====== Addressee ====== The Sumerian phrase PN u₃-na-a-du₁₁, found at the begining of most letters, is equivalent to Akkadian ana PN qibî-ma, “say to PN”. When there are more than one recipient the dative pre-fix of the verbal-chain will mostly take the plural form. However, this is not entirely consistent. A Sumerian noun u₃-na-a-du₁₁ (norminalized or frozen verb) is attested as a word for a physical letter. |Text ID | Adress | -na- / -ne- | |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P145582|AuOr 17-18, 218 01]] | igi-zu-bar-ra u₃ ur-^dnun-gal | u₃-ne-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P109327|Fs Gordon 1 131 1]] | ur-ITI.E₂-mu u₃ ur-sukkal | u₃-na-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P111685|ITT 5, 6975]] | ku₃-nin-a-na u₃ lugal-amar-ku₃-ra | u₃-ne-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P113910|MVN 3, 350]] | lu₂-^dsuen u₃ AN-sa₆-ga | u₃-na-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P124593|OrAnt. 7, 169 01]] | lu₂-^dutu u₃ ur-^dnansze-ra | u₃-ne-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P107193|TCS 1, 19]] | a-mu u₃ ur-šu-ga-lam-ma- | u₃-na-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P145643|TCS 1, 50]] | da-a-mu u₃ ur-^dlama-ra | u₃-ne-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P145654|TCS 1, 68]] | gu₃-de2-a u₃ ur-^dlama-ra | u₃-na-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P145657|TCS 1, 72]] | gu-du-du u₃ lu₂-^dha-ia₃ | u₃-na-a-du₁₁| |[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P145660|TCS 1, 75]] | hi-[li-mu] u₃ [...] | u₃-na-a-[du₁₁]| When there is only a single recipient, the verbal form is exclusively written with the –na- prefix. This strongly suggests that the –na- / -ne- variation still had meaning during the Ur III period (indicating singular versus plural dative object). Return to [[Ur III letters]]