And these affinities are there, for instance with Semitic languages, but also with a very ancient language, that we are not used to associate with Indo-European: Sumerian.
A comparison between Sumerian and Indo-European was made by Charles Autran already in 1925, finding many similar roots and even suffixes, like -ta for the origin (Skt. -tas), -bi for the instrumental (Skt. -bhis).
In 1927, the British explorer, who knew Tibetan and Sanskrit, Laurence Waddell published a book with the title Aryan Origin of the Alphabet and Sumer-Aryan Dictionary which proposed an Aryan identity of Sumerians and a list of Sumerian words with alleged Sanskrit cognates. The list is not really reliable, but I have found there at least two good proposals.
More recently, in their book (published in 1995) presenting the theory of the Armenian PIE cradle, Gamkrelidze and Ivanov noticed a few terms that can be Sumerian loanwords into Indo-European.
Then Gordon Whittaker, since 1998, has identified the so-called Euphratic, a foreign substratum or superstratum in Sumerian, with an Indo-European language. Particularly interesting is his
analysis of the phonetic values, without meaning in Sumerian, of pictographic symbols, which in some cases can suggest an IE connection. For instance, the symbol of a fish is read
peš, which recalls PIE
*pisk/peisk- 'fish', maybe from the IE root
pi- 'to drink' and the frequentative suffix
-sk-. The symbol of a bird is read
hu, which can be compared with PIE
*hwi/hwai- 'bird' (particularly close is Armenian
hav 'chicken'). The logogram for 'dog', with an animal head, is read
lik, which recalls PIE
*wlkwa- 'wolf', especially Greek
lykos. The logogram for 'fox', with the symbol of a fox head with big ears, is read
lib/lub, comparable to the PIE
*wlpe- 'fox' (Latin
vulpes, Greek
alopex), which is apparently an offshoot or variant of the previous one (with
kw > p). The phonetic values fo 'prince' are
nar/nara, the same as the Sanskrit term for 'man, hero' (see below about
ner/nir). In a
publication of 2012, Whittaker has even proposed laws of phonetic change from Euphratic to Sumerian, which is a necessary aspect in a scientific demonstration of the existence of this Indo-European language.
There he cites other examples of phonetic values, like sah/suh for the sign 'thread+thread', which recalls Skt. sū-tra- 'thread', from the root s(y)ū- 'to sew', corresponding to Latin su-ere. And semed for the sign 'one', comparable to the PIE root *sam-, found e.g. in English same and Latin semel 'once'.
Also Aleksi Sahala, Assyriologist of the University of Helsinki, between 2009 and 2013 has elaborated a
paper on 30 Sumerian words with a possible common etymology with Indo-European.
I have collected some suggestions from the aforementioned works, I have checked them on the Pennsylvania
Sumerian Dictionary, I have added some comparisons in Indo-European languages and, where I thought necessary, I have modified some elements, and I have proposed other possible cases (also with the help of followers - Nirjhar, Kyriakos, Daniel - as can be seen in the comments).
In the following list of possible cognates, I will normally use the vocalism
a instead of the usual
e (see this
post), and the Sumerian parallels often agree with it, which can suggest that this vocalism was typical of the area where both Sumerian and PIE were spoken.
Sum. agar ‘meadow, field’, PIE *ag’ra- ‘field’ (Skt. ajra-, Greek agros, Lat. ager 'field'), maybe from the root ag'- 'to lead (animals to the pasture, or to till the soil)' and the common IE suffix -ra/ro-, but according to Gamkrelidze and Ivanov the Sumerian term a.gar means 'irrigated territory', and "this pair of words may be evidence for a connection of Indo-European agriculture with methods of working the land in Sumer." We have also the Akkadian ugāru "(communally controlled) meadow".
Sum. ak 'to do; to make; to act, perform; to proceed, proceeding (math.)', akuš 'toil, labor', PIE *ag'- 'to drive, draw out or forth, move', Latin agere 'to lead, drive, do, act, labor, perform', actus 'act, performance', actio 'action'.
Sum. alal 'cultivation; field; district, land', PIE *ar- 'to plow', Greek aroura 'tilled or arable land'. The use of l instead of r can be due to a distinction from arar 'miller', with a curious inversion compared to the IE forms that in that case have mostly al-. Cf. ulul 'cultivation' and ul = Akk. qerbetu 'meadowland'.
Sum. amaru 'flood', aĝar 'rainshower, downpour', im, meer (Emesal) 'rain, rainstorm', muru 'rainstorm; mist', Akk. imbaru 'fog, mist, drizzle', murū 'rainstorm'; Sum. ambar 'marsh', PIE *ambh-, ṃbh-, nabh- 'wet, cloud, rain, fog', Arm. amp/amb 'cloud', amprop 'thunderstorm', Greek ombros 'storm of rain, water, inundation', Latin imber 'rain', Skt. ambhas 'water', abhra 'rain cloud', nabhas 'fog, mist, cloud', Old High German nebul 'fog', Latin nebula 'mist, vapour, fog'.
Sum. apin '(seed) plough', a very important agricultural term, has been compared by Whittaker with PIE *wogwh-ni- 'ploughshare', giving Greek ophnis. In Old Prussian we find wagnis, also 'ploughshare'. The PIE form that could have given apin should be wagwhni > wakwni > apni > apin. The initial loss of w- is shared with Greek and it is probable, since words starting with w- are very rare in Sumerian.
Sum. ara 'to grind; hand-mill', arar 'miller', ul 'grind', PIE *al- 'to mill, grind', Greek aleo 'I grind', Armenian ałam 'to grind', Persian ārd, Pashto ōṛə, Hindi āṭā (from *ārtā) 'flour'.
Sum. armura 'ruins, ruin mound', Skt. arma, armaka 'ruins, rubbish'. The root is not clear, maybe it is the same as German arm 'poor' from Proto-Germanic *arҍma- 'abandoned' (see
here) and Greek
erēmos 'uninhabited, empty, desolate; bereft (of)'.
Sum. ašte 'chair, throne, seat, dwelling', PIE *
asta 'seat', Skt.
asta 'home, setting (of luminaries)', Avestan
asta 'home (also of animals)', from the root
as- 'to sit'.
Sum. bad 'leg or foot of furniture', Elamite baat/paat ‘foot’, Akkad. padānu ‘path’, Egyptian pd ‘knee, run’, Berber fud ‘knee’, PIE *pād- ‘foot’.
Sum. bad 'hard ground', PIE *pad-am 'imprint, ground', Skt. pada- 'footstep; footing, standpoint, abode, plot of ground', Greek pedon 'ground, earth', Umbrian peřum 'ground', OCS pods 'ground'.
Sum. bad 'to open', Akk. petū, patū, patā'um 'to open', IE *pat- 'to open wide', Latin patere 'to be open', Greek petannymi, petasai 'to spread out, open, petēlos 'outspread, stretched', Avestan paθana- 'wide'.
