Sumerian is Archaic Tamil- IAS Paperமரபு விக்கி இருந்துSumerian is Archaic Tamil and the Base Language of Rigkrit(Sanskrit)
Dr K.Loganathan, Universiti Sains Malaysia(retd), Penang Malaysia, [ Paper read in the International Seminar of the Inst of Asian Studies, Chennai held Jan 2011] Abstract:
In this paper I bring together many of my research activities into SumeroTamil and how it is also the Base Language of Rigkrit(Sanskrit), It is divided into THREE parts. In the First Part I give evidences from Sumerian Texts to show that there is mention of Sag-gam (to be read saG-Gam), an Academy for the cultivation of the arts and that of Kumari in connection with it. I also give many evidences that the assemblies of various kinds were an integral part of Sumerian Culture as it is even to-day that of Dravidian. In the second part I select interesting lines from various Sumerian Texts and show that they are recognizable as Tamil but certainly an Archaic Form assuming here an evolutionary perspective on Historical Linguistics which I also describe as Uri Linguistics Viri Linguistics and so forth. In the Third Part I discuss many lexical and grammatical features between SumeroTamil Rigkrit(Sanskrit) and C.Tamil to suggest that while C.Tamil is a direct evolute of SumeruTamil, Rigkirit(hence Sanskrit) is a branch development I also suggest on the basis of such studies that Rigkrit might have branched off from SumeroTamil around 2000 BC or so the time the Akkadians took over the political control of Sumeria and which probably forced the SumeroTamils to migrate out.
Part I
The Sag-gam (SaG-kam) and Kumari in Sumerian Texts.
One of the most interesting cultural continuity between Sumerian and C.Tamil is the mention of Kumari as well as the institution of Sag-gam for the cultivation of the arts in both cultures where the same words are used. This comes along with mention of a variety of such assemblies that are essentially collective organizations for discussing various matters and come to a collective decision on democratice lines.
Below some very historically interesting lines where both Kumari and SanGkam (sag-gam) are mentioned. Here I venture to give some of my own interpretations as well to some lines.
215. ga-e gudu sag-gam-mah ju me-en ( I am the anointing (gudu)-priest , the knowledgeable sangamah) 216. ga-e lu asilal (ki) me-en ( I am the man of Asilal?) 217. ga-e ka-pirig [A-HA](ki) he-sikil-la he-ga-dadag-ga me-en ( I am the incantation priest of Ku'ar , who indeed cleansed , and also purified) 218. . gudu susbu (d)en-ki-ga me-en ( I am the anointing priest, the purification priest of Enki)
நா(ன்)னே கோடு சங்கம் மா சூ(ழ்) மான்
நா(ன்)னே ஆசு-இல (கீழ்) மான்
நா(ன்)னே காபிரி குமரி (கௌரி) எய் சுக்கில்ல எய்க தங்கு தங்கு மான்
நா(ன்)னே சோபு ஏண்கீழ்க்க மான்
gudu Ta. koodu, kuudu , kudam? kuuttu
The Su. gudu which is given the meaning 'priest" may actually be a ritual dancer, and hence the Ta. koodu , meaning Ta. koodiyar, the dancer. From this might have originated Ta. kuudal, the coming together , assembling as a congregation and which brings us to the Kuudal, an ancient and alternative name for Mathurai, the location of the Third CaGkam or Academy which is also a meaning of Kuudal. This may have evolved from this way : kuudu-il> kuudil> kuudal. There is also a word 'kudil" which is retained in Sk in the name Kaudil-ya, the Gotra of the famous author of Artta Sastra which is said to have been written in Tamil Nadu. This Kaudil-ya has also become KauNdiya, the gotra of ThirunjaanaSambantar and so forth.
The word 'kudam" meaning 'pot' is ruled out as it appears to be a description of a professional person here though elsewhere it does occur in this sense in some Sumerian texts.
sam-gam-mah : maa SaGkam : the Great Assembly?
The identity of Su. mah with Ta/Sk maa, maha in both morphology and meaning is quite obvious. The word "sag-gam" cannot be 'priest" ( sangu/sanga) as 'gudu' that precedes it, already means that. Hence it should be linked with 'sa-ga sag-a" , to conjoin, be together , be in love etc. as in the following line:
Exaltations of In-Anna
55. mi-be dam-a-ni-ta sa-ga na- an-da-ab-be (its woman no longer speaks of love with her husband)
The sag-a here can also be (sexually) uniting, the caGkamam. Many words such as 'caki' 'cakan' meaning loved ones may be related to this.
Thus it appears to be that 'sag-gam-mah" is the Great SaG-Gam , here however an Assembly of priests or ritual dancers in which many issues were discussed and perhaps also refined and standardized. The author of the incantation mentions that he KNOWS ( ju, Ta. cuu, cuuz) which also reinforces the notion that sag-gam was in fact an Academy of a kind. Perhaps the Buddhist ' caGkam" as in "CaGkam caraNam kaccaami" was an evolute of this kind of assembly and which in later times became an academic institution of scholars , the Pulavar.
Ku'ar , Kumari.
This interpretation of 'sag-gam' is further reinforced by the mention of "Kumari" ( Ku'ar) which lends support to the historical notion in Tamil literature that the First CaGkam was established in Kumari. Geller gives evidences to read the sign [A-HA] as " Kumari" ( Ku'ar) on page 13 of the book Forerunners to Udug Hul [1].
I give below the whole of the relevant passage.
QUOTE
The above hypothesis contradicts a theory by van Dijk, that since Ku'ar was a city known as "non-Sumerian speaking" as well as the city of Asalluhi, "Grossexorcist von Eridu', it is tempting to identify Ku'ar as the home of the non-canonical incantation in Subarian-Elamite languages. Van Dijk's arguments, however, are partially based upon a miscopied sign in CT 16 6:239-240 ( collated) which reads : eridu (ki) ku'ar ( A.HA)(ki)-se mu-un-na-ri he-me-e-n
Ak. sa ina eri-du u ku-ma-ri re-hu-u ana-ku
The reading ku-ma-ri ( Kuwari? Ku'ar) is supported by ku-mar ( CT 51 105:21- 22).... "
UNQUOTE
It is interesting here that in Tamil, Kumari is also called Kauri, a parallel in meaning and morphology that is quite striking and thus pointing out also a historical continuity despite a shift in the geographical location
Various Kinds of Assemblies:
It appears that the Sumerians were given over to various kinds of assemblies as are the modern day Tamils where the notion of discussing the critical issues and coming to a consensus was well practiced. We give below evidences for this.
Su dug-pu-uh-rum : Ta. tuukku porUum : The place for Discussions
The Assembly of the State in Sulgi’s Hymn B. [2]
The notion of arasavai, an assembly in the Palace and where the King holds counsel appears to be a development of the Ur-saba, also available in Suruppak’s NeRi(nari) extended now to the political unit of the Kingdom be it a city state or a nation of several such city states We find mention of this in Sulgi’s MutarIbiyam (Hymn B) (c. 2000 BC.). The following lines, devoted to a description of how Sulgi ruled the state are evidences for this.
225 bu-uh-ru-um ki nam-tar-re-de ( In the assembly where decisions were taken) 226. sagub-e-ne ad-gi-gi mu-un-za/ enim dug-dug mu-un-zu ( I taught the governors how to deliberate, suggesting the apposite words)
Tamil. 225 porUum kiiz tarumam ede (At the place of dialogue where dharma was established)
பொரூஉம் கீழ் தருமம் எடே
226 Saakuppinee aadu miimii mun-cuuva/enem tuukku tuukku muncuuv. ( Among those sat in the assembly, I encouraged continuous dialogue, encourage free expression of thoughts)
சா குப்பினே ஆடு மீள்மீள் முன் சூவ/ எனம் தூக்கு தூக்கு முன்சூவ
Here the ‘bu-uh-ru-um ki’ is the Tamil porUum kiiz, a place where those present encage among themselves and which means entering into debates, dialogues and discussions. This perhaps is the assembly of the King where he holds counsel with the important people of the state and who are made to sit (gub) or be members. What is interesting is that it is considered the place where dialogues were held so that JUSTICE or nam-tar-re (> Ta. tarmam> Sk. Dharma) was upheld. It is also interesting to note that Sulgi claims that he encouraged untrammeled and extensive and free expression of thoughts (enem tuukku tuukku). Thus it is clear that what went out as the major political decision was not the will of the King but rather the collective decision of the assembly and this more as an expression of Dharma than the will of the people. The free dialogues, debates and discussions among the members of the assembly were seen as the way in which the transpersonal DHARMA comes to hold in the affairs of the state.
