L2.3: G-Stamm

The G-Stamm is the base stem. It has no formative element.

Good-to-know

The letter G comes from the German “Grundstamm”, which means “base stem”

Non-finite forms

Non-finite forms are nominal forms and declinable. There are three of them: Infinitive, Participle and Verbal Adjective

Infinitive

The infinitive is morphologically a noun and is inflected as such.

Nominal Form

parās

This is also the citation form of a verb not only today but already in antiquity. That means that all other stems are subsumed after the G-stem

Entry in a Dictionary

In this picture you can see that the other stems are within the entry labāšu, which is in the G-Stem.

Infinitive	Translation
mahāṣum	to strike
damāqum	to be/to become good
ṣabātum	to seize, arrest, capture

Participle

It is similar to an adjective and as such it has masculine and feminine forms with singular and plural and cases.

Nominal Form

pāris (masc.), pārist (fem.)

It always has an active meaning:

Number	Case	Masculine	Feminine
sg.	nom.	pārisum	pāristum
	gen.	pārisim	pāristum
	acc.	pārisam	pāristum
pl.	nom.	pārisūtum	pārisātum
	gen./acc.	pārisūtim	pārisātim

Warning

Verbs that describe a state like marāṣu “to be/become sick” can not have a participle.

The particple can be translated with a relative sentence, an agent noun or a noun of occupation.

Infinitive	Translation	Particple	Relative clause	Agent/Occupation noun
paqādum	to entrust	pāqidum	the one who cares	carer, inspector
mahāṣum	to beat, strike	māhiṣum	the one who beats	beater
zanānu	to provision, provide (for, with)	zāninu	the one who provides	the provider

It can also accommpany a noun. In that case it is translated into English with the ending “-ing”, also known as the gerund.

Infinitive	Translation	Noun + Particple	Translation
mahāṣum	to beat, strike	kakkum māhiṣum	the smiting weapon
ṣabātu	to seize, take, hold	šadânum (a stone) ṣābitum	the “holding” stone = magnetite

Good-to-Know 🤔

When you are not sure how to translate the particple, you can always translate it as a relative clause. Once you have translated the rest of the sentence, you can decide to translate it either as noun, relative sentence or adjectives einding “-ing”.

Verbal Adjective

The verbal adjective describes attributes or states:

Nominal Form

• paras (masc.), parast (fem.);

• paris (masc.), parist (fem.);

• parus (masc.), parust (fem.).

The masculines forms with ending parsum.

Infinitive	Translation	Verbal Adjective	Translation
damāqum	to be/become good	damqum	good
danānum	to be/become strong	dannum	strong

Active-transitive Verbs will always have a passive meaning:

Infinitive	Translation	Verbal Adjective	Translation
mahāṣum	to beat, strike	mahṣum	beaten
šarāqum	to steal	šarqum	stolen

Warning

Note that the short vowel i between R₂ and R₃ are not present. That is because short unstressed vowels between two consonants are often elided (👉parsum), unless a long vowel stands before the preceding consonant (👉 pārisum). This is also known as vowel syncope:

• parsum (<*parisum) = Verbal adjective.

• pārisum (remains unchanged) = Particple.

If the short vowel in question precedes an r, it will be sometimes be protected and wont be elide:

• šikarum = “beer”.

• laberum = “old”.

• zakirum and zikrum = “man” both are attested.