Sum. bal(a) 'to rotate, turn over, cross; to hoist, draw (water); rotation, turn, term of office; to boil (meat)', PIE *(H)wal/val- 'to turn, wind; round, voluble', Skt. valate 'to turn , turn round , turn to'. Initial b and v are often interchangeable in Indo-Aryan, so there is also a form bal- found in the Intensive balbalīti 'to whirl round in a circle' which interestingly recalls Sumerian reduplicated forms with balbal-. Old High German wallan 'to well, bubble, boil', walzan 'to turn, roll', Old Norse valr 'round', Latin volvere 'to roll, turn around', Old Church Slav. valiti 'to roll', Arm. glem 'I roll', Greek eileo (from *wel-yeo) 'to turn, wind, roll'.
Sum. bar 'outside, (other) side; behind; outer; ousider, strange; because of', PIE *par- 'to go over; over', Hittite parā 'forth, towards outside', Greek para 'beside; beyond', perā 'beyond', Skt. para 'far, beyond, on the other side of; foreign; another, enemy, foreigner', Latin per 'through, for, by means of'.
Sum. bul 'to blow, inflate', bulug 'a plant', buluĝ 'to flourish; to grow up, make grow", PIE *bhal/bhul/bhlā- 'to blow, inflate, swell', Latin bulla 'bubble', flare 'to blow', flos 'flower', folium 'leaf', Greek phyllon 'leaf', phallos 'swollen penis', phleo 'to swell', Old Irish bolgaim 'I swell', Old English blawan 'to blow, inflate', OHG bluoen 'to bloom', Gothic blōma 'bloom'.
Sum. buru(d) 'breach, hole; to perforate', PIE *bhar/bhur- 'to bore', Lat. forare 'to pierce, bore', Proto-Germanic *buron 'to bore', French burin 'burin, graver', Albanian bire 'hole'.
Sum. dabariri 'liar, trickster, con artist', dibiri 'swindler, con artist', PIE *dhabh- 'to injure, deceive', Skt. dabh- 'to injure, deceive', dabha 'deceiving', dabhīti 'injurer, deceiver', Pali dubbhati ʻhurts, deceivesʼ, Avestan dab- 'to deceive', Parthian dbgyr 'deceiving'.
Sum. dabatum 'a textile', Akk. tapatum, tabatum, Latin tapetum, tapete, tapes, from Greek tapes (acc. tapeta), tapis, dapis (acc. dapida) 'carpet', which is supposed from an Iranian source, although it is found already in Homer. In Persian there is a verb tāb-aδ, inf. tāftan and tāb-ī-δan 'to twist'. It can been connected with the root *tamp- 'to span, stretch, extend', of Lith. tempti 'to stretch', tìmpa 'sinew'.
Sum. dag, dadag '(to be) bright; to clean; (ritually) pure', PIE *dhagwh- 'to burn, shine', Old
Saxon, Middle Dutch, Dutch dag, Gothic dags 'day', Tocharian A tsāk- 'to shine, give light', AB cok 'lamp', Old Irish daig 'fire', Old Prussian dagis 'summer', Lith. degti 'to burn', Skt. dahati 'to burn', dagdha 'burnt', Sindhi daho 'strong light of fire,
sun'.
Sum. dala 'thorn, pin, needle', IE *dhal(g)- 'to stick; needle', Old Irish delg 'thorn, needle', Welsh dal, dala 'bite, prick, sting', Lat. dolo 'pike, sword-stick, sting', Greek dolon 'dagger', Skt. dhalaṇḍa 'small thorny tree'.
Sum. dalla '(to be) bright', IE *dhal- 'to light, shining', Middle Irish dellrad 'radiance', Old English deal(l) 'resplendent', Old Norse Dellingr, god of Dawn, father of the Day (Dagr), Albanian diell 'Sun'.
Sum. dar 'to break up, crush, grind; to split; to cut open', PIE *dar- 'to cut, skin, split, tear', Skt.
dṝ- 'to burst, break asunder, split open; tear, rend, divide',
dara 'cleaving, breaking', Greek
dero 'to skin, flay', Old Church Slav.
derǫ 'to flay, tear apart', Welsh
darn 'piece, fragment', Old English
teran 'to tear, lacerate'.
Sum.
dari 'to support', PIE *
dhar- 'to hold, support', Skt.
dhara-, dhāri- 'bearing, holding, supporting',
dhar-tra- 'support, prop', Old Persian, Avestan
dar- 'to hold'.
Sum.
deg 'to take; to gather up, glean; to tear out; to collect, pick up', PIE *
dag/lag- 'to take, collect', Old English
tacan 'to take, seize', Latin
lego 'I choose, collect, gather', Greek
legein 'to gather, count'. Here the connection of
deg and
leg is my proposal, cp. Lat.
dacruma and
lacruma 'tear' (PIE
*dáḱru-), Lat.
lingua, Arm.
lezu 'tongue'
(from PIE
*dn̥ǵʰw-). It is also interesting that the Akkadian equivalents of
deg are
laqātu 'to gather up, glean' and leqû 'to take, take over'.
Sum. di 'to shine', PIE *diH/daiH/diw- 'to shine, glitter; day, Sun; god', Skr. dī- 'to shine, be bright', dina 'day', Armenian tiw 'day', Luwian Tiwat- 'Sun god', Palaic tiyaz, Hittite sius, Lycian ziw 'god', Latin dius 'celestial, bright', Greek dios 'shining, divine', Albanian diell 'Sun', Lith. dienà 'day', Old Irish
dïa/dïe 'day'.
Sum.
diĝir (dingir) 'deity, god, goddess; sky', the
cuneiform symbol, like a star, was also read
an, meaning
'sky'
in Sumerian, so the word seems to come from another language. A common comparison is done with Turkic
Tengri 'sky, sky god', and in Chinese sky is
tian, pronounced
thīn in Old Chinese. Etruscans had
Tin or
Tinia as sky god. Is there an old 'Nostratic' root or something more recent? In PIE he was *
Dyaus (Skt.
Dyaus, Greek
Zeus, Latin
Juppiter from *
dyus-pǝtar) but there is also a root *
din- meaning 'day', found for instance in Skt.
dina- or Lith.
dienà. And in Lithuanian and Old Prussian we have also
dangus 'sky, heaven', clearly from the root
dang/deng- 'to cover' found in
dangà 'covering',
dañgtis 'cover, closure',
deñgti 'to conceal, protect', from PIE
*dhangh/dhn̥gh- 'to cover, press', giving Old Irish
dingim 'I press', Old Russian, Serbo-Croatian
duga 'rainbow', Old English
dung 'prison', Old Frisian and Saxon
dung 'manure', OHG
tunga 'manuring',
tung 'underground room covered with manure'. Funnily, sky, rainbow and dung apparently come from the same root in different languages. And we can suppose that also the IE source of Sum.
dingir derived the term from 'sky' from the root 'to cover', and from 'sky', the meaning still given to the cuneiform sign, Sumerians derived the meaning 'deity'. Interestingly, another Sumerian term,
gira, meant both 'sky' and 'concealment'.
