This article is about a Sumerian cuneiform sign. For the Rings of Saturn album, see Dingir (album).
Dingir (𒀭, usually transliterated DIĜIR,[1]Sumerian pronunciation:[tiŋiɾ]) is a Sumerian word for "god" or "goddess". Its cuneiform sign is most commonly employed as the determinative for religious names and related concepts, in which case it is not pronounced and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript "d" as in e.g. dInanna.
The cuneiform sign by itself was originally an ideogram for the Sumerian word an ("sky" or "heaven");[2] its use was then extended to a logogram for the word diĝir ("god" or "goddess")[3] and the supreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon An, and a phonogram for the syllable /an/. Akkadian took over all these uses and added to them a logographic reading for the native ilum and from that a syllabic reading of /il/. In Hittite orthography, the syllabic value of the sign was again only an.
The concept of "divinity" in Sumerian is closely associated with the heavens, as is evident from the fact that the cuneiform sign doubles as the ideogram for "sky", and that its original shape is the picture of a star. The eight-pointed star was a chief symbol for the goddess Inanna. The original association of "divinity" is thus with "bright" or "shining" hierophanies in the sky.
The Sumerian sign DIĜIR originated as a star-shaped ideogram indicating a god in general, or the Sumerian god An, the supreme father of the gods. Dingir also meant sky or heaven in contrast with ki which meant earth. Its emesal pronunciation was dimer. (The use of m instead of ĝ[ŋ] was a typical phonological feature in emesal dialect.)
The plural of diĝir can be diĝir-diĝir, among others.
the Akkadian nominal stem il- meaning "god" or "goddess", derived from the Semitic ''ʾil-
the god Anum (An)
the Akkadian word šamû meaning "sky"
the syllables an and il (from the Akkadian word god: An or Il, or from gods with these names)
a preposition meaning "at" or "to"
a determinative indicating that the following word is the name of a god
According to one interpretation, DINGIR could also refer to a priest or priestess although there are other Akkadian words ēnu and ēntu that are also translated priest and priestess. For example, nin-dingir (lady divine) meant a priestess who received foodstuffs at the temple of Enki in the city of Eridu.[4]
Digital encodingEdit
The cuneiform sign is encoded in Unicode (as of version 5.0) under its name AN at U+1202D𒀭.
^By Assyriological convention, capitals identify a cuneiform sign used as a word, while the phonemic value of a sign in a given context is given in lower case.
^Margaret Whitney Green, Eridu in Sumerian Literature, PhD dissertation, University of Chicago (1975), p. 224.
ReferencesEdit
Edzard, Dietz Otto (2003). Sumerian Grammar. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Vol. 71. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN1-58983-252-3.
Hayes, John L. (2000). A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts. Aids and Research Tools in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Second revised ed.). Malibu: Undena Publications. ISBN0-89003-508-1.
October 15, 2023
dingir, this, article, about, sumerian, cuneiform, sign, rings, saturn, album, album, 𒀭, usually, transliterated, diĜir, sumerian, pronunciation, tiŋiɾ, sumerian, word, goddess, cuneiform, sign, most, commonly, employed, determinative, religious, names, relate. This article is about a Sumerian cuneiform sign For the Rings of Saturn album see Dingir album Dingir 𒀭 usually transliterated DIĜIR 1 Sumerian pronunciation tiŋiɾ is a Sumerian word for god or goddess Its cuneiform sign is most commonly employed as the determinative for religious names and related concepts in which case it is not pronounced and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript d as in e g dInanna The cuneiform sign by itself was originally an ideogram for the Sumerian word an sky or heaven 2 its use was then extended to a logogram for the word diĝir god or goddess 3 and the supreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon An and a phonogram for the syllable an Akkadian took over all these uses and added to them a logographic reading for the native ilum and from that a syllabic reading of il In Hittite orthography the syllabic value of the sign was again only an The concept of divinity in Sumerian is closely associated with the heavens as is evident from the fact that the cuneiform sign doubles as the ideogram for sky and that its original shape is the picture of a star The eight pointed star was a chief symbol for the goddess Inanna The original association of divinity is thus with bright or shining hierophanies in the sky Contents 1 Cuneiform sign 1 1 Sumerian 1 2 Assyrian 1 3 Digital encoding 2 See also 3 Notes 4 ReferencesCuneiform sign EditSumerian Edit nbsp The Sumerian sign DIĜIR nbsp originated as a star shaped ideogram indicating a god in general or the Sumerian god An the supreme father of the gods Dingir also meant sky or heaven in contrast with ki which meant earth Its emesal pronunciation was dimer The use of m instead of ĝ ŋ was a typical phonological feature in emesal dialect The plural of diĝir can be diĝir diĝir among others nbsp nbsp Assyrian Edit nbsp The Assyrian sign DIĜIR ASH 𒀸 and MAS 𒈦 see cuneiform sign AN could mean the Akkadian nominal stem il meaning god or goddess derived from the Semitic ʾil the god Anum An the Akkadian word samu meaning sky the syllables an and il from the Akkadian word god An or Il or from gods with these names a preposition meaning at or to a determinative indicating that the following word is the name of a godAccording to one interpretation DINGIR could also refer to a priest or priestess although there are other Akkadian words enu and entu that are also translated priest and priestess For example nin dingir lady divine meant a priestess who received foodstuffs at the temple of Enki in the city of Eridu 4 Digital encoding Edit The cuneiform sign is encoded in Unicode as of version 5 0 under its name AN at U 1202D 𒀭 See also Edit nbsp Asia portal nbsp Look up 𒀭 in Wiktionary the free dictionary Religions of the ancient Near East Mesopotamian mythologyNotes Edit By Assyriological convention capitals identify a cuneiform sign used as a word while the phonemic value of a sign in a given context is given in lower case Hayes 2000 Edzard 2003 Margaret Whitney Green Eridu in Sumerian Literature PhD dissertation University of Chicago 1975 p 224 References EditEdzard Dietz Otto 2003 Sumerian Grammar Handbook of Oriental Studies Vol 71 Atlanta Society of Biblical Literature ISBN 1 58983 252 3 Hayes John L 2000 A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts Aids and Research Tools in Ancient Near Eastern Studies Second revised ed Malibu Undena Publications ISBN 0 89003 508 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dingir amp oldid 1178390603, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
