Discussion of Variants
Orthographic Variants
In all there are 12 orthographic variants, only half of which occur in sources that share
more than 50 SU in parallel.^703 Variations that occur among these sources are: the ex-
change of like-valued signs; syllabic writing of logographic forms; and the different
spelling of plural forms. In sources with less than 50 SU in parallel we also see omitted
determinatives and differences in the representation of phonetic complements.
Orthographic (linguistic) Variants
There are a small number of linguistic variants that may point to differences in the under-
lying pronunciation of some of the sources. The elision of a glottal stop in tablet C may
reflect the linguistic reality of the scribe (P3). Similarly the writing of the preposition
kiam without representing the diphthong in tablet T may also be related to pronunciation
(P12). The same may be said for the writing of the genitive case as /e/ against /i/ once in
tablet A (P13).^704
Two variations in the sources may be attributed to differences in the grammar of Sumer-
ian forms, though this interpretation does depend upon the knowledge and conscious ap-
plication of Sumerian grammatical forms on the part of the scribes. The first instance
(P20) appears to involve a genitive post-position marker, while the second (P22) relates
(^703) This includes the comparisons A:T and G:I, which actually have just under 50 SU in parallel.
(^704) This occurs with the genitive noun ūmi, “(of the) day,” written “u 4 -me” in tablet A. This form is found
in unparalleled sections of other sources (e.g. C 2 and S 8).