Sum. dub 'tablet', dubsar 'scribe' ('tablet-writer'), dub 'to push away, down; to smash, abolish' (Akkadian translation), 'to hammer' (Civil's Glossary), dubdab-za 'to make noise' (PSD), 'thud, batter' (CG), PIE *(s)tup/tub/tubh 'to hit, beat', Greek typtein 'to beat, strike', typos 'blow, impression of a seal, mould, engraving, engraved letters', OCS tupati 'heartbeat', tuputu 'noise'; *tap- 'to press down', Old Icelandic þefja 'to stamp', þóf 'thronging, pressing', Russian tópat' 'to stamp (one's foot); *daph- 'to push, stamp, thrust', Arm. top'el 'to beat (clothes)', depiti 'to beat, hit', Polish deptać 'to tread, trample',
*stab/stamb/stambh/stap- 'to hit, press, stamp', Greek steibein 'to tread or stamp on', Old Norse stappa 'to stamp with the foot, beat, pound', OHG stapho 'step, footprint', OCS stopa 'step, pace', stopiti 'to tread', Punjabi
thappṇā ʻto beat, hammer, fixʼ,
ṭhappṇā ʻto strike, close a book, stamp, printʼ, Kumaunī
ṭhāp ʻthumb impression, sealʼ, Hindi
ṭhappā m. ʻstamp, mouldʼ. Old Persian
dipi- 'writing' is considered as coming from Elamite
tippi, more ancient
tuppi, supposed to be an evolution of Sum.
dub itself. But in this context we can propose that the Elamite form is connected with a common root
dub/tup- 'to stamp, impress'.
Sum.
dub '
to strew; to heap up, pile, pour' (PSD), 'to heap up, pour in piles' (CG), PIE *stup/stub/dub- 'heap, bunch, tuft' Skt. stupa- 'tuft of hair', stūpa- 'tuft of hair; heap or pile of earth or bricks, any heap, pile, mound', Sindhi
thuḇu m. ʻtuftʼ, Bengali
thubā ʻbunchʼ,
thobā ʻbunch, clusterʼ, Latvian
duba 'sheaf of straw', Old Norse
toppr 'tuft of hair', Old Frisian
top 'tuft'.
Sum.
dubus 'second, second-in-rank', PIE *
dwa/duwa- 'two', Hitt.
duiyanalli- 'second-ranked official', Persian
dovvom 'second', Pashto
dwayam 'second', Skt.
d(u)vā́/dvaú 'two',
dvitī́ya 'second'.
Sum. dul 'to lower, to be deep', dula 'depth, depression', PIE *dhal- 'valley, hollow', English dell, dale, German Thal 'valley', Delle 'light depression', Old Church Slavonic dolu 'down, below'.
Sum. dungu 'cloud', can be reconnected with the PIE root *dhangh/dhn̥gh- 'to cover' discussed above about
dingir.
Sum.
duruna 'oven', Lat.
furnus 'oven', Old Irish
gorn 'fire', Russian
gorn 'hearth', Skt.
ghṛṇa 'heat', Greek
thermos 'hot, heat', Arm.
ǰeṙnum 'to get warm, to burn'. The initial
d can be the result of a palatal as in the following.
Sum. dusa 'friend, companion', PIE *g'aus- 'to taste, enjoy', Skt. juṣ- 'to be pleased or favourable; to like; to choose; to delight in visiting, frequent', joṣa 'satisfaction, approval, pleasure', Old Persian dauš- 'to like, love, favour',
dauštar 'friend', Middle Persian
došag 'dear'. It is remarkable how here both the phonetic form and the meaning in Sumerian is close to Persian, although the PIE root was quite different.
Sum. er, re 'to go' (perfect plural stem), PIE *r-, ar/er- 'to move, set in motion', Old Persian ar- 'to reach, come'.
Sum. gala 'lamentation singer', gala-mah 'chief lament singer', PIE *gal(g'h)- 'to call, scream, cry, bewail', Latin gallus 'cock', OCS glasu 'voice', Welsh galw 'call', Middle Irish glām 'shout', Old Norse kalla 'to cry loudly', OHG kallon 'to call', klaga 'complaint', Skt. garh 'to lodge a complaint', Avestan gǝrǝzā- 'complaint', gar- 'song'.
Sum. gam 'depth (math.); vulva', PIE gwambh/gwm̥bh- 'deep, depth, womb', Skt.
gabhīra/gambhīra- 'deep',
gambhan- 'depth',
gabha 'vulva', Greek
baptein 'to dip, dye',
baphe 'dipping (of iron in water), dye', Old Swedish
kvaf 'depth', Old English
wamb 'belly, bowels, heart, uterus', Gothic
wamba 'belly, womb'.
Sum. gam/kab 'shepherd's crook, bent stick', Akk. gamlu 'bent stick', Sum. gab 'left (hand)', PIE *kap/kamp/kamb- 'to bend, crook', Latvian kampis, kamplis, kaplis 'crook, staff, hoe', Lith. kablys 'hook, rod bent into a curved shape, peg', kampas 'corner', kumpas 'crooked', Greek kampsos 'crooked, bent', kampylos 'bent, curved', skambos 'crooked, bent', Skt. kumpa 'crooked-armed', OHG hamf 'mutilated', Persian čap, Kurmanji çep 'left' (in many languages the left hand is defined as 'crooked').
Sum. gan ‘to bear young, child-bearing’, PIE *g’an- ‘to bear (a child), produce, generate’, Skt. jan-, Toch. B kän-, Latin, Greek gen-.
Sum. gar 'to heap up', gargar 'accumulation', PIE *gar- 'to collect, heap', Greek ageiro (from *a-ger-yo) 'to gather, collect', agorà 'assembly, place of assembly, market-place', gargara 'heaps, lots, plenty', Latin grex 'flock, herd', Welsh gre 'herd', Sanskrit grāma- 'village, community, troop', Middle Persian grāmag 'riches', Baluchi grām 'burden'.
Sum. gigir 'chariot', PIE *kukwla/kwakwla- 'wheel', Skt. cakra-, Greek kyklos, Old English hweogol 'wheel', Toch. A kukäl 'cart, chariot'. The similarity is not very strong, but the analogous reduplication is remarkable.
Sum. gilim, gir 'rodent', PIE *g(w)ǝli- 'small rodent', Skt. giri- 'mouse', Ormuri (Eastern Iranian) gilak, Bakhtiari (Western Iranian) girza 'rat', Latin glis, gen. gliris 'dormouse', possibly from the root *gwal/gwǝl 'to swallow, devour', that gave Skt. gilati/girati 'to swallow, devour'.
Sum. giru 'an affectionate epithet', PIE *kāra/u- 'dear, beloved', Lat. cārus 'dear', Skt. cāru- 'dear, beloved', Welsh carr 'friend', Old Norse kærr 'dear'. The vowel i can be explained from a schwa in a zero grade of the root.
Sum. gu 'cord, (flax) thread', gun 'to twist', gunu 'flax', Skt. guṇa 'thread, string, rope'.
Sum. gud/gu ‘bull, ox, cattle’ PIE *gu/gwau- ‘cow, ox’.
Sum. gur ‘circle, loop, hoop, ring; to turn’, gurum 'to bend, curve, wrap around', PIE *gur- 'round', *ghurdh- 'to enclose, gird', Gr. gyros ‘rounded; ring, circle’, Hittite gurta- 'citadel, fortress' (enclosed settlement), Old High German gurten, Old Saxon gurdian 'to gird'; PIE *kur- 'to curve, bend', Greek kyrtos, Lat. curvus 'curved', Welsh crwnn 'round'.