Sa-ba, Galga and E-dub-ba.
There are also mention of Sa-ba(Ta. Sabai) Galga(Kazakam) and so forth in many Sumerian texts. We have also mention of such academies as part of the Palace where the Head of the Assembly had free access to the King and so forth. It also appears that some temples also functioned as scholastic centers
There is also the institution e-dub-ba, the Ta. Il tubbu, the tablet house, which is actually a school for children where they learn the art of writing on clay tablets and reading them [3].
NOTES Part I
[1]
These observations are available on Page 13 of the book “Forerunners to Udug Hul” , Sumerian Exorcist Incantations, Edited by Geller , Mark J and published by Franz Steiner Verlag Wisebaden GMBH, Stuttgart, 1985. The mention of Kumari in both C.Tamil literature and Sumerian has suggested to me the existence of Thrree Kumari Nadu-s. For details see:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumeriantamil/kumari-sagkam-in-sumerian-texts
[2] Full text at :
http://arutkural.tripod.com/sumstudies/su-democracy.htm
It appears that at least Sulgi, the last Sumerian King of the Third Ur dynasty was essentially democratic where in his royal assembly he gave freedom of speech to the various members.
[3]
This historically the most influential cultural institution that is directly linked to the fact that the Sumerians invented the writing system and established the e-dub-ba (Ta. Il tubba) the Tablet House for teaching this art to the children, This is the precursor to the modern day schools and colleges for children . For more details see:
http://arutkural.tripod.com/sumstudies/aca-sum.-tam.html
Part II : Sumerian as Archaic Tamil: The Textual evidences
Central to my various claims about the Dravidian past remains my identification of Sumerian as Archaic Tamil, a fossil of the past of Tamil Language, a fossil in the sense of Aurobindo’s Evolutionary linguistics. Languages evolve in various ways and it happens that Tamil language has evolved over the last 5000 years at least throwing on the way many fossils of which we have abundance of such fossils in Sumeria (4000 BC to 1000 BC) and from about 300 BC to 300 AD in CaGkam classics and so forth. There is a gap perhaps from about 2000 BC to about 500 BC that needs to be filled up. This may be the period of Second SaGkam about which little is known at the moment.
But the fact remains, despite these gaps in ancient history and the many gaps that remain to be filled up that Sumerian is Archaic Tamil, a form of Tamil that constitutes as early stage in the evolution of Classical Tamil and possibly the Tamil of the First SaG-Gam.
So the question that I want to raise is: I am convinced that Sumerian is Archaic Tamil but how can I convince others of the TRUTH of this discovery of mine?
The only way is to PRESENT various samples of TEXTS for the Sumerian and LEAD others to SEE by providing explanatory notes that Sumerian language as exemplified can in fact be SEEN as specimens of Archaic Tamil because there are elements there which identify it as Tamil and at the same time also elements which show that it is Archaic form of it. The situation is similar to that between CaGkam Tamil and Modern Tamil where we can see CONTINUITY amidst CHANGE
So with this in mind, I have selected below samples of TEXTS from the Sumerian literature which I believe will convince any one that they are in fact fossil specimens of the deep past of Tamil language. I request the scholars to attend to these texts, putting aside other historical questions about how Sumerians came to be there and how these Tamil speakers migrated to India and so forth.
The only question here should be: Are these samples of TEXTS samples of an ARCHAIC form of Tamil or not?
The first sample comes from Suruppak’s NeRi ( the oldest tablet dated to 2600 BC) and I have given also my notes to HELP out the seeing of these as Archaic Tamil. I would request anyone serious in this matter to reflect DEEPLY on these lines. If you have a knowledge of Tamil, it will be a great help as you can fall back on your native competence. If not you can check it out with such people and who are OPEN enough to such possibilities.
But before that I should mention elements of Viri Linguisitcs briefly to set the evolutionary aspects underlying these lexical notes. [1]
Just to cite a simple example I take the following sentence from Sulgi Hymn B (C. 2000 BC) 13. tur-ra mu-de e-dub-ba-a-a am ( Since my very youth, I belonged to edubba) The Tamil reconstruction would be : Ta. tur-ra mutee il tubbaiya aa aam ( Since my very youth I attended the tablet house(school)) துர்-அ முதே இல் துப்பைய ஆ ஆம் In this reconstruction, in phonology morphology and semantics and so forth, the basic utti-s constituting the Viri Linguistics are already there. Here let me overlook the problems about transcription of the cuneiform texts where some refinements are required but not a fundamental revision. For example ‘e’ is rewritten as ‘il’ and which can be incorporated in future readings of the Sumerian itself. Leaving aside such issues for the time being, let me come to the discussion of the utti-s relevant to the issue. 1. The Phonological Utti-s Here we have ‘mude’ rendered as ‘mutee’ with the mapping of ‘d’ into ‘t” and ‘e’ into ‘ee’ . The root of this could be Su. mus (the foundation, the initial etc) and hence also s > d, t etc. We have also ‘a’ as > Ta. aa (to become) and am> Ta. aam ( a particle of affirmation etc). Here while the ‘- a’ in e-dub-ba-a’ is rendered as ‘y-a’, the next ‘a’ and ‘am’ are rendered as ‘aa aam’ i.e. with the long vowel. Here we note that ‘y’ might have been present but the script was defective for symbolizing it. It could have been read as such but not rendered accurately in the script. We notice that ‘tur’ remains the SAME both in phonological shape and meaning We also have ‘dub’ rendered as ‘tub’ where we have d > t , something we see also in Sumerian itself e.g dug and tuk 2. The Semantic Utti-s Now looking at the meanings we see that the meaning of ‘tur’ remains the same as Ta. where tur, tul, tun means ‘small, fine’ and metaphorically ‘evil” etc. The Tamil tur-umbu means something small , tul-li-yam means something fine, minute etc. Tur-neRi is the ‘little way”, the evil way in semantic implications. The ‘mude’ has become Ta. mutee and mutalee as in ‘akaram mutala ezuttellaam ( KuRal 200 AD). The Mutu also means ancient old etc. The ‘mutal’ also means the foundation, the basis etc. In all these we see a family of semantic relationships that are linked to each other with some meanings, perhaps the metaphorical as historically later. The most primordial meaning may be that of Su. mus, the foundation, the basis etc. 3. The Morphological utti-s Now we notice that ‘dub’ or ‘dub-ba’ has the Tamil equivalent of Tubbu, the clue, the sign etc that has to be read or deciphered as in tuppu tulangkaL etc. Now we can also see some grammatical operations: dub-ba> bud-da > buddi (Ta. putti) ; intelligence etc. What we have here is metathesis along with the birth of an associated meaning – from a tablet of knowledge to that of intellect of intelligence. We can also see the possible derivation: dub-ba> bud-da> poti and il-dub-ba> poti-il, the famous centre in the ancient Madurai where the Tamil Academy is said to have functioned. The “poti-il’ may actually be ‘il-tub-bu” but distorted or extended somewhat in meaning Here we also notice the SAMNESS of meaning in relation to ‘tur’ ‘a or aa’ ‘am or aam’ etc. Thus the Semantic Utti-s bring out both the SAMENESS in meaning as well as DIFFERENCE but where the difference can be explained in terms of historical evolution of various kinds. 4. The Grammatical Utti-s Now when we take up ‘e-dub-ba-a” and render it as Ta. il tubbaiya we have ‘-a’ as the Tamil genitive/ locative suffix “-a” that is also widely present in C. Tamil and with the same grammatical function. The ‘am’ and Ta. aam are almost the same in grammatical function – an enclitic of agreement, emphasis etc. Now in the clause ‘tur-mu-de’ we have an identity in grammatical function in the word order: akara mutal, iLamai mutalee etc. Here the “mu-de’ is an adverb of time(?) and the same word order holds in Tamil as well. Now in ‘e-dub-ba’ we see a different word order - in fact the reversal – tubbaiya il etc. This is one of the DIFFERENCES in grammar and which is rule governed. While there is agreement in having the formative ‘-a’ as the adjectival formant, ( nall-a maintain ( good man), peri-a viidu ( big house) ) while in Tamil it is before the Noun in Sumerian it is post the qualified noun. For example e-gal-la > Ta. il kaLLa> kaLLa il etc. The rule is : N1 ^ N2-a > N2-a ^ N1
In the samples below such utties are amply present but which I do not discuss explicitly. My concern is to help out the identifiability of these texts as texts in Archaic Tamil.
