This grammar will attempt to reflect Assyriological conventions as much as possible in its representations of cuneiform, but certain modifications will be adopted that make it easier to represent the writing system on the web. Where this grammar departs from Assyriological convention, it will generally adhere to the ASCII Text Format (ATF) conventions adopted by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative and the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary.

In dealing with Sumerian, Assyriologists use the word “sign” to refer to the cuneiform sign itself, whether on the original tablet or represented in a photograph or drawing. This usage corresponds to the term “character” in Sinological work and “glyph” in Mayanist practice. Assyriologists, however, also frequently represent cuneiform signs using a set of alphabetic codes known as “transliterations” such as the following:

[fig. 1: {PA} PA ZERO, pa "branch, leaf", ugula "boss" in table]

Each transliteration consists of one of more letters, all of which are in either upper or lower case. If the letters that make up the transliteration are written in upper case, e.g., “PA” in fig. 1, then the transliteration merely refers to or represents the cuneiform sign without making any claim about how the sign is pronounced. Letters in lower case, e.g., “pa” in fig. 1, presuppose a phonetic interpretation on the part of the modern text editor. “pa” is a close approximation of the pronunciation of the Sumerian word for “branch”.

• Borger, Rykle. 2004. <i>Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon</i>. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 305. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.
• Labat, René. 1988. <i>Manuel d'épigraphie akkadienne: Signes, syllabaire, idéogrammes</i>. Revised and extended by Florence Malbran-Labat. 6th ed. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner.

• A. Falkenstein, Archaische Texte aus Uruk (=ATU 1; Berlin-Leipzig 1936)
• M. Green / H. J. Nissen, Zeichenliste der Archaische Texte aus Uruk (=ATU 2; Berlin 1987)
• R. K. Englund / H. J. Nissen, Die lexikalischen Listen der archaischen Texte aus Uruk (=ATU 3; Berlin 1992)
• R. K. Englund / J.-P. Grégoire, The Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Jemdet Nasr (=MSVO 1; Berlin 1991)
• E. Burrows, Archaic Texts (UET 2; London 1935)

• A. Deimel, Liste der archaischen Keilschriftzeichen (=WVDOG 40; Berlin 1922)

• Y. Rosengarten, Répertoire commenté des signes présargoniques sumériens de Lagaš (Paris 1967)

• N. Schneider, Die Keilschriftzeichen der Wirtschaftsurkunden von Ur III … (Rome 1935)

• F. Thureau-Dangin, Recherches sur l'origine de l'ecriture cuneiforme (Paris 1898)
• Ch. Fossey, Manuel d'assyriologie. vol. 2: Evolution des cuneiformes (Paris 1926)
• Rykle Borger, Assyrisch-babylonische Zeichenliste (=AOAT 33; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1978)
• F. Ellermeier, Sumerisches Glossar (published by the author 1979ff.)