I w, II weak, and irregular verbs: verbs which do not follow the strong paradigm

So far in our review of weak verbs, we have seen that verbs whose first or third consonant is ʾ (aleph) essentially follow the same paradigm as strong verbs, with some phonological modifications. In this final page we will survey a few varieties of verb that obey their own rules.

When you have read this page, you might like to test your understanding by trying Cuneiform exercise 8.

I w ("first w") verbs

Verbs whose first consonant is w don't behave quite like strong verbs or like other I weak verbs. The following rules are particular to I w verbs:

Here is a short paradigm table for the four main stems, showing just three of the most common persons. The paradigm verb here is walādum, "to give birth (to)" (so all of its persons are necessarily feminine in the G stem). In the N stem it means "to be born", and in the D "to act as midwife" (literally "to make give birth"). The Š stem means "to breed (animals)".

Person and tense G stem N stem D stem Š stem
"I", preterite ūlid (*awlid) awwalid (*anwalid) uwallid ušēlid (*ušawlid)
"(he)/she/it", preterite ūlid (*iwlid) iwwalid (*inwalid) uwallid ušēlid (*ušawlid)
"they" (fem.), preterite
 
uldā (*iwlidā iwwaldā (*inwalidā uwallidā  ušēlidā (*ušawlidā
"I", perfect attalad (*awtalad) attawlad (*antawlad) uwtallid uštēlid (*uštawlid)
"(he)/she/it", perfect ittalad (*iwtalad) ittawlad (*intawlad) uwtallid ušēlid (*ušawlid)
"they" (fem.), perfect
 
ittaldā (*iwtaladā ittawlidā (*intawladā uwtallidā  uštēlidā (*ušawlidā
"I", present ullad (*awallad) awwalid (*anwallad) uwallad ušallad (*ušawlad)
"(he)/she/it", present ullad (*iwallad) iwwalid (*inwallad) uwallad ušallad (*ušawlad)
"they" (fem.), preterite
 
ulladā (*iwalladā) iwwaldā (*inwalladā) uwalladā ušalladā (*ušawladā)
infinitive walādum (unknown) wulludum šūludum (*šuwludum)

Note how the tense vowel is squeezed out of some forms with suffixes, as explained on the Sound rules page.

Look out for the doubly weak verb waṣûm, "to go out", which obeys I w rules at its front end and III weak rules at its rear end (e.g., G-stem preterite ūṣi (*iwṣiʾ), "he went out"; and Š-stem preterite ušēṣiam (*ušawṣiʾam, "he brought out", literally "he caused to go out here").

II weak ("second weak") verbs

There are two sorts of II weak verbs. In one variety, the aleph behaves like a strong consonant, so we can treat those just like strong verbs (e.g., ibaʾʾiš, "it is stinking", from baʾāšum, "to stink" (i/i)). The second variety is much more interesting. We need to put aside most of what we know about the morphology of strong verbs and treat them on their own merits.

These more interesting II weak verbs are sometimes called hollow verbs because it is a useful approximation to say they have a vowel in the middle of the root instead of a consonant. In other words, hollow roots consist of two consonants either side of a long vowel. For instance:

These are roots, not words. In order to turn them into verbal forms, we need some morphological rules. Most of them are beautifully simple. Here are the rules for the G-stem:

Here, then, is a short paradigm table for II weak verbs in the G stem, giving the two most common persons for all three possible root vowels, using šâmum, "to purchase", šiāmum, "to determine (fate)", and duākum, "to kill".

Tense "he/she/it" "they" (masc. and mixed)
Preterite išām išāmū
išīm išīmū
idūk idūkū
Perfect ištām ištāmū
ištīm ištāmū
iddūk (*idtūk) iddūkū (*idtūkū)
Present išâm (*išāam) išammū (*išāamū)
išīam išimmū (*išīamū)
idâk (*idūak) idukkū (*idūakū)

As you can infer from the table, in transliteration and in cuneiform writing it is often difficult to distinguish between present and preterite forms of hollow verbs with root vowel a. Is i-ša-am a writing of išām, "he bought" or išâm, "he is buying"? It is impossible to know without further context.