Sum. gur '(to be) thick; (to be) big, to feel big', PIE *gwr/gwar- 'heavy', Skt. guru- 'heavy, great, large; venerable', Prakrit garu 'heavy, important', Kashmiri goru 'dense, solid', Old Gujarati garūu 'big', Old Marathi garuva 'big, important',
Lat. gravis 'heavy, serious' (from *gwraw-), possibly also grandis 'big, great' (from *gwrandh-, cp. Greek brenthos 'arrogance'), Gothic kaurus 'heavy', Old English great 'big, tall, thick, stout, massive; coarse', Dutch
groot, Frisian
grut, German
groß 'big, great' (from *
gwraut-), Breton, Cornish, Welsh
bras 'big, thick' (from *
gwras-).
Sum.
gur 'to reap',
gur(u) 'to grind, cut up, chop, (to be) trimmed',
guruš 'to cut, fell, trim, peel off; a cutting; stubble', Greek
koura (
<*korsa) 'cropping, lopping, shearing',
kouros (
<*korsos)
'loppings, twigs stripped from a tree', Kurmanji
kur kirin 'to cut (the hair)',
kurt 'short', Latin
curtus 'shortened, mutilated, broken, short', OHG
scurz 'short'.
Sum. ĝeli 'throat; wind-pipe', PIE *gwal/gal/gul- 'to glut, swallow', Skt. gala- 'throat, neck', gil- 'to swallow', Persian gulū, galū, 'neck, gullet, throat; wind-pipe; voice', Lat. gula 'throat', OHG kela 'throat, neck', Old Irish gelim 'I consume', Irish goile, gaile 'stomach, appetite, throat'. It is also remarkable that Kartvelian is here very close to Sumerian, compare e.g. Georgian q'eli 'neck, throat'.
Sum. ĝen 'to go', PIE *gwam/gwan- 'to come, go', OHG queman 'come, go', Lith gemù 'to come, be born', Greek baino (<*gwan-yo) 'to go, walk', Latin venio 'to come', Skt. gam- 'to go'.
Sum. hul ‘joy, rejoicing; to rejoice’, Skt. hulahulī ‘inarticulate sounds made by women on joyful occasions’, huluhulu 'an exclamation of joy'; German Hurra, English hurrah, hooray. We can suppose that the exclamation of joy became a verb in Sumerian, and it is often redoubled (hul2-hul2-e, hul2-hul2-la-am3, hul2-hul2-la-ni, etc.) as in Sanskrit. The reference to the sound of women is very interesting, because it is also made by Middle Eastern women, it is called zaghroutah in Arabic, performed particular for marriage, and generally intended to express joy. In Sanskrit we have also hulihulī for 'nuptial music' or 'howling'. And holākā for the spring festival (the famous Holī), a name that according to Monier-Williams may come from a shout or sound made in singing.
Sum. hul 'ring, neck ring', Akk. hullu 'neck ring, torc', PIE *Hwal/Hul- ''to turn, wind, twist' (see bal above), Hittite hul- 'to encircle, surround', hulhuliya- 'entwine, embrace', hulali 'spindle', hulukanni 'chariot', hurki 'wheel', Arm. hol 'spinning top', holel 'turn', Skt. valaya 'bracelet, ring, girdle', ulva 'the membrane surrounding the embryo, womb, vulva', Greek helix 'spiral, bracelet, ear-ring', Welsh olwyn 'wheel', Old Irish fulumain 'rolling', Old English weoloc 'whelk, spiral-shelled mollusk'. The form with initial aspiration compared with bal- can be connected with a dialect akin to Anatolian, but it can be also due to the different vocalism: hwal > val > bal and hul instead remains hul.
Sum. hurin, urin 'eagle', Akk. urinnu 'eagle', PIE *hara(n)/harn(i/a)-, Hittite hara(n), Gothic ara, Old High German arn, Old Church Slav. orilu 'eagle', Greek ornis 'bird'. There is also a Sum. aru interpreted as 'eagle' (see here).
Sum. imdu 'dew', Skt. indu 'drop', Baltic river names Indus, Indura.
Sum. kadu 'cover', PIE *kad-, sk'ad- 'to cover', Old English haet 'hat, head covering', Latin cassis 'helmet', Skt. chad- 'to cover', chada 'a cover, covering'.
Sum. kar 'to blow; to light up, shine; to rise', kur 'to burn, light up': both are translated with Akk. napāhu 'to blow; light up; rise'; in IE we have Lith. kùrti 'to heat, kindle, light', Latvian kur̃t 'to light, kindle', Old Church Slav. kurjo 'to smoke', Old Norse hyrr 'fire', Gothic hauri 'coal', Dutch haard 'fireplace, hearth', Latin carbo 'coal', cremare 'to burn'. In Sanskrit we have kūḍ- 'to burn', maybe from *kṝd/kurd-. The PIE root is *kar/kur 'to burn, kindle'.
Sum.
kaš 'beer', PIE *
kwat(-s)- 'to ferment', Skt.
kvath- 'to boil, to foam',
kvathitam 'a spirituous liquor', Gothic
hwaþjan 'to foam', OCS
kvasъ 'leaven', Russian
kvas 'fermented beverage made from bread'. Also Sumerian beer was made from bread (called
bappir). There is also a Persian dish called
kashk, a porridge made from grains fermented with whey.
Sum.
kezer 'hair, a hair-style', Akk.
kezēru 'to gives s.o. a (special) hair-do',
kezru 'with (special) haird-do', PIE *
kaisar-, Skt.
kesara 'hair, mane', Lat.
caesaries 'hair (long and flowing)', of the head but also of the beard, and of dogs;
equis caesariatus means 'wearing a helmet with a horse mane'. The Skt. form should be
keṣ- for the RUKI law, while Latin should have rhotacism, and it is interesting that the Sum. parallel has
z which is considered a voiceless affricate (ts), so maybe
kesara comes from
kaitsar-. Maybe also Kurmanji
kezî 'braid of hair' is related, with voiced
z.
Sum.
kizurra 'sharp edge', PIE *
ksura- 'razor', Skt.
kṣura-, Greek
xyron 'razor' (Greek verb
xyo 'I scratch, scrape').
Sum. kud 'to break off; to cut; to incise', Proto-Germ. *kut- 'to cut', Lithuanian kauti 'to beat, strike, cut, kill', Latin cudere 'to beat (grains, metals)', Middle Irish cuad 'to beat'. Maybe also Greek koura 'act of cutting', Hittite kwer- 'to cut', can be connected, also considering that the evolution from d to r is not unusual.
Sum. kug 'pure; bright, shining, silver', gug '(to be) bright', PIE *k'u-k-, Skt. śuci 'clean, pure', śukra 'bright, white', śukti 'pearl oyster', Greek kyknos 'swan, white bird'.