Sample 1.
Suruppak’s NeRi ( < Su. nari: moral instructions)
1. [u] ri-a u sud-ra ri-a ( In those distant days, in those far remote days) ஊ எரிய ஊ சூத்திர எரிய uu eriya uu cuuttira eriya
2. gi ri-a gi bad-du ri-a ( In those nights, in those far-away nights) மை இரிய மை பண்டு இரிய mai iriya mai paNdu iriya
3. mu ri-a mu sud-ra ri-a ( In those years, in those far remote years) மூஉ அரிய மூஉ சூத்திர அரிய mUu ariya mUu cuuttra ariya
4. u-ba gestu.tuku inim.galam inim.zu-a kalam-ma ti-la-am ( In those days, the intelligent one, who made the elaborate words, who knew the (proper) words, and was living in Sumer . ஊப கெஸ்த்துதொகு எனம்கலம் எனம் சூவ களம்ம தில்லாம் uuba kestu.toku enam.kalam enim cuuva kaLamma tillaam
5.Suruppak gestu.tuku inim.galam inim.zu-a kalam-ma ti-la-am ( Suruppak - the inelligent one, who made the elaborate words , who knew the (proper) words, and was living in Sumer 5. சூருபாக்கு கெஸ்த்துதொகு எனம்கலம் எனம் சூவ களம்ம தில்லாம் Cuurupaakku kestu.toku enam.kalam enam cuuva kaLamma tillaam.
Lexical Notes 1. u . Ta. u, uu : a deictic/referential term that denotes something beyond as in up-paal " yonder" .This 'u' remains one of the deictic words the others being a' (that)" and "i" (this) also of frequent occurrence in Sumerian as it is in Tamil. The use of 'u' is obsolete now though I understand that it is still in use in Sri Lankan Tamil. ri-a> eriya (that which burns), uriya (that which becomes) ariya (that which is rare). The root appears to be. u, uu : to become, to shine forth etc. uu, u> ur, uru: shape form, to become. ri-a > raa > to come forth (Telugu); ba-ra, ma-ra> marabu : that which comes down, tradition. raa-sag> raasan . arasan, arayan, raayan : king ( Sk: raajah; sag> jah) Also Su.ri-si > Sk rishi: the illuminated. The 'si' here is cikaaram: to radiate, to shine forth eri> eli> Ak. ellu. Ta. ellu, el: daylight, brightness sud-ra> cuuttira : ancient , distant. Possibly derived from Su. su-du/ Ta. cuudu ; the peak, the top extremity, the highest point in general. Perhaps from the initial notion of very high , at the top, the notion of 'distant' has been derived. Some of the derivative meanings possible are: ancient people, the natives, the long lived, the highly developed and so forth. It is noteworthy that all the Dravidian folks are called sudras in SK literature but which has suffered a semantic twist and has come to mean low castes. 2. gi=mi > Ta. mai, kai: black, dark. See igi> imai: eyes. Here the cosmic times of utter darkness, the state of world before creation and the onset of light. Perhaps the root is 'ngi' and transliterated both as 'mi' and 'gi' in Su. itself bad-du> Ta. paddu, paNdu : ancient. It is possible the root is Ta. padu: to show up, to become present. padu( to become present)> paddu (the time the world became present> paNdu ( the ancient or primordial times) ri-a> iri-a : to be there , that which exists . gi-ri-a cannot be the darkness that burns but rather the Darkness that pre-exists I,e iriya. Even now in Malayalam ‘iri’ and Tamil ‘iru’ means to subsist, to be there etc. 3. mu> Ta. mUu> muLai : to emerge ; here the time the world emerged. It is also used in Su. as a term for the year. 4. gestu> kestu. Ta. akattu, akattiyam: sacred wisdom, deep metaphysical illuminations. gestu(ears)>Ta.kaatu (ears). Perhaps the meaning of gestu is the same as Sruti ( <Ta. cuur-uti : illuminations that arise within but now the scriptural wisdom, that which is heard and transmitted) gestu ---< kastiyar, akattiyar: the foremost Sage of the Tamils and a great archetypal Siddha. In Su. we have Gestin-Anna ; the one skillful in interpreting dreams and such matters of transductive perceptions. gestu.tu-ku> Ta. kesttutoku: One who has assembled or collected immense Wisdom. The word 'toku' can also be related to Malay taaku: to understand. Also Ta. takavu : greatness inim.galam Ta. enam.kalam. The word Su. inim. enim exists in Ta. as the verb "en. enRu' to tell , to relate, enal: speaking, telling. galam> Ta. kalam: the precious. Also Ta. kal-vi: education, kal : to learn. Su. ga-la: ritual singer, Ta, kalai: the arts ,Ta. kalainjan: the artist zu-a=ju-a> Ta. cuuva: cuu: deep illuminations , a variant of Ta. cii/ Su. si. cuu> Ta. Cuuz: to reflect deeply. cuu-t-tiram: that which has within itself deep knowldge. Su.til-la, tila> Ta. tilam > tiram to exist 5. surupaak> Ta. cuurupaakku. cuuru> cuulam: the spear. paku ( to cut and divide) --> paakku: that whihc cuts and hence derivatively perhaps 'sharp" . Hence suruppak Ta. cuurupaakku: a sharp spear or cuulam. Let us reflect a bit on some key words from this text - most probably the most ancient literary text in the world - coming from the beginnings of the 3rd Millennium BC and which was committed to writing around 2600 B.C. itself. What surprises anyone who would take the trouble to ponder over the meanings of some words here is the presence of immensely sophisticated cosmological views present in the first few lines and all articulated in words that stand as good Tamil even to this day. We have u-ri-a where Ta. u as demonstrative means 'yonder", the "up-pal" "uppar' 'umbar' etc. It has also given us 'uur' 'uyar' 'uti' (to emerge, rise up, move) and such verbal forms. As nouns we have 'uL' 'oL' ( light, to be, to exist, real etc.) We have also the Su. ur as in 'an-ur-as-a" where 'ur' means the world. We have also ri-a as iri-a that which exists, something already there etc. Parallel to this is another variant, 'mu-ri-a" where 'mu' has the Tamil versions Ta. mUu, muLai ( to move, emerge) and from which are derived Su. mus: to move away, travel, to protrude etc. corresponding to which we have Ta. muucu, muukku, mukam etc. There is a term as a name in CaGkam classics, Ta. mooci and this may mean the traveller, the yaatrika, the mendicant. The meaning is clear: u-ri-a and mu-ri-a mean the same : the bursting forth of FIRE or molten rocks violating the Darkness that prevailed ( gi-ri-a > mai iri-ya). Thus we have quite unmistakably what is now known in astrophysics as the Big Bang Theory of the origins of the Universe. The word bad-du which exists even now as Ta. paNdu, the ancient also has given a number of words related to the above cosmological views. We have Ta. badivam , vadivu, vadivam all meanings 'shape' 'structural forms " etc. Thus the word for 'ancient times", paNdu (<bad-du) is again derived from the notion of the shaping of the universe, the emergence of world violating the Darkness inside which it was resident and hence unmanifest. [2]
Sample 2
I provide now the 2nd sample of Sumerian sentences from En Hudu Anna's Exaltations of In-Anna that I call Sirbiyam ( c. 2200 BC) where you also see the beginnings of what later came to be called as NamavaLi. There is the phrase 'he zu am' which later might have become the mantra 'suvaakaa'
Exaltatations of In-Anna Song 15
122. he-su-he-za-a nanna li-bi-in-du-ga za-a-akam bi-in-du-ga That one has not recited as "Known! Be it Known!" of Nanna , that one has recited as a "Tis Thine!" ஏசு ஏசுவ நன்னா இலி பீயின் தூக்க, ஜாஅகம் பீயின் தூக்க
123. an-gim mah-a-za he-zu-am That you are lofty as Heaven-- be it known! வான் ஙிம் மாஹ்அ ஜா ஈ சூ ஆம்!
