#determinatives

You know, I can't find a good source on why 𒄑 appears in this name, as I don't think scholars agree on why it's there. The most common theory seems to be that the bilga element may derive from pabilga 𒉺𒉋𒂵 "paternal grandfather, paternal uncle". Halloran lists bilga as being "a plant-breeder's terminology for a human ancestor", as pa 𒉺 has "branch" as its most basic meaning, like the branch of a family tree. Somewhere along the line, the 𒉺 sign of (pa)bilga got reinterpreted as the similar-looking 𒄑 (and related meaning, branch > tree), and thus got stuck in the name of Bilgamesh and presumably others derived from the same root.

Oh god, I'm sorry, I noted this in my head as a time-sensitive ask but then it just completely slipped my mind.

Anyway, we don't really have one, I'm afraid, or if we do then I don't know of its existence. I don't think it's really possible to make a comprehensive list with simply determinatives, because almost any sign, regardless of whether they had a consonantal value as well, could be a determinative. In addition to that, not all words of the same "type" had the same determinative across the board.

I did find this list, which isn't complete and which I assume you already found yourself if you've been doing some research already, but for posterity I'm adding it in:

I'm sorry I can't be of more help! I would suggest just looking through Gardiner's sign list to see indications of what each sign portrayed.

Hello! There isn't a specific toponymic suffix - instead toponyms (geographic places) are generally marked with a determinative, a written-only (unpronounced) sign that classifies what is being talked about. The geographical determinative is 𒆠, written after the noun in question, so the city of Uruk (Unug) is written 𒀕𒆠 rather than just 𒀕 unug which means "dwelling" or "fortress".

However, the abzu primordial sea, being only quasi-geographic, is written simply 𒍪𒀊 and doesn't take this determiner. Instead, to say "from [place]", we use the ablative case ending -ta 𒋫. So "from abzu" would be simply abzuta 𒍪𒀊𒋫.

Hello! If you're asking about Sumerian, the answer is that there are no determinatives used for people. Sumerian names are written as only the name, like Enheduanna 𒂗𒃶𒌌𒀭𒈾 (en-he2-du7-an-na), without a determinative sign. (The exception is deities, whose names take the determinative 𒀭, as in 𒀭𒂗𒆠 {deity} Enki.)

The 𒁹, 𒊩 and 𒇽 signs are used only as determinatives in the Akkadian language. Check out this post from sisterofiris for how they're used, along with suggestions of what to use for someone of non-binary gender.

Hi! I'm not sure what you mean by this question - do you mean a list of deity names in Sumerian? I'm not sure of a resource with such a list (other than the wikipedia pages) but if you have specific deities you want me to write in cuneiform, let me know!

If instead you want to know in general how to indicate a deity name in Sumerian, it's pretty simple! A given deity's name would be preceded by the determinative sign 𒀭, which like all determinatives wouldn't be read aloud. (In other contexts, 𒀭 can mean dingir "deity" or an "sky" along with other meanings.) So Enlil would be written 𒀭𒂗𒆤, with the three signs being "[deity marker] + en + lil".

And I wondered if there was a similar symbol used for other types of animals

Hi! First, I want to quickly note that this blog is run by one person (me!) so I'm not sure who "everyone" would be ><

The original post being referred to is here, detailing how many carnivorous animals in Sumerian begin with the root ur 𒌨 "dog". There isn't really an equivalent I know of for other animals, where instead a given root could be extended to describe different kinds of the same animal, as in udu "sheep", uduhursang "species of wild sheep", udukurra "highland sheep", udunita "ram", uduuligi "coarse-wool sheep", udusara "perfect-quality sheep" etc.

Hi, and thanks for the kind words!

It looks like you're on the right track. Igi ngar is "to look at, contemplate" as a verb - but you can use the noun igi for "eye(s), sight" in both a literal and metaphoric sense. Similarly, ngeshtug ngar is "to pay attention, consider", from ngeshtug "ears, hearing, understanding". I like the idea of just using igi and ngeshtug as the translations, meaning "eyes and ears" but also "perception and comprehension".