sumerian

sumerian — noun

1. a person who belonged to the ancient civilisation that lived in southern Mesopot

1.nounC2
Definition

a person who belonged to the ancient civilisation that lived in southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq, where one of the earliest known urban societies developed around 4000 BCE.

Example

An ancient Sumerian would have lived in a city-state ruled by a local king.

indefinite article + Sumerian as countable noun

Iris read that the Sumerians were among the first people to develop a system of writing.

Sumerians as plural ethnic group

Common collocations
  • ancient Sumerians
  • wealthy Sumerian
  • ordinary Sumerians
Synonyms
  • Mesopotamian

    broader term — Mesopotamia included Sumer as well as later civilisations such as Akkad and Babylon

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 2: this sense refers to a person (countable noun), while sense 2 refers to the language (uncountable). The plural form Sumerians is very common.

Common Mistakes

The Sumerian language was spoken by Sumerian.
The Sumerian language was spoken by the Sumerians.
When referring to the people as a group, use the + plural form.

2. the language that was spoken and written in ancient Sumer, preserved in cuneifor

2.nounC2
Definition

the language that was spoken and written in ancient Sumer, preserved in cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets, which has no known connection to any other language family.

Example

Professor Eleni has spent twenty years translating Sumerian religious texts from clay tablets.

collocation: Sumerian religious texts

Very few people in the world today can speak Sumerian, though many scholars can read it.

contrast: speak vs read Sumerian

Common collocations
  • Sumerian language
  • Sumerian texts
  • Sumerian writing
  • read Sumerian
  • speak Sumerian
  • translate Sumerian

Usage Note

Sumerian (the language) is uncountable — we say Sumerian is difficult, not a Sumerian is difficult. The definite article is optional: Sumerian was written in cuneiform or the Sumerian language was written in cuneiform are both correct.

Common Mistakes

She studied a Sumerian for three years.' (when meaning the language)
She studied Sumerian for three years.
The language name is uncountable and does not take an article.

Word family

  • Sumer
    proper nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Sumerian refers specifically to someone from the civilisation of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (roughly 4000–2000 BCE). Mesopotamian is the broadest term, covering all peoples of the Tigris-Euphrates region across many eras, including Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Akkadian refers to the later Semitic-speaking civilisation centred on the city of Akkad that adopted and adapted Sumerian culture around 2300 BCE. Babylonian refers to the civilisation that arose later in southern Mesopotamia, with its capital at Babylon (c. 1800 BCE onward). In practice, a textbook might say 'the Sumerians invented cuneiform' but 'the Babylonians wrote legal codes in Akkadian' — the terms mark different historical layers.

Sumerian ↗MesopotamianAkkadianBabylonian

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • ancient Sumerian
  • early Sumerian
  • Old Sumerian period

Prepositions

Etymology

AkkadianLatinFrenchEnglish

The English word Sumerian is formed from the place name Sumer (the ancient region in southern Mesopotamia) plus the suffix -ian, meaning 'of or belonging to'. The name Sumer itself comes from the Akkadian word Šumeru, which was the name the Akkadian-speaking people used for the land to their south. The Sumerians themselves called their region Ki-en-gir, meaning 'land of the civilised lords'.