Sum. kur ‘mountain, east, east wind’, PIE *gur/gwar/gwir-, Skt. giri, Avestan gairi, Old Church Slav. gora ‘mountain’, East Slavic Gora, Greek Boreas, 'north wind' (as 'mountain wind'), Albanian gur 'cliff, rock'.
Sum. kuš 'skin; leather', PIE *(s)kau/kū- 'to hide, wrap, cover', Lat. cutis 'skin, leather', OHG hūt 'skin', Gothic skoh 'shoe', Skt. chavī 'skin' (<*sk'av-).
Sum. labi, lubi 'a term of endearment, dear', PIE *laubh- 'to love, like, care for', Skt. lubh- 'to desire', Lat. lubido/libido 'desire, lust', German lieben 'to love', lieb 'dear' (OHG liob), Old Church Slav. ljubiti 'to love', l’ubъ 'dear, precious',
l'uby 'love'.
Sum. lagaš 'storehouse' (name of a city), PIE *
lag- 'to collect, gather', Greek
lego 'I gather, I reckon, enumerate',
kata-lego 'I list, enumerate',
katalogos 'list', Lat.
legere 'to collect, gather, choose, read',
collectio 'collection'. Another possible parallel is PIE *
lagh- 'to lie', *
laghas 'bed, resting place', Hittite
lagari 'is laid low', Toch. A
lake, Toch. B
leke, Greek
lechos 'bed', Old Norse
lag 'lay, order, disposition', German
Lager 'place for lying, bed, lair, camp; storehouse'.
Sum. li 'oil, fat'; lib 'sheep fat', PIE *laip/lip- 'to smear with fat', Greek lipos 'fat', Skt. lepa 'smearing, anointing'; *lip- is derived from PIE *li/lī- 'slimy; to smear, stick', found e.g. in Lat. linere 'to smear, anoint'. Also Gr. linon, Lat. līnum 'flax, linen', can be connected with this root since the linseed was pressed to extract oil. And Latin oleum corresponding to Greek elai(w)on 'oil', can also derive from this root (in the form lai-) with a prothetic vowel, as in alinein and aleiphein 'to anoint'.
Sum. luh 'to clean, wash', šu-luh 'ritual cleansing', PIE *lu/lau(H)- 'to lave, wash', Hittite lah̬h̬u(wai)- 'to pour', Latin lavare 'to wash', ab-lu-tio 'washing away, ablution', Greek louo 'I wash', OHG luhhen, Armenian lval 'to wash'. The Armenian root is derived by Pokorny, with the regular loss of initial p-, from PIE *pleu- 'to flow; to swim, to pour; to flee', which is a very spread IE root, used also for washing, as in Sanskrit plu- 'to swim, bathe, navigate, wash away'. In Greek we have plyno 'I wash', in Latin pluit 'it rains', Lith. plauti 'to wash'.
Sum. lum 'snail', Akk. luhumū, lummū 'snail', PIE *lim/laim- 'slime, slimy' (cf. li above), Greek leimax, Lat. līmax, Italian lumaca, Russian and other Slavic languages slimak 'snail'.
Sum. mah(a) ‘great, magnificent, numerous’, PIE *mag’h- ‘great’, Vedic mah(a)- 'great, strong, mighty, abundant'.
Sum. mana 'weight measure', manatur 'unit of area, of volume, of weight', PIE *mā- 'to measure', Skt. māna- 'measure, dimension, size, weight; a particular measure of weight', mātra- 'measure of any kind', Greek metron, Latin mensura 'measure'.
Sum. mar 'to smear', PIE *smar- 'fat, grease; to smear, anoint', Old English smeoru 'fat, grease', Norse smör 'butter', Dutch smeren 'to smear', Lith smarsas 'fat', Polish smar 'fat, lubricant', smarować 'to smear, grease'.
Sum. mel 'malt-flour', PIE *mal- 'to mill, grind', Hitt. mallai-, malliya-, Armenian malem, Toch. A malywät 'to mill, grind', Skt. mlātá- 'soft-beaten', Latin mola 'mill, millstone', Old High German malan 'to mill', melo 'meal, flour', English malt. This word, isolated in Sumerian, is quite significant since it suggests that an Indo-European language gave this agricultural word to Sumerians. The only comparable term is the apparent compound zid-milla 'flour', where milla is close to the Anatolian verbs, and the first element zid, which means 'flour' also alone, can be connected with Akk. simdu/sindu 'a milled cereal product, a flour' or with the IE root *sē/sī- 'to sift', OHG sīhan, Lith. sijoju 'to sift', Lith. sietas 'sift'.
Sum. muš 'face', PIE
*mū- 'lips, mouth, muzzle', Skt.
mukha 'mouth, face', Dardic
mū 'face', Old Norse
mūli 'lips of an animal, muzzle', Old English
mūþ 'mouth', Vulgar Latin
mūsum 'muzzle'.
Sum. mud 'joy', PIE *mud- 'joy; to be merry', Skt. mud- 'joy; to be merry, happy', Lith. mudrùs 'lively', I suggest also German munter 'lively, cheerful'. In Skt. there is also modaka 'gladdening; sweetmeat', which can be compared with Sum. mudgi 'sweetness'.
Sum. mudur 'dirt', mudra 'dirty', PIE *mūtra- 'excrement', (s)mud- 'dirt, mud', Middle Dutch modder, mudder 'mud, slime', German Moder 'rottenness, morass', Schmutz 'dirt', English smut 'stain', Polish
muł 'slime', Greek
mydos 'damp, decay',
mysos 'uncleanness, defilement',
mysaros 'foul, dirty',
mydros 'redhot mass of iron',
mydon 'fungous flesh in an ulcer',
Avestan mū́θra- 'excrement, faeces', Sanskrit
mū́tra- 'urine'.
Sum. mul 'foundation', Skt. mul/mūl- 'to be rooted or firm', mūla- 'root, basis, foundation'. This word has no clear IE cognates, besides Khotanese mul 'root', but it can be related to the root mū- 'to fix', and in Sumerian it seems isolated, so we can suppose that it is a borrowing there.
Sum. murmara 'rumble', murmara ša 'to roar', PIE *murmur/marmar- 'murmur, roar', Latin murmur 'hum, roar, murmur', OHG murmuron 'to murmur', Greek mormúrô 'to boil, roar', Skt.
marmara- 'rustling, murmuring; murmur',
murmura- 'expiring ember; burning chaff (vl.
murmara)'.
Sum. nam 'determined order; will, testament; fate, destiny', IE *nam 'to apportion, take one's portion', Greek nemein 'to dispense, distribute', nemesis 'distribution of what is due, retribution', nemetor 'dispenser of justice', nomos 'usage, law, ordinance'.
Sum. ner, nir ‘lord, prince, hero’, PIE *(H)nṛ- ‘man, hero’, Skt. nar(a)- 'man, hero', Greek aner 'male man', Oscan niir 'man, prince', Umbrian nerf 'princes, aristocrats'.
Sum. nu ‘(to be) not, no, without’, PIE *na/an- 'no, not, without'.
