Peter Kirk wrote:Thank you, and also to Mick, for the clarification. Well, the implication seems to stand that these words were plural in form in proto-Semitic.
Now I don't take BDB as the top authority on Akkadian (and it doesn't mention Ugaritic because it is too old - but it is what I have to hand), but it seems to suggest that mû and šamû are regular singular nouns which also have plural forms. Have I misunderstood BDB? Or is it wrong?
I'd have to say you've understood correctly, but it's wrong. The study of Akkadian has come a long way in the past century, so I wouldn't go too hard on BDB. I'm not familiar enough with the history of the discipline to know exactly how things have changed since then; what I do know is that muu is nominative plural in form and mee is oblique plural. The difference is one of case; all attested forms of these two words look plural in number. I can cite sources on that if you like.
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.