Marking basic elements of the cuneiform text

Description	Symbol	Input example	Rendered text	Note
Cuneiform sign indexing		pé-ra-an du-uk-ka4-ri	pé-ra-an du-uk-ka₄-ri	generally follow HZL transliteration standards; do not use ya, use ia
Phonograms in text language	lowercase letters	an-da-an	an-da-an	connected by hyphens as appropriate, words separated by space
Sumerograms	uppercase letters	É.GAL	É.GAL	connected by full stops as appropriate, words separated by space
Akkadograms	uppercase letters preceded by underscore or hyphen	_A-NA É-ŠU	A-NA É-ŠU	undersorce only necessary if Akkadographic sign is preceded by space, not hyphen
Determinatives	uppercase letters surrounded by °	°GIŠ°BANŠUR DINGIR°MEŠ° °LÚ.MEŠ°SANGA	GIŠBANŠUR DINGIRMEŠ LÚ.MEŠSANGA	connected by full stops as appropriate
Numbers		6 NINDA°ḪI.A° MU 3°KAM° 1/2 _UP-NI	6 NINDAḪI.A MU 3KAM ½ UP-NI	use only Arabic, never Roman numbers
Uninterpretable cuneiform sign	{S:...}	{S:AN}	AN
Unreadable, usually damaged cuneiform sign	x	x	x	no brackets required
Damage	[ ] ⸢ ⸣ ⸢ = U+2E22 ⸣ = U+2E23	⸢nu-uš⸣-ma-aš ⸢nu⸣-uš-ma-aš nu-u[š-m]a-aš nu-[uš-ma]-aš	⸢nu-uš⸣-ma-aš ⸢nu⸣-uš-ma-aš nu-u[š-m]a-aš nu-[uš-ma]-aš	not ⸢nu-uš-⸣ma-aš or ⸢nu⸣-⸢uš⸣-maš not ⸢n⸣u-uš-ma-aš or [nu⸣-uš-ma-aš not nu-u[š-m⸣a-aš not nu[-uš-ma-]aš
Error: omission	< >	<an>-da-an	〈an〉-da-an
Error: addition	<< >>	an-da-an <<an>>	an-da-an 〈〈an〉〉
Uncertainty and editorial corrections (basic)	? ! !?	an-da?-an an!-da-an °URU°!?ša-mu-ḫa	an-da?-an an!-da-an URU!?ša-mu-ḫa	add directly after sign in question without space; determinatives: add after closing determinative marker
Uncertainty and editorial corrections (extended)	(?) sic	⸢an-da-an(?)⸣ ansic-da-an	⸢an-da-an(?)⸣ ansic-da-an	(?) should be used for marking uncertainties extending beyond the immediately preceding sign. sic should be used if the reading follows the tablet against the rendering in the autograph.
Erasure	erased area surrounded by *	* * *x x x* *an-da-an*	* * *x x x* *an-da-an*

Marking elements of the cuneiform text: special cases

Description	Symbol	Input example	Rendered text	Note
Word-internal Sumerogram	--	°m°mur-ši--DINGIR-LIM	mmur-ši-DINGIR-LIM
Determinative for personal names	°f°, °m°	°m°ḫu-uz-zi-ia	mḫu-uz-zi-ia	not °m°Ḫu-uz-zi-ia
String of several determinatives	begin with °, period (.) between elements, and end with °	°m.D°10-pí-ḫa-nu-uš	m.D10-pí-ḫa-nu-uš
Mater lectionis	lowercase letters surrounded by °	kar-°di°dim-mi-ia-az °MUNUS.MEŠ°kat°at°-re-eš	kar-didim-mi-ia-az MUNUS.MEŠkatat-re-eš
Sign with inscription	x	KAxU	KA×U
Sign with subscription	| = U+007C	a-wa|a-ia	a-waa-ia
Glossenkeil (single)	;	;ma-a-li-i	𒀹ma-a-li-i
Glossenkeil (double)	:	:ma-a-li-i	𒑱ma-a-li-i
Cross mark	><	>< ><	𒉽 𒉽
Glossenkeil and vertical wedge used as line or paragraph markers or word separators	; : | = U+007C (each with a space before and after)	; : |	𒀹 𒑱 |

Marking the language of a text passage or word

The main language of the text is chosen in the submission pipeline. If your text is written only in one language, no further action is necessary.

If you want to mark specific words with a language different from the main language of the text add one of the following language markers before the word in question:

• @a (Akkadian)
• @s (Sumerian)
• @l (Luwian)
• @p (Palaic)
• @hu (Hurrian)
• @ha (Hattic)
• @h (Hittite)

For example:

ḫur-li-li-ma @hu ki-lu-um me-ma-i (rendered as: ḫur-li-li-ma ki-lu-um me-ma-i)

If you want to mark sections (lines or several lines) with a language different from the main language of the text add one of the following language markers before the line(s) in question:

• @Akk (Akkadian)
• @Sum (Sumerian)
• @Luw (Luwian)
• @Pal (Palaic)
• @Hur (Hurrian)
• @Hat (Hattic)
• @Hit (Hittite)
• @Ign (unknown language)

If you are adding lexical texts, remember that you have to mark the language in your table columns, e.g.:

1 # {S:ḪU} \ @s MUŠEN \ @a iṣ-ṣu-rum \ @h šu-wa-iš