One particular case is Sum. PA.TE.SI ‘lord of the city’, because it is the cuneiform spelling corresponding to the Sumerian ensi, and it recalls PIE *patis, Skt. patis, Avestan paiti- ‘lord, master, husband’, Latin potis sum 'I am master, able', hospes (*hosti-pets) 'lord of the guest, host', Greek despotes 'master of the house, absolute ruler'. Gordon Whittaker notices (see here) also the form GAR(A).PA.TE.SI, which recalls an IE compound like Sanskrit gṛhapatis 'master of the house', cp. Avestan gǝrǝδa-, Gothic gards 'house', Lithuanian gardas 'pen, enclosed area', Old Church Slav. gradь 'town, fort, garden', or -gara probably found in Skt. nagara- 'town, city' (from *nṛ-gara 'gathering of men'), or the already mentioned Greek agorà 'assembly, place of assembly' (see gar above). However, from the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary GAR appears to be normally used in compounds as synonym of niĝ 'thing, possession'.
Sum. pala 'a garment', of kings according to the Akkadian translation and two Sumerian passages mentioned by the PSD (mentioning EN 'lord' and LUGAL 'king'), in a text the 'pala robe' is 'fit for a queen', in another text it is connected with the goddess Inanna and 'ladyship'. In Latin, palla is the mantle of women and tragic actors or a curtain, pallium the mantle of Greeks and philosophers, but also a bed cover and curtains, and paludatus is someone with the mantle of a general. The PIE root is probably *pal- 'to wrap, cover; cloth; fell, pelt', found also in Latin
pellis 'skin, hide', Greek
pellas 'skins (Acc. plur.)',
apelos 'wound not skinned over', Old Norse
fela 'to hide', Old English
fell 'hide', Irish
peall 'couch, covering', Old Prussian
pelkis 'cloak', Sinhalese
paḷa, pala 'cloth, garment', Kashmiri
palav 'clothes, garment, coat', Lahndā
pallā ʻcloth, scarfʼ, Marāṭhī
pāl 'large cloth to form a tent', Nepali
pāl 'tent', Gujarati
pāl 'cloth curtain for side of tent'. The Sumerian term is of the Old Babylonia period, when kings wore a typical dress leaving the right arm free, arrived in Mesopotamia some centuries earlier (see
here):
"A different style of dress is evident in Mesopotamian sculptures dating after about 2370 BC. Both men and women were clothed in a large piece of material - most commonly of wool, though later also of linen - draped around the body over a skirt. This garment, similar to a shawl, was characteristically edged with tassels or fringe. The draping varied, but, for men at least, the fabric was arranged so that the fullness was at the rear, leaving the right, or sword, arm free. This newer form of dress had originated from farther north and east and was adopted by the Semitic people of Akkad under Sargon (the dynasty founded by Sargon lasted from c. 2334 BC to c. 2193 BC) and by the revitalized Sumerian culture in the years 2110-2010 BC."
What is interesting is that this kind of shawl (see also the god Enki above) recalls the Greek mantle and the Roman toga, and also the men's dress found in the Bactria-Margiana and Harappan cultures.
 |
| "Priest king", Mohenjo daro |
 |
| Gudea of Lagash |
 |
| Roman toga |
 |
| Bactrian man |
 |
| Greek himation |
Sum. pirig 'bright', PIE *bhṛg- 'to gleam, shine; white', Skt. Bhṛgu, mythical being connected with fire, bhrājate 'shines, glitters', Hittite parkui 'clean, pure', English bright, from Proto-Germ. *berhta, English birch, Lithuanian beržas 'birch', Skt.
bhūrja 'kind of birch', being
the 'white' or 'shining' tree, found also in northern Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
Sum. saga 'to reap', PIE *sak- 'to cut, dissect', OHG, OE saga 'saw', OHG segansa, Middle High German segede, Latin secula 'sickle', Latin secare 'to cut' (often in agricultural sense).
Sum. sanga 'priest', sanki 'rites', Akk. sakkû 'cultic rites', PIE *sak- 'to sacrifice, sanctify, make a treaty', Hittite sankunni- 'priest', saklai- 'rite', Latin sacer 'sacred', sacra 'cultic rites', sancire 'to make sacred, to sanction', Sancus, Roman god of trust and oaths.
Sum. sar 'to run, hasten', IE *sar- 'to flow, run', Skt. sar- 'to run, flow, speed'.
Sum. sig 'hush, (to be) silent', PIE *swīg/k- '(to be) silent', OHG swīgēn 'be silent', Greek sīga 'silently', sīgē 'silence', sīgao 'to be silent'.
Sum. sig 'to cast, pour on', PIE *sikw- 'to spill, pour', Skt. sic- 'to pour, discharge, to cast metal', seka 'pouring out, sprinkling', Av. haek- 'to pour out (water)', fra-hik/šik- 'to sprinkle, to cast metal', OHG sīhan 'to pour through a sieve'.
Sum. sil 'to split', sila 'cut (of meat); fragment; street', silaĝ 'a seed funnel', silig 'ax': these words can appear to be unrelated, but they can be all connected with 'to cut, split', which was applied especially to the furrow, therefore the 'seed funnel', an object to throw seeds in a furrow, and the 'street', being a line like a furrow. In Skt. we have sīla and sīra 'plough'. In Old Norse, sila means 'to trace a furrow', and this is possibly the origin of ancient French silier 'to plow', modern French sillon 'furrow'. In Latin we have silex, silicis 'flint', used to cut, which can be compared with Sum. silig 'ax'.
Sum. sir 'to bind', šergu 'string (of fruit)', šeršer 'chain', PIE *sar- 'to bind, put together', Latin sero 'to join or bind together', serta 'wreath, garland', Greek eiro 'to fasten together in rows, string', herma 'band, noose, earring', seira 'cord, rope', Old English serc 'shirt, coat of mail', Lith. seris, Skt. sarat, sarit 'thread'.
Sum. sur 'to cut cloth; canal, ditch', zir (written zi-ir, ze2-er) 'to tear out; to break, destroy; to be troubled; to erase', zurzur 'to break', PIE *swir/swar/sur 'to cut, prick, pierce', Old English sweord, swyrd, Dutch zwaard, OHG swert 'sword', OHG sweran 'to hurt', Old East Slavic svĭrdĭlŭ 'drill', Avestan xvara 'wound', Skt svaru 'a large piece of wood cut from the trunk of a tree, stake, post; an arrow', Middle High German swir 'post', Latin surus 'pole, peg' (objects that pierce the earth). For the evolution from sw to z, see zal below.
Sum. sur 'to press, squeeze; to drip; to rain; to milk', PIE *su-(l/r)- 'to press out, distill, milk', Skt. su- 'to press out, distill', soma 'juice of a sacred plant', sūra 'the Soma juice flowing from the press', sūri 'presser of Soma', surā 'spirituous liquor', Avestan hurā 'id.', Latvian sula 'juice', Greek hyein 'to rain', hylizein 'to filter, strain'.
Sum. šar 'totality', PIE *sala-/sal-va- 'whole', Skt. sarva 'all, every', Greek holos 'whole', Latin salvus 'safe, sound', salus 'health, safety', Avestan haurva, Old Persian haruva 'whole; sound', Middle Persian har 'every'.
Sum. šed ‘to lie down; to sit, be recumbent (of animals)’, PIE *sad/sid ‘to sit down’.
