Akkadian Addenda · Signs
brazier
| Name | NE |
|---|---|
| Reads | [bi] |
| Means | veteran — NE gains [bi]: qibīma, "speak!" — the letter-opener's middle |
| Taught in | 12 · Say to him: a letter |
| In Sumerian | the same sign's Sumerian page |
Where it comes from
The brazier-sign of 102 — ne, fire in its bowl. Among the readings Akkadian inherited is bi, and Old Babylonian gives it the most-written beat in the whole mailbag: the middle syllable of qibīma, “speak!” — the second word of nearly every letter ever posted in Babylon.
How to remember it
A letter is read ALOUD — the reader lends the sender a voice the way a brazier lends a room its light. The fire-sign burning in the middle of “speak!” is the letter coming alight.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p252638:obverse:2 · license: attribution.
Akkadian reading taught in 103’s chapter 12.