Sumerian Addenda · Signs

𒀝

do

NameAK
Reads[ak]
Meansto do, to make
Taught in02 · The case that hides

Where it comes from

Origin unclear — no picture worth teaching. The word is the plainest verb Sumerian has: ak, “to do, to make.” By a pure accident of sound it matches the genitive ending /-ak/, “of” — which is why the course teaches the sign and the case in the same breath.

How to remember it

Do is a hammer-tap of a sign: short, blunt, six wedges of getting-it-done. And keep the pun: ak the deed, -ak the “of” — the doing and the belonging share one sound.

In the wild

Gudea's temple hymn. urn:nabu:etcsl:2.1.7:28 · license: ETCSL · non-commercial.

Piece by piece:

  • niŋ2 ak-zu — the things of your doing
  • a-ba — who?
  • i3-zu-zu — can ever know them

A god’s deeds, beyond counting — and ak is the word for the doing. The line is read in 102’s chapter 09; the genitive’s story is chapter 02.