The Indo-European Elements in Hurrian

58 5. Pronouns, Numerals, Adpositions, Conjunctions, Adverbs
Hurrian Numerals
Wilhelm (2004a:115) lists the following numerals one through ten in Hurrian (see also
Friedrich 1969a:16; Bush 1964:108):
Cardinal Ordinal
1. šukki, šuga (?) (?)
2. šin(a) šinzi
3. kig(a) kiški (< *kik=ši)
4. tumni tumušše, tumunzi
5. nariy(a) narišše
6. šeže (?)
7. šindi šendešši
8. kira/i (?)
9. tamri/a (?)
10. eman emanzi, emašši (?)
There is nothing comparable in Indo-European other than a superficial resemblance of the
numeral šeže ‘six’ and Proto-Indo-European *s(w)e$s ‘six’. When the following Semitic forms
are considered, however, it is clear that the Hurrian numeral ‘six’ is a borrowing from Semitic
and, consequently, not related to the Proto-Indo-European numeral: Old Babylonian (m.) šiššet,
(f.) šiš(š); Akkadian (m.) šeššet, šiššet, (f.) šiššu; Hebrew (m.) šiššāh, (f.) šēš; Aramaic (f.) šîθ;
Arabic (m.) sittat, (f.) sitt.
Wilhelm (2004a:115) notes the following fractions: *ša/e¯t- ‘one-half’ and tumanzalli
‘one quarter of a shekel’. Hurrian *ša/e¯t- ‘one-half’ may be compared with the Proto-Indo-
European root *siHø- (> *sē-) found in: (1) *sē- ‘separately, apart’ (cf. Latin sēd, sē ‘without;
apart’); (2) *sē-t- ‘division, section’ (cf. Avestan hāiti- ‘division, section’; Latvian sę ta ‘hedge,
section, division, staff’; (3) *sē-mi- ‘half’ (cf. Sanskrit [indeclinable] sāmi ‘half, incompletely,
imperfectly, partially’; Greek [prefix] ½μι- ‘half’; Latin [prefix] sēmi- ‘half’).
Another number is nubi ‘ten thousand’, and the suffix -gar- seems to be “dual”.
Hurrian Adpositions, Conjunctions, Adverbs
The following Hurrian adpositions, conjunctions, and adverbs are attested (this material
is cited in the form given in Laroche’s Glossaire):
1. abi-n ‘before’ [+Dative] (from abi ‘the front part’)
2. abi-da ‘toward’ [+Directive] (from abi ‘the front part’)
3. adi ‘thus, so’
4. ai ‘when, if’ [followed by a syntagm]
5. anam(mi) ‘thus, therefore’ [used in correlation with inu(me)]