Gi (cuneiform)
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/B141ellst.png/223px-B141ellst.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/B141_Hittite_gi.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Amarna_letter_fragment%2C_from_King_Tushratta_of_Mitanni_to_Queen_Tiy_%28Teye%29_of_Egypt%2C_matching_fragment_in_British_Museum_-_Oriental_Institute_Museum%2C_University_of_Chicago_-_DSC07018.JPG/340px-thumbnail.jpg)
(high-resolution expandable photo)
(Last flat-surface 5-lines on fragment (Para IV), lines 30–34.
(An Amarna letter that uses gi.)
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The cuneiform gi sign is a common multi-use sign of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a sumerogrammic usage for GI in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The structure of the cuneiform sign is like its twin, Zi (cuneiform), .
The "gi" sign has the syllabic usage for ge and gi, and a sumerogram usage for GI. Alphabetically "gi" can be used for g ("g" can be interchanged with "k", or "q"); and "gi"/"ge" can be used for i, or e. In Akkadian, all 4 vowels, a, e, i, u are interchangeable with each other.
Epic of Gilgamesh usage
[edit]The gi sign usage in the Epic of Gilgamesh is as follows: ge-(4 times); gi-(17), GI-(20 times).[1]
References
[edit]- ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 085, p. 156, "gi".
- Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.