Sum. šeĝ 'to cook; to dry a field; to fire (pottery)',
sig 'to burn (of digestion)', PIE *
sa(n)k- 'to singe, burn, dry', Old English
sengan 'to singe', Icelandic
sangr 'burnt, scorched',
sengja 'singed taste', Sindhi
sekaṇu ʻto toast, warm (anything)ʼ,
seku m. ʻtoastingʼ,
seko m. ʻdrying up of a crop from wind or droughtʼ, Marathi
śekṇẽ, śẽkṇẽ ʻto warm oneself before a fire, foment, burnʼ; PIE
sik- 'dry', Latin
siccus, Avestan
hiku- 'dry'. The velar nasal in Sumerian corresponds here to a nasal infix+velar in Germanic.
Sum. šer 'reddening, (to be) bright', PIE *sar- 'red', Lith. sartas 'reddish (of horses)', sárkanas “bright, clear, light; pink”,
serbentà 'redcurrant', sirpti 'to ripen (of fruits)', Latvian sarts 'ret (in face)', sarks 'red, pink', sarkt 'to become red, to redden', Latin sorbum 'sorb (reddish fruit)'.
Sum. šerti 'strip of cloth', PIE *(s)k'ar- 'to cut', Old English scyrte 'skirt, tunic', English shirt, shred (long narrow strip cut off), Middle High German scherze 'piece cut off', German Schere 'scissors', Lith. skirti, Latv. šk'irt 'to divide', Skt. kṛt- 'to cut', śāṭa/śāṭī 'strip of cloth, particular garment (sari)' (possibly from *k'art- with retroflexion following the fall of r). The initial š- in Sumerian can be the result of an original sk- or sk'- as in Germanic languages.
Sum. šita(n) 'water channel', Skt. sītā 'furrow; name of a river', from the root sī- 'to draw a line' found also in sīman 'line parting the hair; limit, boundary', sīra 'plough' and sīrā 'stream'. Possibly also Greek oiròn/hoiròn (from *sairan) 'furrow, border line' is connected.
Sum. šun 'to shine', PIE *
sun/swan- 'sun', Old Norse, OHG
sunna 'sun', Avestan
xᵛə̄ṇg 'sun (genitive)', Welsh
huan 'sun'.
Sum. tab 'burn', PIE *tap- 'to be warm, hot', Skt. tap- 'to burn, be hot, make hot', tapas 'heat', Hitt. tapassa- 'fever', Persian taftan 'to heat, burn, shine', Khot. ttav- 'to be hot'.
Sum. tag ‘to touch, take hold of’, PIE *tag- ‘to touch’, Old Latin tago 'I touch', Lat. tangere 'to touch', tactus 'touched', Greek te-tag-on 'having seized'.
Sum. tak.alan 'craftsman' (composed with alan 'statue, form'), PIE *tak's- 'to form by cutting', Skt. takṣ- 'to fashion, chisel',
takṣan- 'wood-cutter, carpenter', Greek
tekton 'carpenter',
techne 'art, craft, skill', Avestan
tašaiti 'to make (as a carpenter)', Hitt.
ták-ki-(e-)eš-zi 'to join, build', Lithuanian
tašaũ, tašýti, OCS
tešǫ, tesati 'to hew', Russian Church Slavic
tesla 'adze, carpenter's tool', Latin
texere 'to weave, plait',
tela 'web, loom, fabric', OHG
dehsa 'axe', Old Icelandic
þexla 'adze'.
Sum. tal '(to be) broad, expand', PIE *tal- 'surface', Skt. tala 'surface, base, palm (of the hand), sole (of the foot)', taliman 'soil', Irish talam 'earth', Old Prussian talus 'floor (of a house)', Old Norse þel 'floor, board',
Lat. tellus 'earth', Greek telia 'board'; PIE *stal- 'to dilate, broaden, stretch out; broad', Old Lat. *stlatus, Lat. latus 'broad', dilatare 'to dilate, spread wide', Common Slavic steljo 'I spread'.
Sum. tar 'to cut down; to untie, loosen; to scatter, disperse', PIE *stṛ/star- 'to strew, scatter', Skt. stṛ- 'to spread, strew, scatter; to lay low, overthrow', Middle Persian wistardan 'to spread out', Lat. sternere 'to spread out, scatter; to lay low', Greek stornumi 'I spread out', Old English strewian 'to scatter', Old Norse stra 'straw', which is scattered.
Sum. temen, Akk. temmenu, temennu 'foundation (deposit)', PIE *dhā-man/dha-mn̥- 'what is placed or set', Skt. dhāman- 'dwelling-place, abode; law', Greek thema 'what is placed or laid down: deposit; position of land; grammatical stem'; themethla, theme(i)lia 'foundations', themelios 'foundation-stone'. In Greek we have also temenos 'a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain', especially to kings and to temples of gods. According to the analysis of Dunham (1986), Sum.
temen often refers to a marked off area, and also the boundaries and the corners of the area, and Whittaker remarks that
temen is the reading of the 'perimeter sign', so something very similar to the
temenos. Manessy-Guitton already in 1966 proposed that
temenos comes from
temen, but
temenos seems to have a very clear etymology from the Greek
tem-no 'to cut', which is made stronger by the comparison with Latin
templum, originally indicating a delimited space in the sky for auspices, but also a space consecrated to the gods (the temple) and a transverse beam. So, if
temen and
temenos have a relation, we should admit that
temen comes from the same root
tem- as
temenos and
templum. The
temen sign is done with two crosses and a rope, like this:
x
—x. Rather than a perimeter, it is one side of it, and, as Dunham remarks, it is like a string between two pegs, and he also suggests that
temen indicates the foundation peg (or set of pegs). If he is right, the root of
temen is more likely 'to put, place' (the pegs) than 'to cut' (the area of the foundations).
Sum.
ten 'to be extinguished; become cool', PIE *
dhwan/dhwin- 'to be extinguished', Skt.
dhvan- 'to become extinguished', Middle English
dwinen 'waste away, fade, vanish', Greek
than-,
thnesko 'to die'.
Sum.
til '
(to be) complete(d); to end', PIE *kwal- 'completion of a circle', Greek telos 'completion, accomplishment, end'. This semantic correspondence with Greek compels us to accept an analogous evolution of the IE *kwi>ti, probably from a palatal intermediate form, or a loanword directly from a language similar to Greek. This comparison allows us to propose also the following:
Sum. til 'to live; to dwell', PIE *kwal/kwil- 'to move, frequent, inhabit', Lat. colo 'I cultivate, inhabit, honor', in-quil-inus 'inhabitant'.
Sum. tud 'to hit, beat', PIE *(s)tud- 'to hit', Skt. tud- 'to push, strike', Latin tundere 'to beat, pound, strike', Gothic stautan 'to strike'.
Sum. tug 'textile, garment', PIE *(s)tag- 'to cover', Latin toga, tegimen/tegumen/tegmen 'cover; dress', OCS o-stegъ 'garment', Old Irish etach 'garment'.
