The D and Š stems: modifying the basic meanings of verbs (II)

This is the second of two pages on verbal stems in Akkadian. We have already looked at passive verbs in the N stem and the meanings and forms of the derived stems Gt, Gtn, and Ntn. We finish up this topic by considering the D stem and Š stem, together with their derived stems Dt, Dtn, Št, and Štn. The D and Š-stem groups are closely related to each other, both in behaviour and in meaning.

When you have read this page, you might like to test your understanding by trying Cuneiform exercise 6.

The D stem (II)

We have already said that D-stem verbs are either factitive—that is, they refer to making actions or events happen—or more intensive than verbs in the G stem. In fact, we can usefully say more about both of these functions.

• Some G-stem verbs denote states of being rather than actions (e.g., išdū idanninū, "the foundations will be strong"). In these cases, the subject of the corresponding D-stem verb brings about that state (e.g., išdī udannan, "he will strengthen the foundations"). The subject of the G stem becomes the object of the D stem.
• Some G-stem verbs are intransitive; that is, they have no direct object (e.g., awīlum ibluṭ, "the man lives"). Their D-stem counterparts are transitive; that is, they take a direct object (e.g., awīlam uballiṭ, "he revived the man"). Again, the D-stem object is equivalent to the subject of the related G-stem verb. English often uses the same verb for transitive and intransitive actions: compare intransitive "I returned home" with transitive "I returned my library books". This can make the D stem difficult to grasp and to translate. But the point is, in this example, that library books cannot return by themselves so I make them go back by physically carrying them to the check-desk. D-stem verbs always entail the subject ("I") physically engaging with the action ("return") that is enforced on the object ("the books").
• For G-stem verbs that are themselves transitive, the D-stem can provide an intensive counterpart. Compare G-stem kalbum iššukšu, "the dog bit him", with D-stem kalbum unaššikšu, "the dog savaged him". In that last example the action is intensified. Alternatively, it can be multiplied: while G-stem išṭur means simply "he wrote", D-stem ušaṭṭir "he wrote" is used for writing lots of things. Again, it can sometimes be difficult to render this increased intensity in English translation.
• Finally, there are many G-stem verbs, both transitive and intransitive, which do not have a D-stem counterpart. They include kašādum, "to reach, to conquer", nadānum, "to give", and šakānum, '"to put".

The form of D-stem verbs is very distinctive:

• the middle root consonant is doubled in all tenses, not just the present;
• all prefix vowels are replaced by u, so that it is impossible to tell the difference between first-person ("I") forms and third-person ("he/she/it");
• class vowels are replaced by a in the present-future tense and i in the preterite and perfect. These tense vowels are the only way of distinguishing between the present and preterite.

As always, the perfect has a t immediately after the first root consonant. The infinitive has the form purrusum.

Because of the change in prefix vowels, we will show the paradigm of the D stem in all eight persons:

The Dt stem (II/2)

The Dt stem is relatively uncommon but very straightforward. It is the passive counterpart to the D stem. Compare D-stem awīlam uballiṭ, "he revived the man", with Dt-stem awīlum ubtalliṭ, "the man was revived". This is rather different to G-stem awīlum ibluṭ, "the man is alive". The Dt implies that an action has been performed on the man—reviving—but we do not know who was responsible. Similarly, D-stem kalbum unaššikšu, "the dog savaged him", has Dt-stem counterpart uttaššik, "he was savaged" (where the root consonant n and adjacent infix t assimilate to tt). Again, there has been an action but its perpetrator is unknown.

Dt-stem verbs are formed by adding a -ta- infix to their D-stem counterparts, just before the second root consonant. The infinitive form is putarrusum. We give here just the most common forms, as the rest are very easy to generate:

The Dtn stem (II/3)

Just as the Gtn stem represents repeated or habitual action for G-stem verbs, the Dtn stem denotes repeated or habitual action for the D. Compare D-stem awīlam uballaṭ, "he will revive the man", with awīlī ubtanallaṭ, "he is always reviving men".

It is formed by adding a -tan- infix to the present tense and -ta- to the infinitive, preterite and perfect, just before the second root consonant. The infinitive, preterite and perfect tenses of the Dtn stem thus look identical to those in the Dt. The only way to tell them apart is by context—but as in practice they are as rare as each other you will not have to worry about this very often.

The Dtn infinitive is putarrusum.

The Š stem (III)

The causative meaning of the Š stem can often seem confusing at first, but in fact it is a close counterpart to English expressions that we use all the time: "I got Sarah to cut my hair" or "I've had the car fixed". The idea is that the subject of the verb doesn't actually carry out the action. Rather, he/she has someone else do it instead (the cutting, the fixing). This makes it quite different in nuance to D-stem verbs, where the subject bossily takes over the G-stem subject's role, relegating it to the status of object.