124 ki-gim dagal-la-za he-zu-am That you are broad as the earth -- be it known! கீழ்ஙிம் தகல்ல ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
125. ki-bala-gul-gul-lu-za he-zu-am That you devastate the rebellious land- be it know ! கீழ்வல கொல்கொல்லு ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
125a kur-ra gu-de-za he-zu-am That you roar at the land - be it known! குன்ற கூயிடே ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
126 sag-gis-ra-ra-za he-zu-am That you smite the heads- be it known! சென்னியிசு அரிஅரி ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
127 ur-gim adda ku-za he-zu-am That you devour cadavers like a dog -- be it known! ஓரிஙிம் அட்ட கூழ் ஜாஅ ஈசூ ஆம்!
128 igi-hus- a-za he-zu-am That you glance is terrible - be it known! மை உஷ்ண ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
129 igi-hus-bi il-il(i)-za he-zu-am That you lift your terrible glance -- be it known! இஙி உஷ்ணபி இயல் இயலி ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
130 igi-gun-gun-na-za he-zu-am That your glance s flashing -- be it known! இஙி கன்கன்ன ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
131. en-na-nu-se-ga-za he-zu-am That you are ill-disposed towards the .....-- be it known ஈனனு செகு ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
132. u-ma gub-gub-bu-za he-zu-am That you attain victory -- be it known! ஊம்ம குப்குப்பு ஜாஅ ஈ சூ ஆம்!
133. nanna li-bi-in-du-ga za-a-kam bi-in-du-ga That one has not recited (this) of Nanna, that one has recited it as "Tis thine!"-- நன்னா இலி பீயின் தூக்க ஜாஅகம் பீயின் தூக்க
134 nin-mu ib-gu-ul-en asa mah-me-en (That) Oh my lady, has made you great, you alone are exalted நின்மோ விப்பு கோலன் ஆசா மாஹ் மன்
135. nin-ki-aga-an-na-me-en mir-mir-zu ga-am-du Oh my lady beloved of An, I have verily recited your fury! நின் காங்க ஆண்ண மன் மீர் மீர்ஜு ஙாஅம் தூக்உ
Lexical Notes
122 he-zu> Ta. eecu, eettu : to hail
123 an-gim> an-gim> vaan-ngin : like the sky. Gin. Gim> ngin: a particla of comparison. It exists now as 'in'
he-zu-am > Ta. ee cuu aam : let this(ii> ee) be known ( zu=suu> suu-t-tiram) zu=suu> suur. sudar: to shine forth.
124. dagal-la> takalla> tavala> tava " braod , big, large etc. The '-a' here is perhaps the "-ai" as in uukkalai etc.
125. kur-ra > Ta. kunRa . Here '-a' is the Sixth case marker '-a' i.e the locative case marker. gu-de= gu-e-de> kuuyidee. Here '-e-de" is the aux. verb 'idu' that exists even now as in pooy-v-idu, uNdu-idu etc.
126. sag-gis> saageesu: perhaps here 'isu' is a lost plural marker retained as a nuetral singular as in vanticcu, pooccu etc.
ra-ra> aRu aRu. Frequently the intial vowel before 'r' and 'l' are left out in writing but sometimes supplied. See 'eri" and 'ri"
127. ur> Ta. oori: the wolf adda> Ta. adda: that which has been killed. Perhaps the root is Ta. adi: beat and 'adda' is the nominal participial form
ku> Ta, kuuz: porridge, food.
128. igi-hus-a > Ta, imai ushNa : burning eyes: Notice the adjectival formant '-a' in hus-a and which is common to C.Tamil and Sk.
129. il-il-i > Ta. iyal-iyali or ezu-ezu-i. Here '-i' may be pronominal marker like in ji-ji-i : they toil
130. gun-gun-na> Ta. kuN-kuNa or kan-kanna : kan. kanal : heat. to heat up , to blaze etc.
131: se-ga> Ta. siikku, sekku : to destroy. en-en-nu = en-na-lu : Ta. iina (u)Lu" lowly people.
132. u-ma> Ta. uumma : the place above? Lofty?
133 za-a=ka> Ta. jii-akam : inside you or with you
134. ib-gu-ul-en : ib> vi: the causative infix as in koddu-vi etc. It can also be the pronoun 'iv' that may mean 'this world'
135. mir-mir> Ta. maar.maar > maari.maari: rains and storms. [3]
Sample 3
As evidences to show that Sumerian is Archaic Tamil, the following lines from Sulgi Hymn B are given. Sulgi is the most famous King of the Third Ur Dynasty and who lived around 2014 BC the close of the 3rd Millennium BC. With him come to close the productive period of Sumerian literature after which it slowly declined in Sumeria but survived as the language of culture and religion till around 500 BC. Perhaps it was during this period i.e. after 2000 BC the SumeroTamils migrated to many parts of the world and where the bulk of them must have returned to S.India perhaps the country of their origins in the deep past and with which there was always trade links through the sea route.
These lines are remarkable for containing the extremely impressive and majestic words ‘sirbiam’ ‘mutaribiyam’ ‘zamibiim’ and so forth and which can easily pass for Classical Tamil words.
Sulgi Hymn B ( Mutariibiyam) 1. lugal-e mu-ni nig-du-se (The king's name, according to what is becoming) Ta. uLukaLLee moo-ni niiNdusee உளுகள்ளே மோஅன்னை நீண்டுசேய் 2. u-su-du inim pa-e ag-de (In order to bring (it) into light , for distant days, by means of the word... ) Ta. u-suudu enem paaye aakkidee உசூடு எனம் பாயெ ஆக்கிடே 3. Sul-gi lugal Uri-ma-ke (Sulgi's, he king of Ur) Ta. Sulgi UlukaL uurimmakee சூல்கி, உளுகள் ஊரிம்மக்கே 4. a-na za-mi-bi-im kalag-ga-na sir-bi-im (This is the song of his power, this is the hymn of his valor) Ta. aanna saamiibiyam kaaLaGannaa sirbiyam ஆன்ன சாமீபியம் காளக்கன்ன சீர்பியம் 5. gal-an-zu nig sag-bi-se e-a-na mu-da-ri-bi-im (Of the wise, in all things foremost, this is the lasting record ) Ta. kalan-suu niga saanbisee eeya கலஞ்-சு நிக சான்பிசே ஏயன்ன முதரீபியம் 6. sa-bal-bal-a egir-u-da inim su a-bal-e-de (In oder to pass down word to the generations of the future ) Ta. saanpaalpaala etiruda enem col iitee சான் பால்பால எதிருட எனம் சொல் அபர் ஈதே 7. kala-ga dumu Nin-sun-ka-ra (For the valiant, the Son of Ninsun ) Ta. kaaLakan tamu Ninsankara காளைக(கால-க?) தமு நின்சங்கர 8. gestu egir-ra-bi igi-se mu-un-na-tum ( He (the singer), the deep of wisdom brought for him to the fore ) Ta. kestu egiRrabi imi-see munna tooum கெஸ்த்து எகிற்றபி இமிசேய் முன்ன தோஉம் 9. a lu-sir-ra di-se mu-un-e (The art of the singer utters unto a declaration ) Ta. aa uLusiira tisee mun.ee ஆ உளுசீர இதிசே முன் ஏ 10. dim-ma nig sag-ga sa-ta DU-a ni-bi i-il-e (And ardently extols in whatever fine thoughts that surge from the heart ) Ta. timma niga saagka saaytta DU-a niibi ii.iyallee திம்ம நிக சாங்க சாய்த்த DU-அ நீபி ஈ இயலே Lexical Notes 1: mu> name fame etc. ; nig-du> Ta. Nikazttu? mu-na> naamam : name. 2. u-su-du> Ta. Uu suudu: Ta. Uu : time, day etc suudu> Kuudu: extensive and hence u-su-du: for a lomg time inim> en-am: what are said(en) and hence words u-sudu : the prefix ‘u’ may be a verbalizer meaning to attain etc. There are Tamil parallels as u-d-kaar( sit down) uc-cari: pronounce, utter. Inum, enem : words, utterances. The verbal roo is ‘en” to say, utter, recite etc. The ‘am’ appears to be a Noun formative just as in Tamil .See oodu - ooddam ( to run , the running) pa- e ag-de> Here the suffix ‘-e’ coorseponds to the Ta. accusative case marker ‘ai”. Perhaps in Su. the TeeRRa eekaaram, the ee of special focus was known as ‘ee’ while the accusative case maker as the short’ e” and which is available even in col.Tamil . See naaye adi : hit the dog. Ag-de= aakli-idu-ee> aakkidee : to make. The ‘’idu’ is the Aux verb Ta, idu and ‘ee’ the TeeRRa eekaaram, the enclitc of emphasis. 