The N, D and Š stems of II weak verbs are also formed through elegantly minimalist rules:

Here is a short paradigm table for II weak verbs, giving third-person forms in the N, D, and Š stems. We use nadūkum, "to be killed" (the N stem of duākum), kunnum, "to establish" (the D stem of kuānum), and šurūšum, "to have (someone) rejoice" (the Š stem of riāšum).

Person and tense N stem D stem Š stem
"he/she/it", preterite iddūk (*indūk) ukīn ušrīš
"they" (masc. and mixed), preterite iddukkū (*indūkū) ukinnū (*ukīnū) ušriššū (*ušrīšū)
"he/she/it", perfect ittadūk (*intadūk) uktīn uštarīš
"they" (masc. and mixed), perfect ittadukkū (*ittadūkū) uktinnū (*uktīnū) uštariššū (*uštarīšū)
"he/she/it", present iddâk (*indūak) ukān ušrāš
"they" (masc. and mixed), present iddukkū (*indūakū) ukannū (*ukānū) ušraššū (*ušrāšū)

For a more technical explanation of II weak verbs, which explains their morphology in terms of aleph, and for paradigms of the derived stems, you will need to consult a good Akkadian grammar.

Irregular verbs

There are a few verbs, such as edûm, "to know" (i/i), and išûm, "to have", that exist only in the preterite. This makes them relatively easy to deal with—and we can translated them with whatever tense makes most sense in the context. They take the form īdi (*iʾdiʾ), "he knew", in the singular and īdû (*iʾdiʾū), "they knew", in the plural. (Similarly īši, "he had", and īšû, "they had".)

The verb alākum, "to go", does not behave in quite the same way as other first weak verbs. Essentially, the aleph assimilates to the following consonant rather than lengthening the preceding vowel as expected. Like I w verbs it has class vowels i/a. Here is a short paradigm of its main stems and tenses, in the third person.

Person and tense G stem Gt stem Gtn stem
"he/she/it", preterite illik (*iʾlik) ittalak (*iʾtalak) ittallak (*iʾtanlak)
"they" (masc. and mixed), preterite illikū ittalkū ittallakū
"he/she/it", perfect ittalak (*iʾtalak) ittatlak (*iʾtatlak) ittatallak (*iʾtatanlak)
"they" (masc. and mixed), perfect ittalkū ittatlakū ittatallakū
"he/she/it", present illak (*iʾallak) ittallak (*iʾtallak) ittanallak (*iʾtanallak)
"they" (masc. and mixed), present illakū ittallakū ittanallakū

The verb izuzzum, "to stand", is also irregular. It uses tense vowels and doubles the final root consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel. It occurs mostly in the G and Š stems (with two variants):

Stem G stem Š stem
"he/she/it", preterite izziz ušazziz or ušziz
"they" (masc. and mixed), preterite izzizzū ušazzizzū or ušzizzū
"he/she/it", perfect ittazaz uštazziz
"they" (masc. and mixed), perfect ittazazzū uštazzizzū
"he/she/it", present izzaz ušazzaz or ušzaz
"they" (masc. and mixed), present izzazzū ušazzazzū or ušzazzū

For the behaviour of other types of irregular verbs, various sorts of doubly weak verbs (with two weak consonants), and verbs with more than three root consonants you will need to consult a good textbook of Akkadian.

Content last modified on 02 Apr 2024.

Eleanor Robson

Eleanor Robson, 'I w, II weak, and irregular verbs: verbs which do not follow the strong paradigm', Knowledge and Power, Higher Education Academy, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/knpp/CuneiformRevealed/Akkadianlanguage/Iw,IIweak,andirregularverbs/]

 
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