	sēkir-ī	ša	nār-im	a-ṭrud-am=ma
Glosses	field_worker(M)-ACC.PL	and	block\PTCP-ACC.PL	of	canal(M)-M.GEN	1SG-send\PRT-VENT=SP

‘[...], I sent field workers and canal sealers (before).’.
 

Bound transcription	ikkar(ī)	u	[sē]kirī	ša	nār(im)	aṭru<dam>-ma
Glossing transcription	ikkar-ī	u	sēkir-ī	ša	nār-im	a-ṭrud-am=ma
Glosses	field_worker(M)-ACC.PL	and	block\PTCP-ACC.PL	of	canal(M)-M.GEN	1SG-send\PRT-VENT=SP

‘[...], I sent field workers and canal sealers (before).’.
 

In the Glossing transcription line, all symbols need to be used according to the Glossing Rules. In the Traditional transliteration line, however, the encoder may use all the symbols according to his/her scholarly tradition.

Hands-on transcription transformation guidelines

To derive a valid Glossing transcription line from a traditional transliteration or transcription line, the following hand-on rules may help.

Compare the following table:

Traditional transliteration line	Traditional transcription line	Glossing transliteration line	Examples
.		make bound transcription	ÍD.DA → nārim canal:M.GEN ‘(of the) canal’ ÍD.DA → nār-im canal(M)-M.GEN ‘(of the) canal’
		keep it (if bound transcription impossible)	ÍD.DA → ÍD.DA canal:M.GEN ‘(of the) canal’
-		make bound transcription	aṭ-ru-dam → aṭrudam 1SG:send:PRT:VENT ‘I sent’ aṭ-ru-dam → a-ṭrud-am 1SG-send\PRT-VENT ‘I sent’
	-	“=” (clitic)	aṭrudam-ma → aṭrudam=ma 1SG:send:PRT:VENT=SP ‘I sent’ aṭrudam-ma → a-ṭrud-am=ma 1SG-send\PRT-VENT=SP ‘I sent’
	( )	leave parentheses out; keep content	nār(im) → nārim canal:M.GEN ‘(of the) canal’ nār(im) → nār-im canal(M)-M.GEN ‘(of the) canal’
< >		leave brackets out; keep content	LÚ.MEŠ<sē>kirī → sēkirī block:PTCP:ACC.PL ‘blockers’ LÚ.MEŠ<sē>kirī → sēkir-ī block\PTCP-ACC.PL ‘blockers’
{ }		leave brackets and content out	LÚ.MEŠsē{sē}kirī → sēkirī block:PTCP:ACC.PL ‘blockers’ LÚ.MEŠsē{sē}kirī → sēkir-ī block\PTCP-ACC.PL ‘blockers’
[ ]		leave brackets out; keep content or leave it out	LÚ.MEŠ[sēki]rī → sēkirī block:PTCP:ACC.PL ‘blockers’ LÚ.MEŠ[sēki]rī → sēkir-ī block\PTCP-ACC.PL ‘blockers’ LÚ.MEŠ[sēki]rī → [__]rī ‘[destroyed]’
⌈ ⌉		leave brackets out; keep content	LÚ.MEŠ⌈sē⌉kirī → sēkirī block:PTCP:ACC.PL ‘blockers’ LÚ.MEŠ⌈sē⌉kirī → sēkir-ī block\PTCP-ACC.PL ‘blockers’