4 a-na: aanna or aal na: the pronoun ‘he’ or ‘his power’ za-mi-bi-im : zami. Ta,. saami: the term of address of god and saintly persons. The ‘bi-im’ is Ta, p-piyam as in Tolkaap-piyam’ , a noun formative in relation to texts. Ka-la-ga > Ta. kaaLakan : one who is strong like a bull. Ta. kaaLai: bull as well as a brave and powerful person. Sir-bi-im> Ta, siirbiyam; Ta. siir: songs of praise, to praise as siir aaddal 5. gal-an-zu> Gal-an > Ta. kalan ,kalam : something very precious. Words of wisdom are also called thus. See arum-kalam-ceppu> aruGkalac ceepu Sag-bi> saan-bi Ta. senbi> sembi ; great and foremost. e-a-na> eeyanna: those which have emerged (ee>Ta. eeku, ee) mu-da-ri-bi-am> mutu-ari-biyam : that which destroys getting old 6. sa-bal-bal-a > saan paal-paalla> saa paarampariya : people of future generations; bal-a> to cross over; Ta.paala> paara. Paraa-paara> paarampariyam: tradition 7. kala-ga Nin-sun-ka-ra> Nin Sankara: Ta. saGkaran : Siva the desroyer 8. gestu< ( gis-tu? ) the recitations( tu, du ,dug) of sacred verses(gis, ges), Derivatively divine knowledge. a-gestu-a> akasttiyan, akattiyam: the sage of divine wisdom 9. lu-sir-ra> siira-lu > siiraaL : the one who sings, the singer di-se? tisee> tisai: diretions 10. dim-ma> Ta. timma: firmly nig > Ta. nika, mika: greatly. Sag-ga> saaGka: lofty . eminent, high and respaetable. Ni-bi: Ta, nii: second person pronoun i-il-e> Ta. ii iyalee or ii ezuvee. The ‘ii’ could be the pronoun ‘i, ii” this, those [4]
NOTES Part II
[1]
Imspired by Tolkaappiyam and the Veer Linguistics of PavaNar and the Evolutionary Linguistics of Aurobindo, I have developed Aspects of Evolutionary Linguisitcs such as Viri Linguistics, Uri Linguistics Veer Linguisitics Uuru Linguisitics and so forth. These aspects were developed in the course of active debates and still remain exploratory. When time permits I hope to write a monograph of these with suitable examples. Such an Evolutionary Linguisitcs remains quite different from the Constructive Linguistics such as that implicit in PIE studies. For some preliminary sketches on aspects of Evolutionary Linguistics please see:
https://sites.google.com/site/ulagansessays/evolutionary-linguistics
[2]
These lines are taken from ‘ The Instruuctions of Suruppak: A Sumerian Proverb Ciollection. Edited by Bent Alster and published by Academisk Forlag, Copenhagen, 1074. The treatise is actually a collection of ethical aphorisms caklled by Suruppak himself Nari and which is certainly Ta. NeRi, a word still in use. It should also be noted that this tradition of writing treatises on ETHICS continues to this day and many treatises written from SaGkam period are still availablr. In facg there is one famous Nan NeRi that has a similar name. For additional lines from this remarkable treatiss please see:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumerutamiltex/suruppak-s-neri
The oldest Tablet is dated around 2600 Bc or so but it appaears it remained as oral literature for several centuries and hence composed probably around 3000 BC or so.
[3]
This treatise was composed by En Hudu Anna, the daughter of Sargon the Great and who was the Head Priestess of the temple in the city. It is a Sirbiyam an exordium praising In-Anna who later came to be known Pubaneswari and so forth, the Great Mother Goddess. It is very deeply philosophical and I have given a Tamil commentary for the whole exordium and which you can read at:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumerutamiltex/exaltations--in-anna
En Hudu Anna is dated around 2300 BC or so.
[4]
Sulgi, the last great King of the Third Ur dynasty, is credited with more than 20 such hymns where the present one is called Hymn B, the most famous. I use the text edited by C.R Castellino and published by University of Rome (1973). There are also other editions. For more lines from this remarkable text with lexical notes in Tamil please see:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumerutamiltex/sulgi-s-hymn-b/lines-56-81
Part III Sumerian the Base Language of Rigkrit(Sanskrit)
Below I collect together some slokas from Rig Veda Samhita and recover what I call the BASE forms that are in fact clause from Sumerian, the Archaic Tamil. The form of Linguistics implicit here is what I call Uri Linguistics where the clauses in Rig Veda are retransformed , the surface layers peeled off(urittal) to expose the Deep Structure or the BASE Form. Certainly I cannot discuss the grammatical and other issues to the complete satisfaction of all. However I shall discuss enough to suggest that there is TRUTH in my claims and it is worth extending such studies by many others especially Indian and Dravidian linguists. Most of the grammatical observations are scattered in my studies of texts in Rigkrit and Sk and here I recall only some of them where I add additional comments to bring out the grammatical similarities and with that also show that Rigkrit is just as agglutinative as Sumerian and C.Tamil. I shall also show similalrities in lexicon including in the grammatical particles. [1]
Yajnasya Devam Let me begin with ‘yajnasya devam’ that occurs in Rig Veda 1.1.1. i,e the first sloka of the first hymn of the first Mandala with the meaning : the deity of the Yajna the Base Form of which is Su, dingir ejenas-a
Hymn 1:1.1 Agnim iile purohitam yajnasya devam ritvijam / hotaram ratnadhaatamam We worship the adorable God, the high priest of cosmic activities, the divine , the one who works through the eternal laws, and who feeds and sustains all that is divine and luminous. Now this is quite similar in construction to " ki-aga anuras-a" of the second line from Enhudu Annas Exaltations (c. 2300 BC).
2.mi-zi me-lam gur-ru ki-aga-an-uras-a Righteous woman clothed in radiance, beloved of heaven and earth
We can render it as “Kaama anurasa” the beloved of heaven and earth. In Tamil this would be " kaama vaanuurasya" ( காம வானூரஸ்ய) meaning the same. A sumerian reconstruction of the clause in Rig or the BASE form will be :" dingir ejenas-a: where Su. dingir has become in Akkadian diwer and from which we have Rigkrit Deva, Ta, teyvam etc. The 'ejen' in Sumerian means 'fire festival' where 'eji, iji ' and so forth mean fire. This ejen.>yajna has become Ta, yaakam. The Rig phrase in C.Tamil will be "yaakattiya teyvam" where the word order is the same. We can see that the word order in Sumerian has been reversed both in Rigkrit and Tamil.
