Cuneiform Sign GUL

It can mean “to destroy,” but context selects the reading.

Scholars write this Sumerian value as gul. Depending on the word, it can mean “destroy,” “break up,” “pulverize,” “flatten,” “cut,” or “erase.” The same sign can also write other words, so the glyph alone does not guarantee a translation.

The Proto-Cuneiform sign list includes a predecessor in Uruk IV/III, early stages of the city of Uruk. Around 3300 BCE, early cuneiform writing served economic record-keeping. With its later spread into Akkadian, Elamite, Hurrian, and Hittite writing, the system was adapted for those languages.

Why does 𒄢 look different in different fonts?

One sign can have different drawings across periods and fonts.

Cuneiform forms vary by period, region, and writing style. Forms from the Old Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian periods can look different, but those drawings do not normally distinguish separate values. A new font drawing is not automatically a new sign or meaning.

If 𒄢 appears as an empty box or substitute mark, the font lacks a usable cuneiform glyph. A font with Cuneiform coverage can supply a drawing; recognizing a historical reading still requires the surrounding text or a scholarly transliteration.

How do I type 𒄢?

Use Unicode code-point entry in a compatible editor.

There is no ordinary letter key for 𒄢. In an editor that supports Unicode code-point entry, use its Unicode input command and enter 12122 in hexadecimal. Entering the character and displaying it are separate jobs: the font also needs Cuneiform coverage.