Page:Discovery and Decipherment of the Trilingual Cuneiform Inscriptions.djvu/311

282 —continued Semi-coiroh Followed by o' ( m ) by e ( J5 ) by m ( /5y )

/• surd EI

ET « y aspirate ^<: K- K- V sonant -T^ T^ -IE I Sibilant s surd r^ TE TE?! sh aspirate << << x< z sonant H H?! Aspirate h <K « <K Compound fc .tr Doubtful final. K One of the results of the classification of the con- sonants according to the vowels that follow them was to introduce a considerable change in the method of transliteration. It is only in exceptional cases that the a, foUowinsi' a consonant, is found in the text, but its inherence is hiferred. When, therefore, an i or ii immediately follows a consonant with an inherent a. instead of transliterathig as formerly such a group as 4^ ^ cfi and 4^ ^fy gu.^ they are now written gai and (}au; and this modification has materially assisted the explanation of the words in which such combinations occur. An interesting proof of the accuracy of this system is aflbrded by the word * Kurus,' which was so long an object of contention. The genitive is denoted l)y the insertion of an a — ' Kuraus.' The letter »-^^ (r), which is followed by n. is used for the nominative ' Kurus '; but the letter ^ (y), which has an inherent a is substituted in the genitive. Thus:

Noui. Kunus ^ ^. »-^^ • Kft • <<

kurus

Gen. KurauSj il. <yy. ^Y. i^. ^^

k u r(a) u 8