Cuneiform Sign Ze₂

It can write “you,” but the context decides.

In Sumerian, 𒍢 can write ze₂, a standalone pronoun meaning “you.” In Akkadian texts, it can also stand for the Sumerian word-sign ZI₂—a Sumerian word written inside an Akkadian text—or for syllabic values transcribed in scholarly notation as ze₂/ṣe and zi₂/ṣi. These labels describe cuneiform readings; the sign alone does not choose one English word.

In some Sumerian spellings, scholars write the pronoun as za before an ending beginning with a that marks its grammatical role. The spelling ze₂-e can show a fuller final vowel before a copula—a short linking word such as “is” or “are.”

Why can the same sign have different readings?

Cuneiform used signs for both words and sounds.

Cuneiform emerged in Uruk in southern Mesopotamia about 3400–3300 BCE to keep records of goods and services. Early signs mainly represented words; over time, scribes also used signs for syllables and grammatical pieces.

One sign-list analysis writes 𒍢 as AB×PA, a compound of signs AB and PA. In that analysis, 𒀊 is the AB component; this is a structural relationship, not a reading of the whole sign. Tablet forms also vary by period, region, writing surface, and scribal style, so Unicode's glyph is a reference shape rather than a form shared by every inscription.

What does 𒍢 mean when someone sends it?

A lone sign does not tell you which reading was intended.

Ask which text or language it came from before translating it: in Sumerian it can be “you,” while Akkadian use has other readings.