Sumerian Addenda · Signs
child
| Name | TUR |
|---|---|
| Reads | [dumu], tur |
| Means | child, son (dumu); small (tur) |
| Taught in | 07 · Of gods and men |
Where it comes from
Origin debated — no picture survives scrutiny. The double reading is the real story: as tur it means “small”; as dumu it means “child, son.” One sign for both, because a child IS the small one — a piece of logic still legible across four millennia. In the filiation formula X dumu Y, “X son of Y,” it identifies nearly everyone the archives ever named.
How to remember it
The child is the small one of the house — the sign is compact, few wedges, small on purpose. When a name needs a father, this little sign does the introducing: son of.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p010019:reverse:3:3' ·
license: attribution. Name translations are approximate by
nature.
Piece by piece:
- dumu — son: this sign, doing family duty
- -zi — true
The shepherd-god of the love songs, named “true son” on a tablet older than his oldest myth. The filiation formula X dumu Y is taught in 101’s chapter 07; the name is read in 102’s chapter 10.