#sumerian colors

[sumerianlanguage]

What would "black flame" be in sumerian?

Hi there! This is an easy one - "flame" is ganzer 𒉈𒋛𒀀 and "black" is gig or giggi 𒈪, so "black flame" would be ganzergiggi 𒉈𒋛𒀀𒈪.

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello again!

Your blog again has been so helpful in writing for DND!

May I ask, how colors work in Sumerian?

I'm guessing that they come after the word they modify.

So I wanted to say...

"Black Dragon" would it be something like "Ushum-Gig"?

And so on for these colors?

White Dragons Ushum-Babbar Red Dragons Ushum-Sa Green Dragons Ushum-Sig Blue Dragons Ushum-Nisig

Finally, may I also ask, if I wanted to poetically name one of them "He whose wings rouses/stirs up sandstorms" how might that be expressed in Sumerian?

Thank you SO much!!!

Hello, and thanks for the kind words!

Yes, colors, like other adjectives, follow and attach to the noun they modify. Here's my post on color vocabulary - it looks like you've got all the "[color] dragon" terms correct! My one note is that the color space that in English we call "green" is split between sig and nisig in Sumerian, so I'd translate Ushum-sig as "yellow dragon(s)" or maybe "bright green dragon(s)", since a darker/cooler-toned green dragon would also be Ushum-nisig.

As for the "He whose..." translation, that specific construction is very hard to convey in Sumerian - the pronoun ane "she/he/etc" doesn't work well with modifiers like subordinate clauses, and I don't know of any names constructed this way. As a full sentence, I'd say Ani ulu iblulu "His wings stir up sandstorms", from a "wing", ulu "sandstorm, south wind" and the present-tense form of lu "to stir up, mix". (I've opted for a instead of pa, both of which mean "wing", because pa generally implies a bird's wing, covered in feathers.) You could make this into a noun phrase like Ani ulu iblulua "... that his wings stir up sandstorms", but I don't think it'd convey well as a name. Maybe something simpler like Aulu "Sandstorm-wings"? Or if you have any other translation requests or ideas, feel free to let me know!

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello!

What is a female mesopotamian name or title that means colorful and joyous?

Hello! I'm not sure of a name specifically, as there aren't comprehensive sources on Sumerian names (see my Sumerian onomastics tag for more) - and Sumerian words often weren't gendered the way vocabulary in many European languages is. But I can translate these words for you!

"Colorful" in Sumerian is gunu 𒁯, also meaning "speckled, spotted, multicolored, variegated, decorated," etc.

Hul 𒄾 means "joy, joyful, joyous, joyously, to be joyful" - basically "joy" as any part of speech. It's not to be confused with its homophone, hul 𒅆, which means "evil, hostile, malicious, violently, to destroy".

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello tumblr friend, I searched your blog trying to answer my own questions, but ultimately, I'll defer to your wisdom. I'm writing a group for one of my games that will be known as 'the Crimson Buzzards'. Would "Burusa" be the correct/best word for it, or did I not dig deep enough? Thank you, you do great work!

Great work on your research! Yes, burusa would be one way to translate the phrase "crimson buzzard(s)", though you have a few other options as well. Buru (𒉢𒁓𒄷) can mean "some sort of bird of prey or vulture, crow", though te (𒀉𒄷) is the more specific way to translate "buzzard, bearded vulture", and urbigu (𒌨𒁉𒅥𒄷) means "vulture" in general, derived from the word for "jackal" and in turn from ur "dog".

"Red" is indeed sa or sua, and this is probably the closest match we have for "crimson". (Sa is written a number of ways in cuneiform, including 𒋜.) The other main word for red, dara 𒁱, is associated with blood and darker colors, like spilt/dried blood, rather than bright red as we might think "blood-red" would mean.

You can combine these as you did, with the adjective attached to the noun it modifies. So burusa, tesa and urbigusa would all be correct!

[sumerianlanguage]

God of Magnanimity in emegir

In emegir, the title of "God of Magnanimity" could be written as "Digir Zigal.ak"?

