Cuneiform Sign Nu

In Sumerian, 𒉡 can mark “not” or “without.” It can appear before a verb as a negative marker. The sign can also spell the syllable transcribed nu (n followed by the vowel u) or stand for a Sumerian word meaning image, likeness, figurine, or statue. In modern transliteration, NU marks a Sumerian sign used for a word in another language (a Sumerogram); lowercase nu can mark a syllable or lexical reading.

Cuneiform began as a practical record-keeping system. The earliest complete Mesopotamian stage is attested at Uruk IV, an early level at the city of Uruk, around 3500–3200 BCE; many signs recorded quantities and goods. The negative value is documented from Early Dynastic IIIa, an early Sumerian period, onward. Scribes adapted signs across periods, languages, and clay-writing styles.

Why does 𒉡 have more than one reading?

A cuneiform sign can write a word, a syllable, or grammar. Akkadian, another language written in cuneiform, also used this sign. It could stand for the Sumerian word “not” (a Sumerogram) or spell the syllable nu. The Amarna letters—clay-tablet correspondence from the mid-14th-century BCE—show it spelling that syllable in Akkadian words such as enūma (“now”) and nukurtu (“war” or “hostilities”).

The wedge pattern of this sign can differ across periods, regions, and scribal styles. A modern font gives one drawing, while the language and neighboring signs help identify how it functions on a tablet.