Closed syllables: cuneiform signs with two consonants

This reference table gives many of the main CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) signs needed for reading Akkadian in cuneiform (and lots of rare ones too). It is unlikely that you will need all of them, unless you become a professional cuneiformist, but it is fun to see them nevertheless. Complete lists are published in the books described on the using sign lists page.

The consonants are grouped by sound, as described on the phonology page. It explains there why some syllables with different vowels and/or consonants are written with the same sign. In general (but not always), sign values with i are also valid for e. Because final consonants are usually interchangeable within each phonological group (e.g. ๐’ = bad, bat, and baแนญ), we have not systematically listed them.

Signs starting with dentals

dab๐’ณ tab๐’‹ฐ แนญab๐’‹ฐ
dad๐’‹บ tad๐’‹บ แนญad—
dag๐’– tag๐’‹ณ แนญag๐’–
dah๐’ˆญ tah๐’ˆญ แนญah๐’ˆญ
dal๐’Š‘ tal๐’Š‘ แนญal๐’Š‘
dam๐’ฎ tam๐’Œ“ แนญam๐’ฎ
dan๐’†— tan๐’†— แนญan๐’†—
dar๐’ฏ tar๐’‹ป แนญar๐’‹ป
daš๐’Œจ taš๐’Œจ แนญaš—
dib๐’ณ tib๐’ณ แนญib๐’ณ
did๐’…Ž tid๐’…Ž แนญid—
dig๐’‰Œ tig๐’„˜ แนญig—
dih๐’พ tih— แนญih—
dil๐’€ธ til๐’Œ€ แนญil๐’€ธ
dim๐’ด tim๐’ด แนญim๐’ด
din๐’ท tin๐’ท แนญin๐’ท
dir๐’‹›๐’€€ tir๐’Œ แนญir๐’‹›๐’€€
diš๐’น tiš๐’น แนญiš๐’น
dub๐’พ tub๐’พ แนญub2๐’‚€
dud๐’‰บ๐’œ tud๐’Œ… แนญud—
dug๐’‚ tug๐’Œ‡ แนญug—
duh๐’ƒฎ tuh๐’ƒฎ แนญuh๐’ƒฎ
dul๐’Œ‹๐’Œ† tul๐’Œ‹๐’Œ† แนญul๐’‡ฅ
dum๐’Œˆ tum๐’Œˆ แนญum๐’Œˆ
dun๐’‚„ tun๐’„ฝ แนญun—
dur๐’„™ tur๐’Œ‰ แนญur๐’„™
duš๐’†ช tuš๐’†ช แนญuš๐’†ช

Bilabials

bab๐’‰ฝ pap๐’‰ฝ
bad๐’ pad๐’‰ป
bag๐’„ท pag๐’„ท
bah๐’„ท pah๐’ˆœ
bal๐’„ pal๐’„
bam— pam—
ban๐’‰ผ pan๐’‰ผ
bar๐’‡ par๐’Œ“
baš๐’ˆฆ paš—
bib— pip—
bid๐’‚ pid๐’‚
big๐’‹ pik๐’‹
bih— pih๐’ˆœ
bil๐’‰ˆ pil๐’‰ˆ
bim— pim—
bin๐’€ณ pin๐’€ณ
bir๐’„ต pir๐’Œ“
biš๐’„ซ piš๐’„ซ
bub— pup—
bud— pud—
buk๐’ˆฎ puk๐’ˆฎ
buh๐’ˆœ puh๐’ˆœ
bul๐’‡ง pul๐’‡ง
bum๐’…ค pum๐’…ค
bun๐’‡Œ pun—
bur๐’“ pur๐’“
buš๐’†œ puš2๐’‰ฝ๐’„ฌ

Palatals

gab๐’ƒฎ kab๐’† qab๐’ƒฎ
gad๐’ƒฐ kad๐’ƒฐ qad๐’ƒฐ
gag๐’†• kak๐’†• qaq๐’†•
gah— kah— qah—
gal๐’ƒฒ kal๐’†— qal๐’ƒฒ
gam๐’ƒต kam๐’„ฐ qam๐’ƒต
gan๐’ƒถ kan๐’ƒถ qan๐’ƒถ
gar๐’ƒป kar๐’‹ผ๐’€€ qar๐’ƒผ
gaš๐’‰ kaš๐’‰ qaš—
gib๐’„ƒ kib๐’„’ qib๐’„’
gid๐’†ค kid๐’†ค qid๐’†ค
gig๐’ˆช๐’‰ญ kik๐’ˆช๐’‰ญ qiq๐’ˆช๐’‰ญ
gih— kih— qih—
gil๐’„ƒ kil๐’†ธ qil๐’†ธ
gim๐’ถ kim๐’ถ qim๐’ถ
gin๐’บ kin๐’†ฅ qin๐’†ฅ
gir๐’„ซ kir๐’„ซ qir๐’„ซ
giš๐’„‘ kiš๐’†ง qiš๐’†ง
gub๐’บ kub๐’บ qub๐’บ
gud๐’„ž kud๐’‹ป qud๐’‹ป
gug๐’๐’„ข kuk๐’†ฌ quq—
guh— kuh— quh—
gul๐’„ข kul๐’†ฐ qul๐’†ฐ
gum๐’„ฃ kum๐’„ฃ qum๐’„ฃ
gun๐’„˜๐’Œฆ kun๐’†ฒ qun๐’†ฒ
gur๐’„ฅ kur๐’†ณ qur๐’„ฅ
guš๐’‹ข kuš๐’‹ข quš—