I know zigal means great soul, but it's okay, magnanimity comes from magna anima, which means great soul as well, so it's accurate.

Thanks in advance!

If curious, the god is named Sún Mulzagin. I forgot what Sún meant, I think it was "brilliant"? And Mulzagin means Blue Star, right? Just asking because I want to be accurate with the language.

Hello! If you’re set on using zigal for “magnanimity”, then dingirzigala would be correct - the final -k of the genitive drops off at the end of a word. Cuneiform for this phrase would be 𒀭𒍣𒃲𒀀. Another translation would be dingirkiduru 𒀭𒆠𒀀, meaning “deity of generosity”; kiduru “generosity” literally means “land that remains damp after flooding”, as in land that would be productive or generous to a gardener. Or you could use sag “kindness, divine grace” instead, as dingirsaga 𒀭𒊷𒀀 “deity of grace”.

As for the second phrase, it’s not quite right. Sun2 𒄢 means “wild aurochs” or “vessel for moistening malt grains”, not “brilliant”, for which I would use dadag 𒌓𒌓 “bright, pure, brilliant”. Mul 𒀯 is “star”, but zagin 𒍝𒆳 means “lapis lazuli, lapis lazuli color”. The basic word for “blue” or “green” is nisig 𒊬. And most importantly, “brilliant” is an adjective, so it would follow the noun it modifies. Thus you could say mulzagindadag 𒀯𒍝𒆳𒌓𒌓 “brilliant lapis lazuli star”, or mulnisigdadag 𒀯𒊬𒌓𒌓 “brilliant blue star”.

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello

I am trying to translate "black cat in White country" for a work project but my sumerian studies are a bit far from me.

Could you help? This would be amazing ! Even only Black Cat in sumerian would be great !

Sure thing! There are a couple words for “cat” but here I’d say saa, written 𒊓𒀀 in cuneiform. “Black” is giggi 𒈪 and “white” is babbar 𒌓. There are also multiple words for “country”, but the basic one I’d use in a phrase like this is ki 𒆠 “place, land, country”.

So the phrase all together would be saagiggi kibabbara “black cat in (a) white country”, written 𒊓𒀀𒈪 𒆠𒌓𒀀.

[sumerianlanguage]

I’ve read that MES, meaning “prince, young hero” also mean “black” or “blackness”, is it true? Are the words ugual, just by chance or is there a reason connecting black with young or prince? Plus I noticed that the cuneiform character for MES is the same as for KISHIB “hand”, what’s the reason of it? Thank you for your patience. Francesco

Hello! Mes “young man, prince, son” is written 𒈩  in cuneiform, the same as mes “black” - but this isn’t the most common/basic word for “black”, which is gig or giggi 𒈪. Instead, mes normally means “a black spot (on something)” or “black wood”, which Halloran specifies as “hackberry tree (or) nettle-tree, used to make furniture and carved objects including figurines”, and mes is used as the root for some other timber or furniture-wood tree names; so the color usage probably derives from the tree.

As for the link between the two meanings, it may be just by chance - it’s possible that, say, the tree/wood/black usage is a loan from Akkadian or some other language, while the young man usage is original Sumerian, and they happened to be pronounced the same so the same cuneiform sign was used. Or there may be some link, but not one I can find a source for.

𒈩 is also used as the sign for kishib “fist, paw”, and part of kishibla 𒈩𒇲 “wrist”. There is a lot of overlap among cuneiform signs, and in Sumerian cuneiform about 800 signs are used to cover several thousand “words”, so there’s probably no specific connection to mes. The more basic word for “hand” is shu, written 𒋗 in cuneiform - and if you look closely, that sign looks a lot like a hand! (For a hint, the thumb is at the bottom.)

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello. I was wondering if you could post Sumerian cuneiform for Red Dream. I would really appreciate it.

Hello! “Red” in Sumerian is sa, and “dream” is mamu, so “red dream” would be mamusa. There are a few combinations of cuneiform signs to write this phrase, but I’d use 𒈠𒊬𒋛𒀀.