Let's have an example in Akkadian to make that distinction clearer:

• amtum akkadâm ilammad, "the slave-girl is learning Akkadian", is a straightforward G-stem transitive verb with one direct object, "Akkadian". The subject, the "slave-girl", is actively doing the "learning".
• sinništum amtam akkadâm ulammad, "the woman is teaching the slave-girl Akkadian", is in the D stem. It has two direct objects: the "slave-girl" (who is learning, just as she does in the G stem) and "Akkadian", as before. The new subject, the "woman", is making the learning happen, i.e. "teaching". Both slave-girl and woman are directly involved.
• Now let us look at šarratum amtam akkadâm ušalmad, "the queen is having the slave-girl learn Akkadian", or "the queen is getting the slave-girl to learn Akkadian". Here, in the Š stem, the subject—the "queen"—is not directly involved in the "learning". The first object, the "slave-girl", is still "learning Akkadian", just as in the G and D stems. But we may suppose that the queen doesn't much care how the slave-girl goes about her task, and whether she uses a teacher or not, as long as it gets done somehow. (And yes, there is even a causative of the factitive in Akkadian, so that theoretically the queen could have the woman teach the slave-girl—but that is a rare, poetic usage and we will not consider it further here. If you are curious, consult a good Akkadian textbook.)
• The Š stem can also involve just one object, for instance in šarrum ālam ušakšid, "the king had the city conquered". It is not necessary to state who did the conquering; the point is that it was not the king who led the victorious army but an unknown person acting for him.

One easy, silly way of remembering the function of the Š stem is that it is about giving orders, just like a king or queen (šarrum or šarratum).

Just as the the Š and D stems have related meanings—having or making someone else do something—they also look rather similar.

• The unique feature of verbs in the Š stem is the -š- added before the first root consonant.
• As in the D stem, all of the prefix vowels are replaced by u, so that it is impossible to tell the difference between first-person ("I") forms and third-person ("he/she/it").
• As in the D stem too, class vowels are replaced by a in the present-future tense and i in the preterite and perfect. These tense vowels are the only way of distinguishing between the present and preterite.
• But unlike the D stem, the middle root consonant is never doubled, not even in the present tense (as in all other main stems). (However, I weak verbs behave rather differently, as we shall see.)

As always, the perfect has a t immediately after the first root consonant. The infinitive has the form šuprusum.

Because of the change in prefix vowels, we will show the paradigm of the Š stem in all eight persons:

The Št stem (III/2)

The Št stem is formed by the addition of -ta- immediately after the Š-stem's š. It has two functions, which are distinguished by different forms of the present tense. We call them Št₁ and Št₂ respectively.

The Št₁ stem

This is the straightforward passive counterpart of the Š stem, with present tense uštapras. It denotes having something done, but without mentioning either who is doing it or who has ordered it to happen. Whereas Š-stem verbs often involve two objects, their Št₁ counterparts usually have none. In fact, the acted-on object of the Š stem becomes the subject of the Št₁. Compare Š-stem šarrum ālam ušakšid, "the king had the city conquered (by someone else)", with Št₁-stem ālum uštakšid, literally, "the city was caused to be conquered". It is often incredibly hard to make good English translations of Akkadian passive causatives, because we tend not to use such constructions ourselves.

The Št₂ stem

In this stem the present tense doubles the middle root consonant, as in all other stems: uštaparras. It is sometimes called the lexical Št because it has no simple relationship with either its Š-stem or its G-stem counterpart. For any particular verb, its meaning has to be looked up in a dictionary (lexicon). For instance, compare G-stem kalbum iṣbat, "he caught the dog", and Š-stem kalbam ušaṣbit, "he had the dog caught", with the apparently random Št₂-stem, kalbam uštaṣbit, "he got the dog ready". Similarly (or not), G-stem kaspam inaddinū, "they gave silver" and Š-stem kaspam uštaddinū, "they had silver given" (as taxes, usually), but Št₂-stem kaspam uštaddinū, "they conferred (about) the silver".

Neither Št₁ nor Št₂ are very common stems, so we will just give the forms of the main persons:

The infinitive of the Št-stem is šutaprusum.

The Štn stem (III/3)

The Štn stem is much less confusing than the Št stem(s). It simply denotes repetitive or habitual actions in the Š stem. So if Š-stem kalbam ušaṣbat is "he has the dog caught", its Štn-stem counterpart is kalbam uštanaṣbat, "he's always having the (naughty, escaping) dog caught".

Verbs in the Štn stem are formed by adding a -tan- infix to the present tense and -ta- to the infinitive, preterite and perfect, just before the first root consonant. The infinitive, preterite and perfect tenses of the Štn stem thus look identical to those in the Št. (There is the same problem in the Dtn and Dt stems.) As before, the only way to tell them apart is by context—but, again, this is not something to worry about now.

The Štn infinitive is šutaprusum.

Content last modified on 02 Apr 2024.

Eleanor Robson

Eleanor Robson, 'The D and Š stems: modifying the basic meanings of verbs (II)', Knowledge and Power, Higher Education Academy, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/knpp/cuneiformrevealed/akkadianlanguage/thedandstems/]