Cuneiform Sign Na2

NA2 and NUD point to “lie down” in Sumerian sign lists. The same verb can also mean being ill, having sex, laying something down, or setting a net; surrounding words decide which sense fits.

Akkadian scribes reused the sign as a Sumerogram: a Sumerian sign used to write an Akkadian word. It can stand for the Akkadian verbs niālum or ṣalālum, both connected with lying down or sleeping.

Cuneiform first appeared in Uruk during the Uruk IV period, circa 3500–3200 BCE, as cities and their administrative needs grew. Lists of proto-cuneiform, the script’s earliest stage, catalogue NA2a and variant forms; those early drawings should not be mistaken for the modern printed glyph.

Why does NA2 have different readings?

Its value depends on the language and surrounding text. Cuneiform was used for several languages, and a sign could stand for a word or a syllable. In specialist transliteration, the subscript in NA₂ separates homophones—different signs with the same reading. It does not mean “two.”

NA₂ also occurs in compounds such as HU.NA₂ and MAŠ.NA₂. Read each full compound as its own lexical unit; its meaning cannot be worked out by simply adding “lie down” to the neighboring signs.

The same abstract sign can look different in monumental carved, quick handwritten, and Neo-Assyrian styles. Fonts can therefore show different silhouettes for the same encoded sign: 𒈿 identifies the sign, not one period’s handwriting.