Ni v N2-a > N2-a v N1 The important point is that the genitive case marker -(as)-a is retained in Rigkrit almost the same as in Sumerian while in Tamil it has become (attu)-a where ‘as’ and 'attu' are said to be caariyai, sound fillers by Indian grammarians. This phrase is a good example of the historical continuity in lexicon and grammar between Sumerian Rigkrit and C.Tamil
The fact that a grammatical particle, here the case marker ‘-a’ is suffixed to the nominal stem is a feature of all agglutinative languages such as Sumerian C.Tamil and so forth. Here we see it also the case with Rigkrit. [2]
Purohitam, Ritvijam Hotaram
These three words above from the same sloka are compound words - NP’s called Tokaic Col in Tamil and Samajam in Sk and are typical of agglutinative languages where several roots are glued together to generate a complex word. I want to show that this is also a common feature between Sumerian Rigkrit and C.Tamil and hence are in fact agglutinative in essence.
Here we can analyse Purohitam into Pur-iti-am where Pur is a variant Su. bar, bur something brilliant and which exists in Ta, as Paruti: sun. In Su. Iti (in-di) means the moon and it exists in Ta. as Indu. Thus Purohitam may mean : agni emerges as the suns and moons. Here the suffix ‘- am, im’ is a Noun formative and which exists also in Hotaram and Ritvijam
Now Hotaram can be analysed into Su. U-tar-am where ‘u’ is light as “u dalla-e-a” the resplendent light (the first line in the Exaltations), Su, tar is to give as is also the case in Ta. The Su. U meaning light exists in Ta. as Ul oL etc with the same meaning.
Now ritvijam can be analysed into ri-t-bi-ji-am where we have Su, ri meaning fire (Ta. eri), bi> vi to drop etc. Thus ri-t-bi-ji-am means the Agni that gives light to the world.
Now the common Noun formative ‘-am/ -im’ exists in Sumerian as ‘im’ and in Ta, as iyam
The following are instances of such Compound Words in Sumerian:
From Sulgi Hymn B (c.2000 BC) we have:
4. a-na za-mi-bi-im kalag-ga-na sir-bi-im ஆன்ன சாமீபியம் கல்ஆக்கன்ன சீர்பியம்
5. gal-an-zu nig sag-bi-se e-a-na mu-da-ri-bi-im கலஞ்-சு நிக சான்பிசே ஏயன்ன முதரீபியம்
Ta. kalanj-su nika saanbidee eeyanna mutariibiyam
Here such NP’s as Zamibiyam, Sirbiyam and Mutaribiyam can pass off even now as good Tamil Compound words. Here Mu-da-ri-bi-am can be taken as a compound derived from gluing together the words(mutu; growing old) : ari( to cut off) and bi-am: that which does it collectively meaning something that cuts off growing old and hence obsolete.
Now another interesting example comes from the Kes Temple Hymn of En Hudu Anna (c. 2300 BC).
10. (d) nisaba nu-ka-as-bi-um (Nisaba was its princely ? arbiter..) 11. inim-bi-ta sa-gin im-da-an-sur ( With its words she wove it intricately like a net) Here quite obviously the translation is wrong. Dingir Nisaba is the Goddess of Learning the latter day Saraswati and Nu-kas-bi-am is Ta, nuul kaappiyam: the composer of the texts and which meaning fits the context better. The Kasbiam exists as Sk kaaviyam and Ta, kaappiyam.
To this day the Noun formative “iyam’ exists in Tamil as in Paarpaniiyam (Brahmanism) Nuuliyam( Hermeneutics) etc.
Thus here in these compound words we have another grammatical feature common to all and which go to show that these languages are agglutinative also. [3]
puurvebhir rishibhir nuutanair
Now let us move to the second sloka of the first Hymn of Rig Veda and which is reproduced below:
agnih puurvebhir rishibhir idyo nuutanair uta/ sa devam eha vakshati May the adorable God, eternally adorned by the seers of times, past and present, be a source of inspiration to wise men of all ages. Here what interests us are the suffixes -bhir and - nair available in the above three words. These suffixes are clearly plural person suffixes and as typical in the agglutinative languages, are glued to the nominal stems.
We can derive bhir from the Sumerian ‘ba-ere’ as below Exalatations of In-Anna(c.2300 BC) 21. ni-me-lam u-lu-da nam-lu-u-lu ( When mankind comes before you) 22. ni-me -gar-hus-bi u-mu-re-gin (In fear and trembling at (your ) tempestuous radiance) 23. me-ta me-hus-bi su ba-e-re-ti (They receive from you their just deserts)
The grammatical complex 'ba-e-re" ( they) is derived from two more basic words 'ba" ( person) and e-ne > e-re( Ta. inam: a group of people or creatures). In Tolkaappiyam we have '-ba" alone as a plural person marker as Ta. en-ba ( say-they). We also have '-manaar" as in "en-manaar pulavar" (the scholars say-they ..) It is clear that Sk -bhir above is a late variant of the more primitive " ba-e-re" that exists also in Tamil as 'peer" meaning people, -paar, vaar as in kaaNpaar, colvaar etc where these suffixes mean “they”
We can also mention here that Su. mu-re that occurs in these sentences is of a similar genesis (< mu-e-re) and which exists as Ta. maar, (and 'manaar") the plural person marker in verb morphology. The 'ri-shi" may be taken as a Su. (e)ri-ji or (e)ri-si meaning persons who are illuminated, bright, intelligent and so forth. Perhaps from this original sense emerged the secondary notion of 'seers'. The "puurvee' can be linked with 'puu-uru-ee" where 'Ta. puu meaning to emerge, flower , arise etc. and hence as secondary sense , the point of origin which is more frequently mentioned in Sumerian as ul-li ( Ta. uuzi). In Sumerian we have also’pu’ meaning to blossom as in Pu-Kiri: orchard. In such Tamil expressions as PuuttavaL said of Mother Goddess, it means to create, bring forth into existence etc. The Puurvee in the secondary sense as the point of origin etc exists in Ta. as puurvam (the ancient times) and may also be linked with Ta. puraaNam, mythological tales.( , puur-aaNa- am : ancient tales of gods)) Now in Sumerian ‘ba’ has the variant ‘na’ and hence we can have ‘na-ere’ from which we can derive ‘- nair’ as in the “nutanair” The ‘nuta’ in Tamil has the sense to project into the future (nuti) and has as the secondary sense something novel, a sense shared also in Sk. The na-ere exists in Tamil as n_ar as in Paadun_ar (those(n_ar) who sing(paadu)
dive-dive
Now another interesting feature common to these three languages is the wide presence of echo-words, verbal duplications to communicate various kinds of meanings. In the third sloka of the first hymn of Rig Veda we have ‘dive-dive’ as an instance of it. Hymn 1:1-3 : agninaa rayim asnavat puusham eva dive-dive/ yasasam viiravattamam May the inspiration derived from the adorable God be a source of ever increasing affluence, vitality and prosperity. I have recovered the base form as: agnini-a raayim as-na-ba-ta puusham eve dive-dive / asaasam viiravat-tamam The meaning: As the blessings (raayim) of Agni, let there be every day blooms from the primordial grounds itself so that people enjoy the enterprising spirit and excellent bravery. Here quite obviously ‘dive-dive’ means daily or every day and the same as Ta, tinam tinam. In another sloka we have “dheena’ meaning the Ta. tinam Both Rig dive and Ta, tinam are derived from the root Su, de (ti) meaning fire as below: Exaltations 44. ka-gal-a-be de mu-ni-in-dal ( Its grand entrance you have reduced to ashes)
From this root we have also ‘dib-be’ in Sumerian where it means to ‘light up”, It is from the root de/tii that di-ve meaning ‘day’ and Sk. Dheena and Ta, tinam also the same are derived. The ‘de/tii’ here stands for the sun as well as the daylight or daytime, the time where there is being lighted up. The study of echo words in these languages can be a field of its own and here I contend just mentioning some interesting examples from Sumerian. Temple Hymn 2. :
5. te-te-en< te-en-te-en: very cool