Sum. tum(u) 'wind', PIE *dham/dhum- 'to blow', Skt. dham- 'to blow', Parachi dhamā́n, Nuristani Ashkunu domṍ 'wind', Lith. dumiù 'to blow'.
Sum. ubur 'breast', PIE *ūdhar-, Latin ūber 'udder, breast', Danish yver, Skt. ūdhar- 'udder'.
Sum. ugnim, ummana 'army', here Whittaker proposes for ugnim a metathesis from PIE *h2ĝmen- 'train, war band on the march', Lat. agmen, and remarks that Lafont in an article has compared semantically the Sumerian and the Latin terms. The form ummana, found also in Akkadian as umman(u), can be a variant (assimilation of *ug-man-), closer to the IE term. In Vedic we have ajman- 'career, passage, battle', and the root must be aj- 'to drive, move forward' (PIE *ag'-). Sum. ugur, according to Whittaker a divine weapon described sometimes as a mace, sometimes as a sword, PIE *wag’-ra-, Skt. vajra, which has been connected with the root uj- 'be strong', found also in ugra- 'powerful, violent, mighty, cruel, angry'. In Sum. we have also ug '(to be) furious; anger'. In Avestan vazra- is the weapon of Mitra, and in Middle Persian wazr, warz (Modern Persian gurz) is a 'club'.
Sum. ulin ‘colored wool’, Akk. h̬ullānu 'cover; woollen', PIE *wal/wul- ‘wool’, Hitt. h̬ulana-, huliya-, Got. wulla, Skt. ūrṇā 'wool'.
Sum. umbin 'nail, claw, finger, toe', PIE *n̥gwi-, Lat. unguis 'nail, claw'. Connected is Old Irish ingen, Greek onyx, Arm. eġung 'nail'.
Sum. ur 'to shut; protection', PIE *war/wṛ- 'to shut, close, cover; guard, warn, save', Skt.
vṛ- 'to cover, screen, veil, conceal, hide, surround, obstruct; to close ( a door ); to ward off',
ūr-ṇu- 'to cover, invest, hide, surround', Ossetic
wart 'shield, protection', Old English
werian 'to defend, protect'.
Sum. uru 'to sow, cultivate, plow', Latin urvare 'to plow round, mark out with a plough', urvum 'the plough-tail', verv-agere 'to plow land', Skt. urvarā 'fertile soil , field yielding crop'.
Sum. urud ‘copper’, PIE *(H)rudh- ‘red’, Skt. rudhira-,
Gr. erythros, Old English rudu, Welsh rhudd ‘red’.
Sum. (Ebla) uwi ‘sheep’, PIE *Hawi- ‘sheep’, Luwian hawi- 'sheep', Arm. hoviw 'shepherd', Lat. ovis, Old High German ouwi 'sheep'.
Sum.
zal 'to shine',
zalag '(to be) pure; (fire) light; (to be) bright, to shine', PIE *
swal- 'to shine, burn, sun, light, glory'. In Greek we find
selagéo 'I enlighten, I shine',
selagos 'ray',
selas 'light, brightness, flame; lightning, flash',
selēnē 'moon' (Aeolic selanna). These Greek words are generally derived from PIE *swel/sūl/sā́wel- 'to shine', found also in Skt. svar- 'sun, light, heaven; to shine', svarga 'heaven, paradise', sūrya, Lat. sol, Gothic sauil, Greek hēlios 'sun' (from *sawelios, we have also the Cretan abelios, Aeolic aelios and Epic ēelios). The passage sw- to s- in Greek is found also in sīgē 'silence', from PIE *swīg- (see sig above), and somphos 'spongy, porous', from PIE *swambha- (OHG swambo 'mushroom', Old English swamm 'sponge, mushroom'). Again, we would find a similar loss of w in Sumerian and Greek, which apparently creates a voiced z in Sumerian in this case. According to the Pennsylvania Dictionary, a variant form of zalag is sulug, which can be a different dialectal result of *swalag-, with vocalic harmony. It is interesting that the closest parallel formations are in Greek, whith the addition of -ag-. However, for the passage from sw to s we can also cite Toch. B sälp- ‘be set alight, blaze up; burn’, which is accepted by Douglas Adams as "an extension of the widely attested *swel- ‘burn, smoulder’" and is connected with Latin sulphur (see here).
Sum. zurzar (zur-za-ar) 'sound', zarah 'wailing, lamentation', Akk. ṣarāhu 'to cry out, wail, complain; lament, sing lamentation', Sum. šir 'to sing, play an instrument; song', PIE *swar/swir/sur-, Skt. svara- 'sound', svarati 'to utter a sound, resound', Russian svara 'altercation', OCS svirati 'to play a flute', Gothic swaran 'to swear', Old Norse swarmr 'noise', German surren 'to whisper, hum, buzz', Lat. susurrus 'whisper'.
So, we have some quite strong evidence of common roots and loanwords, especially with Indo-Iranian, Greek, Italic and Anatolian, sometimes also with Germanic and Balto-Slavic. Some exclusively Indo-Iranian and Greek forms suggest that an IE language was spoken close to the Sumerians and spread to the Indo-Iranian area and Greece. Where could this language be spoken and which archaeological culture can be connected with it? From some words, it seems that it was a culture which knew farming, flour milling, herding, buildings and water channels. In Mesopotamia, irrigation agriculture started in the Samarra culture (see
here), which influenced the Ubaid culture of Eridu and other Sumerian cities: "According to Gwendolyn Leick, Eridu was formed at the confluence of three separate ecosystems, supporting three distinct lifestyles, that came to an agreement about access to fresh water in a desert environment. The oldest agrarian settlement seems to have been based upon intensive subsistence irrigation agriculture derived from the
Samarra culture to the north, characterised by the building of canals, and mud-brick buildings. The fisher-hunter cultures of the Arabian littoral were responsible for the extensive middens along the Arabian shoreline, and may have been the original
Sumerians. They seem to have dwelt in reed huts. The third culture that contributed to the building of Eridu was the nomadic
Semitic pastoralists of herds of sheep and goats living in tents in semi-desert areas. All three cultures seem implicated in the earliest levels of the city."
The Samarra culture was developed in 5600-4800 in an area not only bordering the northern Zagros that we have proposed as the PIE cradle, but also including the same region where Jarmo is found, the Neolithic site, inhabited around 7000 BC on the Zagros foothills, which presents affinities with the Iranian sites of the Zagros and the Caspian region and with Mehrgarh in Baluchistan, as we see from the lithic inventory and figurines (see my previous post). The Samarra culture is characterized by a style of painted ware rich in geometric motifs: the most typical are the swastika and the cross, two elements very popular also in Iranian art of the Bronze age until the historical times, while the swastika subsequently disappears in Mesopotamia. It is also interesting that the root meaning 'rotation' (bal/val-), a central element of Samarran art, appears to be shared by Sumerian and Indo-European.
So, we can suppose that the Samarran people were ancient speakers of an Indo-European language, who were assimilated by Sumerians and left an important heritage of technology, words and concepts to the Sumerian civilization. If this is true, Indo-Europeans, far from being originally nomadic barbarians of the North, would be involved in the first urban and literate civilization of Mesopotamia, the source of a great part of the Eurasian cultural evolution.