Sibilants

sab๐’‰บ๐’… แนฃab๐’‚Ÿ šab๐’‰บ๐’… zab๐’‚Ÿ
sad๐’†ณ แนฃad— šad๐’†ณ zad—
sag๐’Š• แนฃak๐’  šag๐’Š• zag๐’ 
sah๐’†ค แนฃah๐’‰ˆ šah๐’‹š zah๐’‰ˆ
sal๐’Šฉ แนฃal๐’‰Œ šal๐’Šฉ zal๐’‰Œ
sam๐’Œ‘ แนฃam— šam๐’Œ‘ zam—
san๐’Š• แนฃan— šan๐’‰“ zan—
sar๐’Šฌ แนฃar๐’‡ก šar๐’Šฌ zar๐’‡ก
sas๐’‹€ แนฃaแนฃ— šaš๐’‹€ zaz๐’
sib๐’ˆจ แนฃib๐’ฆ šib๐’ˆจ zib๐’ฆ
sid๐’ˆป แนฃid— šid๐’‹ƒ zid๐’ฃ
sig๐’‹ แนฃig— šig๐’‹ zig๐’จ
sih๐’‹š แนฃih— ših๐’‹š zih๐’„—
sil๐’‹ป แนฃil๐’‰ฃ šil๐’‹ป zil๐’‰ฃ
sim๐’‹† แนฃim๐’ฎ šim๐’‹† zim—
sin๐’Œ แนฃin๐’Œ šin๐’Šฟ zin๐’Šฟ
sir๐’‹ค แนฃir๐’ˆฒ šir๐’‹“ zir๐’†ฐ
sis๐’‹€ แนฃiแนฃ๐’ šiš๐’‹€ ziz๐’
sub๐’…ข แนฃub— šub๐’Š’ zub๐’†›
sud๐’‹ค แนฃud— šud๐’‹ค zud—
sug๐’†น แนฃug— šug๐’‰ป zug๐’†น
suh๐’ˆฝ แนฃuh— šuh๐’ˆฝ zuh๐’…—
sul๐’‚„ แนฃul— šul๐’‚„ zul—
sum๐’‹ง แนฃum๐’ฎ šum๐’‹ณ zum๐’ฎ
sun๐’Œ€ แนฃun— šun๐’Šฟ zun—
sur๐’‹ฉ แนฃur๐’€ซ šur๐’‹ฉ zur๐’€ซ
sus๐’ˆฝ แนฃuแนฃ— šuš๐’Œ‹ zuz—

Nasals

mab— nab๐’€ฎ
mad๐’†ณ nad๐’†ณ
mag— nag๐’…˜
mah๐’ˆค nah๐’ˆ›
mal๐’‚ท nal—
mam๐’Œ‹๐’Œ‹ nam๐’‰†
man๐’Œ‹๐’Œ‹ nan๐’‹€
mar๐’ˆฅ nar๐’ˆœ
maš๐’ˆฆ naš๐’ˆฆ
mib— nib๐’Š‹
mid๐’…‚ nid๐’‘
mig— nig๐’Šฉ๐’Œจ
mih๐’ˆค nih—
mil๐’…– nil—
mim๐’Šฉ nim๐’‰
min๐’ˆซ nin๐’Šฉ๐’Œ†
mir๐’‚‡ nir๐’‰ช
miš๐’ˆฉ niš๐’Œ‹๐’Œ‹
mub— nub—
mud๐’„ท๐’„ญ nud๐’ˆฟ
mug๐’ˆฎ nug๐’‹
muh๐’Œ‹๐’…— nuh—
mul๐’€ฏ nul—
mum๐’Œค num๐’‰
mun๐’ต nun๐’‰ฃ
mur๐’„ฏ nur๐’‰ช
muš๐’ˆฒ nuš—

Fricatives and liquids

hab๐’†ธ lab๐’†— rab๐’Š
had๐’‰บ lad๐’†ณ rad๐’‹ฅ
hag— lag๐’‹ƒ rag๐’Šฉ
hah— lah๐’Œ“ rah๐’ˆ›
hal๐’„ฌ lal๐’‡ฒ ral—
ham— lam๐’‡ด ram๐’‰˜
han— lan— ran—
har๐’„ฏ lar๐’‰บ rar—
haš๐’‹ป laš— raš๐’†œ
hib— lib๐’ˆœ rib๐’†—
hid— lid๐’€– rid๐’ˆฉ
hig— lig๐’Œจ rig๐’‹†
hih— lih๐’Œ“ rih๐’ˆ›
hil— lil๐’‡ธ ril—
him— lim๐’…† rim๐’†ธ
hin— lin— rin๐’†ธ
hir๐’†Ÿ lir๐’‰ช rir—
hiš๐’Œ“ liš๐’‡บ riš๐’Š•
hub๐’„ฝ lub๐’ˆœ rub๐’†—
hud๐’‰บ lud๐’‚ rud๐’‹ฅ
hug๐’‚  lug๐’‡ป rug๐’Šฟ
huh— luh๐’ˆ› ruh๐’ˆ›
hul๐’…†๐’Œจ lul๐’ˆœ rul—
hum๐’ˆ lum๐’ˆ rum๐’€ธ
hun๐’‚  lun๐’‰บ run—
hur๐’„ฏ lur— rur—
huš๐’„ญ๐’„Š luš— ruš๐’„ญ๐’„Š

Content last modified on 07 Jul 2012.

Eleanor Robson

Eleanor Robson, 'Closed syllables: cuneiform signs with two consonants', Knowledge and Power, Higher Education Academy, 2012 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/knpp/CuneiformRevealed/Learningsigns/Closedsyllables/]

 
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