e-en-lil-la sa-zu te-te-en bar-zu nam-tar-ra ( House of Enlil, your interior is cool, your back determines destiny)
Ta. il eeNliilla saayju taNtaN puRaju tarunam ( O temple of EnLiil ! Your heart is cool and your exterior is generous)
In this verbal duplication there is syllable deletion te-en-te-en > te-te-en
Another interesting example is the following:
7(83) me-er-me-er: Ta. meru-meru: crisp, sparkling etc
dumu-nun kur-gal-da gu me-er-me-er-re ( The princely daughter , who . . . together with the Great Mountains)
Ta. tamu.nun KunRu-njaalida kuuv meru.meree ( The Lofty daughter, resplendent mountain with shoulders that sparkle)
Me-re-me-re> Ta. Meru meru : to sparkle
I believe such verbal duplication to convey intensity excessive haste and so forth is quite characteristic of agglutinative languages and not so much the inflectional languages. [4]
Praprinjcati
This very interesting and philosophically important Compound Word occurs in the Rig Veda Hymn 2.3 of the first Mandala vaayo tava praprinjcati dhenaa jigaati daasushe / uruucii somapiitaye O Lord of cosmic vitality, your inspiring voice resounds all through the thoughts and feelings of your devotees, the preceptors of divine wisdom, who have tasted the sweetness of your favors. I have recovered the base form as follows: Vayoo! tava paraparanjaati tina jigati taasu-se/ uruci-i somapiitaye Vayu! You are the foundation of the universe and the daily life of your devotees; let them taste the juice that flows out from Soma The key word here is "paraparanjaati" which links with Ta. parapanjam, vanjcam meaning the universe, the cosmos and so forth. There are alternative terms such as aNdam, peeraNdam and so forth which have etymologically a different history. This term contains within it 'para-para" which is also noted in such terms as "paramparai, paarampariyam ' and so forth. This term that duplicates 'para' seems to be a later variant of the Sumerian: bal-bal-a & bal-a We can cite the following evidences for this : Sulgi Hymn B 6. sa-bal-bal-a egir-u-da inim su a-bal-e-de ( In order to pass down word to the generations of the future)
67. za-pa-ag-bi-se gaba-mu ba-ra-ba-ra-gal ( would direct my course towards the roar)
The 'sa-bal-bal-a egir-uda' are the people of the future generations. But why this expression where 'bal' means to cross over as below: Udug hul 80. kun e-ka bal-da-mu-de ( When I would cross the threshold of the house) The basic meaning of 'bal' is to cross over and this is retained in Ta. paal-am, the bridge, that which allows one to cross over a river etc. Thus "bala-bala" would mean crossing over repeatedly and ci-ati (caati) as in paraparinj-cati are the elements of living things that are subject to crossing over repeatedly. Thus this expression compresses within it what was expressed by Sulgi as "sa bal-bal-a", things or people who suffer historicity , dying and being born again. Here we must note that while in process, it is NOT DISCONTINUOUS , things die and are reborn but with a CONTINUITY between successive generations and with which comes the notion of TRADITION, the santaanam, sampradayam and so forth. Something from that which dies is passed over thus constituting a continuity across the change. It is at this point that we have the genesis of another word "para-ab-ta" (Sk prabtam, Ta. praabtam). With this we have the birth of Karma doctrine made central in the metaphysical thinking of the Buddhists. The word 'karma" derived from Su. gal/gar etc. shows another kind of development : what passes over is related to the actions effected, deeds done. The actions effected by a person leave TRACES of a kind and at the point of death while everything is turned into ash or earth, there is something that survives death, passes over and constitutes the conditions of its rebirth The Su. bala-bala becoming Sk. para-para and Ta, paramparai etc is another instance of the widespread echo- words but here to mean a continuity across major and drastic changes.
This interesting compound word where Suruuppak is a personal name occurs in Rig Veda 1:4:1
Suruupakritnum uutayee sudughaam ive goduhe/ juhuumasi dyavi-dyavi
Day by day we invoke the resplendent God, the inspirer of all beneficial works for our assistance, as a good milch-cow is called ( by the milker) for milking.
We note again the same echo word ‘dyavi-dyavi that in the hymn 1.1.3 occurred as ‘di-ve di-ve:
Hymn 1:1-3 : agninaa rayim asnavat puusham eva dive-dive/ yasasam viiravattamam May the inspiration derived from the adorable God be a source of ever increasing affluence, vitality and prosperity.
The word Suruppak occurs in the book “The Instructions of Suruppak” (Bendt Alster ( Academic Forlog, Copenhagen 1974), as the Proper Name of a wise sage to whom is attributed the collection of Proverbs here.. It can dated to about 300o BC as the oldest tablet is dated around 2600 BC and it is known that the text existed as mainly oral for several centuries. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ஊப கெஸ்த்துதொகு எனம்கலம் எனம் சூவ களம்ம தில்லாம் uuba kestu.toku enam.kalam enimcuuva kaLamma tillaam 5.Suruppak gestu.tuku inim.galam inim.zu-a kalam-ma ti-la-am ( Suruppak - the inelligent one, who made the elaborate words , who knew the (proper) words, and was living in Sumer 5. சூருபாக்கு கெஸ்த்துதொகு எனம்கலம் எனம் சூவ களம்ம தில்லாம் suurupaakku kestu.toku enam.kalam enamcolla kaLamma tillaam
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The name ‘Suruppak' occurs here in line 5, where he is also called gestu-toku, the intelligent one but actually one who has piled up( toku) wisdom ( gestu.) Incidentally from this word ‘gestu” we have ‘a-gestu-a> agastiya, the Kuru Muni of Tamil Puranas and the first grammarian of Tamil Language.
This is a compound word derived from ‘suru, suuru' and ‘pak, paak” where sur has the arche form ‘sul' ( Ta. suul, suur, suun) as Su,. Utug.sul , sul utu and so forth. The suul is the spear and perhaps the Tricuul of later times. The utug.sul is the udukku.suulam, the spear with a beating hand-drum used in some shaman practices. The ‘pak' can be related to Ta. paku: to cut, to divide etc. In Malay ‘paakku' means the nail i.e, a sharp pointed instrument Thus it can be an ancient name of Siva or Muruka and also applied to persons either as natural name or a name given in respect of the excellence shown. The ‘sul' also appears in the name ‘as-sul-hi' in the incantations and as a name for the deity that cures people of diseases. The meaning may be “ the One(hi) with single blade(as) spear (sul) and hence Muruka who is identified as such to this day. Notice also the occurrence of the word ‘ri' in this Sumerian text in the sense of ‘burst of fire' and ‘burst of light”. The Rig ‘rit.num' appears to be related to this 'ri. eri'. The ‘rittu, ritu” having the root meaning of giving light, has developed the secondary senses of ‘erittu, urittu” i.e. illuminate , clarify etc.
4. e du-ku u-sikil-la rig-ga ( House , holy mound, where pure food is eaten) Ta. il tuukuu uu sukila erikka ( The temple, pure and divine where the Pure Light shines )
u-sikil-la> Ta uu sukila . Ta. uu, uL, oL, oLi: light . sukilla> Sk sukkila : pure , sukkilam: white rig-ga> erikka : that which (-a) shines or burns bright (erikku)
The question is : Is Rig Veda here referring to the Suruppak of NeRI ( c. 3000 BC) ?
Now another possibility is to analyse the compound into Suruuppak kritnam, Here ‘kritnam; may be the later day Kritam: language as Prakrit and so forth. This may be related to Su, gir as in eme-gir : written language as opposed eme-sal > Ta. eme sol: oral language. In Ta. kiiRu means to scratch, Thus Suruuppak Kritnam may mean the writings or sayings of Suuruppak.
