Nov. 5] PROCEEDINGS. [1889.
an initial g (k, g), meaning " bright," " clear," " pure " ; viz., ku (gu?
c-P- f^ H? = dumugu, "thebrilliantson,"i.e., Sin), ellu, "bright,"
of which Hauptsupposesan original formku§,gus,kun(gun),"to
shine,"gar," to glitter," " splendour," gub, " bright," " pure,"and
g'ud"to shine." Of these the first, ku or gu, "bright," is involved
in the compound ku-babbar, "silver,"whichthusseemsto mean
"brightwhite(metal)."* TheChineseword_y/'«,Amoygun,Chang-
chewgin,preservesthe first partof the term, whichis clearly a near
relativeof kun (gun)," to shine." GU- in this word and in gus-kin,
" gold," mayfurtherbe compared withthe Chinese yii'," pure, hard
gold,"" precious,"" valuable" ; yii', " the full glory of the sun," " the
brightlight";yii,"thebrightblazeof fire," "glorious,""shining."
Theoldersoundsare yok, ngok,yik ; the Cantonese has also wat,
wik,the Swatowgek,tit, the Amoy til, hit, etc. Lookingat all this,
I am inclined to believethat the Accadian uda,"day,"udu,the "sun,"
wereoriginallygud,gudu;comparethe nameof Merodach, gudibir
(forthe ending, see zimbir, kibir, zabar). Thefactthatgud is
the term for " bull," is suggestive in this connection, consideringthe
widespreadassociationbetweenthe sun-god and the bull.t zagin,
ibbu, ellu,seemsto be a compound of za, which we see also in
za-bar,namru,"shining,"siparru, "copper,"and gin, gi, "bright,"
"glistening,"whichoccurs in gi-bil (older bil-gi),"the fire-god."
bil or pil is qalu, "to burn," andiSatu, "fire." gi (dialectic di or
t>£) means namaru, "to shine," and qalu, "to burn." In regard to
na zagin = uknu, it is curious thatyd, " beautiful," " precious," is
alsoan old name of "clear whitejade,"and ordinarily means"gem,"
while_y« is defined as "a beautiful stonelike jasper," and another
yii as " a pebble withstripesand colouring,whichmakeit almost
as valuable as a gem." Sealsweresometimesmadeof na zagin,
and yiri is a seal. (Seealsobelow, p. 30.) TheAccadiangi, "a
* BABBAR (= bar-bar) is defined by //»/}, "white." Poh kin, "whitegold,"
is a Chinese designationof silver.
+ In Gudibir Hr = bar, as in Zimbir (forZubar)fromzabar; the change
beingdue to vowel-harmony. As bar may mean " bright," gudibiris perhaps
" brightnessof the sun." Thenamesof the metals involvethe sound »^- " bar."
«-«~y Jf-,"iron," is, perhaps, "metalof the sky," being namedfrom the
meteoric iron,whichprobablygavemen theirfirstknowledgeof this metal.
J^ Jf-, "lead,"is called "water-metal,"becauseit melts so easily. Jy >^f-,
"copper,"is "fire-metal," becauseof its red, fieryglow. Bar,in this connec
tion,is apparently " brightsubstance,"and then " metal.'
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