# The archaic names carry an Akkadian name signature no better than a Sumerian one, and far below either language's own… > A data-driven Akkadian name signature (15 signs learned from 852 Old Akkadian-period Akkadian names, held-out odds ratio 12.3 in Akkadian names and 1.3… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E/the-archaic-names-carry-an-akkadian-name-signature-no-better Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)Evidence Evidence · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk # The archaic names carry an Akkadian name signature no better than a Sumerian one, and far below either language's own… A data-driven Akkadian name signature (15 signs learned from 852 Old Akkadian-period Akkadian names, held-out odds ratio 12.3 in Akkadian names and 1.3 in Sumerian names) scores 1.76 (95% 1.48–2.06) in the Uruk III names; the matching Sumerian signature (held-out 70 in Sumerian names) scores 2.04–2.10 (1.44–2.67). Suggestive0 ## What it means Key question[What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record) 5 answers, none ahead yet **Open** unchanged Answer this evidence bears on[Proto-cuneiform records a non-Sumerian language](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DEDW4Q29FMT/proto-cuneiform-records-a-non-sumerian-language) Counts againstnone for, 2 against **Still possible** unchanged What it implies 1. No known-language name signature is present in the archaic names at anything near native strength; the naming tradition is unidentified, consistent with an unrecorded language or a pre-phonetic writing of names that hides its language.For the key question: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record? ## Next steps 14 1 Labels or names: element reuse against Early Dynastic Could shiftGood odds~4 h [On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record) **40** score Details Compare how the archaic names reuse their elements (type-token curves, share of elements in two or more distinct names, compositional pairs) with Early Dynastic names at matched sample sizes; linguistic names, of any language, reuse a small vocabulary productively, while ad hoc labels should not. 2 Test the numeral-order argument on Sumerian accounts Could shiftGood odds~6 h [On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record) **34** score Details Englund argues that putting the numeral before the noun is un-Sumerian; Dahl notes that account formats may have their own order. In Early Dynastic administrative texts written in Sumerian (Fara and later, from CDLI or Oracc), measure how often the numeral precedes the counted noun. If Sumerian accounts also put it first, the syntax argument drops out and the Sumerian answer loses one objection; if they put it after, the archaic order stays as evidence for the unknown answer. 3 Officials' names in Uruk III Could decideFair odds~10 h [On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record) **28** score Details Identify name-like entries attached to officials and institutions in Uruk III (heads of households, seal owners, officials in the Professions-list vocabulary) and score them against the Early Dynastic benchmark. Sumerian-pattern officials with non-Sumerian dependents point to a foreign workforce; non-Sumerian officials point to non-Sumerian scribes or a labelling notation. 4 Officials' names Could decideFair odds~10 h [On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record) **28** score Details Test name-like entries attached to officials and institutions in Uruk III, to separate the scribes' own naming culture from the listed workers'. Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes[All 14 on the question](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record#next) ## How it was found 1 run [Semitic signature test and Archaic Ur in the archaic convention](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG2PZ8W546J/semitic-signature-test-and-archaic-ur-in-the-archaic) Method [Name-element enrichment against a corpus baseline](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DFQRJYNCY4T/name-element-enrichment-against-a-corpus-baseline) · [Session 7](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DG2Q5H13P3E/session-7-semitic-comparison-and-archaic-ur-in-the-archaic) **Result.** Semitic: the archaic names match the Akkadian signature no better than the Sumerian one, and far below either language's own names. That counts against H-OTHER's prediction, with low power. Archaic Ur: the Uruk III / Archaic Ur contrast holds in one convention under both conversions. Carry-over: there is a sharp turnover in name vocabulary between Uruk III and Archaic Ur.. Odds ratio of data-driven Akkadian and Sumerian name signatures in the Uruk III names; odds ratio of Englund's elements in ED I–II names converted to the proto-cuneiform convention; cosine similarity of name sign profiles across periods**{'uruk3': {'95': [1.09, 1.6], 'OR': 1.35}, 'cosine': {'ed12_names_vs_ed3a_names': 0.73, 'uruk3_names_vs_ed12_names': 0.47, 'uruk3_names_vs_ed12_words': 0.28}, 'AKK_signature': {'uruk3_95': [1.48, 2.06], 'uruk3_OR': 1.76, 'train_names': 852, 'heldout_OR_akk': 12.31, 'heldout_OR_sux': 1.29}, 'SUX_signature': {'uruk3_95': [1.49, 2.67], 'uruk3_OR': 2.1, 'heldout_OR_akk': 5.4, 'heldout_OR_sux': 70.17}, 'ED12_pc_crosswalk': {'95': [4.68, 7.06], 'OR': 5.84}, 'ED12_pc_conservative': {'95': [2.75, 4.89], 'OR': 3.82}}** Semitic: the archaic names match the Akkadian signature no better than the Sumerian one, and far below either language's own names. That counts against H-OTHER's prediction, with low power. Archaic Ur: the Uruk III / Archaic Ur contrast holds in one convention under both conversions. Carry-over: there is a sharp turnover in name vocabulary between Uruk III and Archaic Ur. Figure 1 Neither a Sumerian nor an Akkadian name signature is present in the Uruk III names at anything like native strength Odds ratio of each data-driven signature (15 signs) in names against non-name words; held-out Old Akkadian-period names and Uruk III names, 95% intervals for Uruk III odds ratio95% low95% high The Sumerian signature reaches 70 in held-out Sumerian names (off the scale). The Akkadian signature is mostly syllabic signs, so its absence from pre-phonetic names is weak evidence. Drawn by the site with [Semitic signature test and Archaic Ur in the archaic convention](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG2PZ8W546J/semitic-signature-test-and-archaic-ur-in-the-archaic) [Archaic personal names in proto-cuneiform (editor-marked, CDLI)](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0DFQRBEXWTK9/archaic-personal-names-in-proto-cuneiform-editor-marked-cdli)[Early Dynastic Sumerian personal names, lemmatized (Oracc ePSD2 admin corpora ED I–II, IIIa, IIIb)](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0DFVPZDQBX11/early-dynastic-sumerian-personal-names-lemmatized-oracc)[semitic_and_ur.py][names_test.py][2 outputs](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG2PZ8W546J/semitic-signature-test-and-archaic-ur-in-the-archaic#outputs) ## Sources 2 [Kingship in the Early Mesopotamian Onomasticon 2800–2200 BCE](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DFQR3XM5SHF/kingship-in-the-early-mesopotamian-onomasticon-28002200-bce) Andersson 2012 SRC [Semitic Names in the Fara Period](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DFQR2YZD8PW/semitic-names-in-the-fara-period) Biggs 1967 SRC ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). The archaic names carry an Akkadian name signature no better than a Sumerian one, and far below either language's own… [Evidence EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E ``` Key **EVD** 0DG2PS4YKX1E Kind Evidence Tier Suggestive Found in [Session 7](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DG2Q5H13P3E/session-7-semitic-comparison-and-archaic-ur-in-the-archaic) · 3 Nov 2026 Version 1 Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history. [JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E)