# NI in archaic names pairs with body-part signs far above chance, as the possessive -ni does in Sumerian names > Of the 7 distinct archaic name types containing NI, 5 also contain a body-part sign (GIR3 'foot', SZU 'hand' twice, SAG 'head' twice), against a base… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DG2W0JQ2HBS/ni-in-archaic-names-pairs-with-body-part-signs-far-above 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 # NI in archaic names pairs with body-part signs far above chance, as the possessive -ni does in Sumerian names Of the 7 distinct archaic name types containing NI, 5 also contain a body-part sign (GIR3 'foot', SZU 'hand' twice, SAG 'head' twice), against a base rate of 12.5% in other multi-sign names (p = 0.00025); control signs KI, ME, A and E2 show no such association; in Early Dynastic IIIa and IIIb Sumerian names, NI is likewise associated with body-part signs (17.8% vs 12.7%, 26.5% vs 14.9%, both p < 0.002), while KI, ME and A avoid them. Suggestive0 ## What it means Key question[When and how did phonetic spelling begin in Mesopotamian writing?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT8N8Y2GZ/when-and-how-did-phonetic-spelling-begin-in-mesopotamian) No answer ahead yet **Open** unchanged Part of it[Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) 2 answers, none ahead yet **Open** unchanged Answer this evidence bears on[NI writes the possessive -ni in body-part names](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DG2VG4CS0BW/ni-writes-the-possessive-ni-in-body-part-names) Supports1 for, 1 against **Still possible** unchanged What it implies 1. If confirmed, Uruk III names contain a Sumerian grammatical suffix written phonetically, the first such case and earlier than the accepted start of phonetic writing at Archaic Ur.For the key question: When and how did phonetic spelling begin in Mesopotamian writing? 1. A morphological match to Sumerian in the names is direct, if small, positive evidence that Sumerian was spoken by some of the people named in Uruk III.For: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record? ## Next steps 8 1 Context of counted GIR3 NI entries Could decideGood odds~3 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **49** score Details Read the five non-name GIR3 NI entries (W 22135,0; IM 074298; MS 2427; MS 2443; MSVO 1, 217) in full context and classify each as person, office or commodity. 2 Specialist collation of the NI names Could decideGood odds~6 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **39** score Details Collate on photographs the NI names (P006268, P005573, P006053, P006118, P006182 and the SAG/SZU NI names) and the five counted GIR3 NI entries (W 22135,0; IM 074298; MS 2427; MS 2443; MSVO 1, 217): is the sign NI, does it stand inside the name, and are the counted entries persons? 3 Specialist collation of the NI names Could decideGood odds~6 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3)Set by this evidence **39** score Details Have a specialist check on photographs that NI in P006268, P005573, P006053, P006118, P006182 and the SAG/SZU NI names is the NI sign (not a variant of a similar sign) and stands within the name, and whether the counted GIR3 NI entries at Uruk and Jemdet Nasr are persons. 4 Specialist collation of the NI names Could decideGood odds~6 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **39** score Details Collate the NI names on photographs with a specialist. Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes[All 8 on the question](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3#next) ## How it was found 1 run [NI with body-part signs in names: Uruk III and Early Dynastic](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG2WB4NYQMM/ni-with-body-part-signs-in-names-uruk-iii-and-early-dynastic) Method [Name-element enrichment against a corpus baseline](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DFQRJYNCY4T/name-element-enrichment-against-a-corpus-baseline) **Result.** NI in Uruk III names is strongly associated with body-part nouns, as the possessive -ni is in Early Dynastic Sumerian names; the control signs show no such association. This supports H-NI-POSSESSIVE (suggestive: small sample, needs collation).. Share of NI-containing multi-sign names that also contain a body-part sign, against the base rate in other multi-sign names (resampling null), with control signs KI, ME, MA, A, E2**{'ed3a': {'n': 409, 'p': 0.0013, 'share': 0.178, 'null_95': [0.095, 0.161]}, 'ed3b': {'n': 2265, 'p': 0, 'share': 0.265, 'null_95': [0.134, 0.164]}, 'uruk3_types': {'p': 0.00025, 'NI_types': 7, 'base_rate': 0.125, 'with_bodypart': 5}, 'controls_uruk3': 'KI 0.17, ME 0.22, A 0.25, E2 0.03, all inside null', 'uruk3_instances': {'n': 12, 'share': 0.833, 'null_95': [0, 0.333]}}** NI in Uruk III names is strongly associated with body-part nouns, as the possessive -ni is in Early Dynastic Sumerian names; the control signs show no such association. This supports H-NI-POSSESSIVE (suggestive: small sample, needs collation). Figure 1 NI keeps company with body-part signs in archaic names, as the possessive -ni does in Sumerian names Share of names containing the sign that also contain a body-part sign (foot, hand, head, mouth, eye, heart…), against the base rate; CDLI Uruk III and Oracc ePSD2 observedbase rate Body-part set fixed before computing. Uruk III NI: 5 of 7 distinct name types (GIR3, SZU ×2, SAG ×2), p = 0.00025. Small sample, mostly unprovenanced tablets; collation pending. Drawn by the site with [NI with body-part signs in names](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG2WB4NYQMM/ni-with-body-part-signs-in-names-uruk-iii-and-early-dynastic) [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)[ni_bodypart.py][2 outputs](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG2WB4NYQMM/ni-with-body-part-signs-in-names-uruk-iii-and-early-dynastic#outputs) Notes from the run The type-level figure (5 of 7, p = 0.00025) was computed after the instance-level test, to remove the effect of GIR3 NI recurring on five tablets. ## Sources 3 [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 [The Early Development of the Cuneiform Writing System, and Its Regional Adaptation](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDK8RPEY2P/the-early-development-of-the-cuneiform-writing-system-and) Dahl 2025 SRC [The Sumerian Question: Reviewing the Issues](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHQE9W64H/the-sumerian-question-reviewing-the-issues) Whittaker 2005 SRC ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). NI in archaic names pairs with body-part signs far above chance, as the possessive -ni does in Sumerian names [Evidence EVD0DG2W0JQ2HBS]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG2W0JQ2HBS ``` Key **EVD** 0DG2W0JQ2HBS Kind Evidence Tier Suggestive Found in [Session 8](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DG2WBKR72D3/session-8-toward-a-reading-archaic-names-that-recur-as) · 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/EVD0DG2W0JQ2HBS)