One of the words that occur in the sloka below is ‘kavikaratuh’ , singer who cries or calls out. This seems to be similar to Su. ‘kapirig’ ( > Ta. kaa-viri: to open the mouth wide) below from the incantations text. It is interesting that this mention comes along with references to sag-gam-mah (> Ta. CaGkam mah) of Kumari and which may be the First Tamil CaGkam. Along with the dancing, gudu ( < Ta. koodu: to dance) it appears singing was also developed in this Academy. The ‘kavi-karatuh” of the Vedas perhaps are the lineal descendents of these incanting priests and the Vedic slokas are such incantations 215. ga-e gudu sag-gam-mah ju me-en ( I am the anointing (gudu)-priest , the knowledgeable sangam mah) 216. ga-e lu asilal (ki) me-en ( I am the man of Asilal?) 217. ga-e ka-pirig [A-HA](ki) he-sikil-la he-ga-dadag-ga me-en ( I am the incantation priest of Ku'ar (also read as Kumari) , who indeed cleansed , and also purified) 218. . gudu susbu (d)en-ki-ga me-en ( I am the anointing priest, the purification priest of Enki)
Hymn 1.5 The very interesting final sloka of the First hymn goes as below: agnir hotaa kavikaratuh satyas citrasra-vastamah / devo devebhir aa gamat:/ The adorable God, the source of vitality and knowledge, the giver and acceptor, is truth personified, and divine unparalleled. may He be a source of inspiration to the aspirants. agnir hotaa: This can be taken as 'agni-ir uutaa' where " uutaa" means 'to flow out , to blow' as in Su. uta and Ta.uutu. The primordial meaning of Ta. uu: to radiate , to blow is retained here. The -ir in 'agni-ir" may be a variant of "-il" the locative/ablative case marker . Collectively it means : whatever that radiates out from the Glorious Fire i.e Ta. aGki-il uutaa The locative/ablative case marker ‘-il/ir’ being suffixed to the nominal stem ‘agni’ is typical of agglutinative languages where here we have also lexical identities. kavikratuh satyas : kavi: inspired person; kratu: source of knowledge; satyas: true in knowledge etc. The term 'kavikratuh" appears to be quite certainly Ta. kavi-karaitu meaning what the singers utter or sing out. The word 'ka" exists in Su. as "mouth ' as "ka-ta-e-a' meaning to narrate but literally ' coming out from the mouth'. As I have pointed out this 'ka' as mouth is retained in Tamil only as frozen form as in 'kaa-viri" the branching mouth, a name for the river Kaaveeri. The word 'kataittal' is still retained with the meaning ' conversing' in Sri Lankan Tamil. The word Ta. karai is a variant of Ta. kali : to cry out . In Su. in occurs as 'gala' the Akkadian equivalent ( or borrowing) is given as "kalu^", the ritual singer. . The following is an instance of it: Exaltations of In-Anna 139. ni gi-u-na ma-ra-an- du-ga ( That which I recited to you at (mid) night) 140: gala an-NE-ke su hu-mu-ra-ab-gi-gi ( may the singer repeat it to you at noon)
The ' saty-as' can be taken as a variant of Su. ji-de-es : something true , authentic, right , appropriate etc. We may note here that 'gala ' can be derived from 'gal' meaning to sing and which has a variant 'kar, karai" meaning to cry , to call out etc. The Su. su/ju as equivalent to Ta. cuur might have become Ta. kuuRu: to tell etc. The 'satyas" may be a variant of Su. ji-de-es. (= zi-de-es) Sir. 4. aga-zi-de ki-aga nam-en-na tum-ma ( Enamoured of the appropriate tiara, suitable for high priest-hood)
From the same text(Exalatations) we have also 148. nanna u-zi-de-es mu-un-e-a Ta, Nannaa uL sitteeisu mun ee a
Ta, Ammaa-na ninkaLLanaRa suutu moonnan aRaiisu zi-de-es> satte-es > satyas Thus 'kavikratuh satyas" can be taken to mean " utterances that are true, appropriate" etc. From the initial sense of ‘proper’ we may have a shift of meaning to “true’ It can also means the true inacantations priests etc.
As I go over the lexicon of Rig Veda, it becomes more and more evident to me that Rigkrit is a late variation of SumeroTamil which seems to have also undergone distortions because perhaps it was maintained by people who have lost their fluency with SumeroTamil, the original language of the Vedic rishies. However fortunately there are many words, phrases and clauses that retain their original Sumerian shape and sense and hence closer to Tamil and the following is one of them. The word I am concerned here is ‘kanvo’' given the meaning ”educated” and which corresponds to Su. kal-ba and Ta. kalvimaan. It also occurs as a personal name of a Rishi. The phrase taken for analysis is :
It occurs in many places, the most notable being I:36-10
O disperser of the essences of oblations, Nature's bounties have accepted your supremacy for the benefit of man. Your supremacy has also been accepted by the performer of ceremonies, the intelligent, and wealth-giver, the host of the guests, and your supremacy has also been accepted by other persons, powerful and pious, present in this fire ceremony.
H.H. Wilson gives the meaning as follows:
Suruppak's NeRi (c. 3000 BC)
Thus assuming the ‘kanva' as a variant of Ta. kal.ba, the educated, learned , it also follows that the medhyaatithi is the Tamil ‘mati-atiiti” i.e. one of excellent and exceedingly bright intelligence. The Medhy/ mati as Tamil would mean thinking, evaluating and hence intelligence etc i.e. mati and which is still in use. The atii-ti is a variant ati-si, i.e. someone (si) who goes beyond (ati) and which may be derived from the Su. an-ta : towards the sky and hence a movement above. This word is retained in Tolkaappiyam as ‘ati' as in ‘ati-kaaram' etc and which has come to mean also the Ruling Power over others. Thus ‘kanva medhyaatithi' is certainly a Tamil clause, something intermediate in grammar between SumeroTamil and Classical Tamil. We must also conclude that the Rig Vedic Rishis such as the kanvas, the learned scholars cannot be a group of illiterate individuals but rather with their Sumerian connections highly literate and some among them of outstanding intellect.
In the first part of this paper I have drawn attention to the presence of the words SaG-kam (sag-gam) and Kumari and which combined with the fact that Sumerian is Archaic Tamil, as evidenced by the various texts cited, it follows that Sumerian is possibly the Tamil of the First Sagkam. In the third part I presented a brief study of lexical grammatical and other similarities between Sumerian Rigkrit and C.Tamil. Clearly these three languages are related to each other and Sumerian is Archaic Tamil as hundreds of sentences are immediately recognisable as Tamil but certainly an Archaic Form, bringing here the evolutionary perspective into language development. We can also see that while C.Tamil is a direct evolute of Sumerian the Archaic Tamil, Rigkrit, because of the many novelties in phonology is a branch development and for which reason we say that Rigkrit has Sumerian the Archaic Tamil as its BASE language. Now if this view of the evolutionary dynamics between the languages is acceptable, as I think it should be, it would also follow that the upper limit for the birth of Rigkrit is around 2000 BC , the time the Third Ur Dynasty collapsed in Sumer and the Semitic Akkadians took over and transformed the Sumerian civilization into the Babyloanian but retaining Sumerian as the literary and cultural language which continued to be cultivated more by the non-native Semitic Akkadians than the Sumerians.
[1] My studies cover both Rigkrit , the language of Rig Veda and related texts and Sanskrit proper such as the language of Bagavath Gita. However untidy these studies may be, it appaears to me that the BASIS of both Rigkirit and Sanskrit remains Archaic Tamil where the ROOTS are in fact Tamil. For the various studies , see:
https://sites.google.com/site/vedictamil/tamil-the-base-of-sk
These studies also include many on cultural matters where the Yajna centred Vedism is traced to Sumerian beginnings.
[2]
These slokas are taken from the Rig Veda Samhita, English translation by Swami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakan Vidylankar m published by Veda Prathisthana new Delhi.
[3]
The presence of Compound Words, the Tokaic Col or the Sk Samajam is very extensive in Sumerian. I have collected together such CW’s from the first ten temple hymns and it is available at:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumerutamiltex/cw-s-in-temple-hymns-1-10
Now I bave collected together such echo words from the first ten Sumerian temple Hymns and you can access the list at : https://sites.google.com/site/sumerutamiltex/echo-words-in-temple-hymns-1-10
1. Ake W, Sjoberg and E. Bergmann S.J The Collection of Sumerian Temple Hymns J.J Augustin Publisher, Locust Valley , New York, 1969
2. Bendt Alster The Instructions of Suruppak : A Sumerian Proverb Collection Akedemisk Forlag , Copenhagen, 1974
3. C.R. Castellino Sulgi Hymn B Univ. Di Roma, 1972
4. Markham J. Geller Forerunners to Udug-Hul Franz Steiner Verlag Weisbaden GMBB, Suttutgart 1985
5.
Svami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidualanjar Rig Veda Samhita (English Transaltion) Veda Pratishthana, New Delhi, 1977
6.
William w. Hallo and J.J.A Van Dijk The Exaltation of Inanna The University Press, New Haven and London,1968
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