𒂍

• 𒆍

• R. Borger, Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon (MZL), Münster (2003)
• A. Deimel, Šumerisches Lexikon (Deimel), Rome (1947)
• Chr. Rüster, E. Neu, Hethitisches Zeichenlexikon (HZL), Wiesbaden (1989)

Orthographic borrowing from Sumerian 𒂍 (e₂ /⁠ē⁠/, “house”).

𒂍 • (E₂)

1. Sumerogram of bītum (“house”)

𒂍 • (È /pēr/) n (plural 𒂍𒈨𒌍 (È.MEŠ))

1. house

• 𒂍𒅕 (È-er /⁠pēr⁠/)

Jagersma proposes /haj/ as original pronunciation, which later changed to /ˀeː/, with loss of initial /h/ and contraction of /aj/ to /eː/.

The initial /h/ would explain the Semitic reflection of the word 𒂍𒃲 (e₂-gal /⁠ēgal⁠/) in words like Ugaritic 𐎅𐎋𐎍 (hkl /⁠hêkal⁠/), Arabic هَيْكَل (haykal) or Hebrew הֵיכָל (hêḵāl). Moreover, it is also supported by Ebla and Old Akkadian orthography, where the sign 𒂍 (e₂) had the phonetic values /ha/ and /ḥa/.

As for the final /j/, some Auslaut must be posited to account for the common writing 𒂍𒀀𒉌 (e₂-a-ne₂ /⁠ē'ane⁠/) ("his/her house"), where the 𒀀 (a) of the enclitic possessive pronoun 𒀀𒉌 (a-ne₂ /⁠ane⁠/, “his/her”) is spelled out and not contracted, as it normally would, with the preceding vowel. Compare with 𒊩𒆳𒉌 (geme₂-ne₂ /⁠gemêne⁠/, “his/her female slave”), with contraction of 𒊩𒆳 (geme₂ /⁠geme⁠/)'s final vowel and the /a/ of 𒀀𒉌 (a-ne₂ /⁠ane⁠/).

𒂍 • (e₂ /ē/)

1. house, household, estate
2. temple
   • 𒉺𒋼𒋛𒆤 𒂍 𒈬𒆕

     ensi-ke₄ e₂ mu-du₃

     /ensike ē munřu/

     The ruler has built the temple

     (Gudea Cyl. A 22:9 (Lagash, 22nd c.) (ETCSL 2.1.7))

• Sumerian terms spelled with 𒂍

• “𒂍 (e)” in ePSD2
• “𒂍 (é)” in Daniel A. Foxvog, Elementary Sumerian Glossary, 2016
• Jagersma, Bram (2010) A Descriptive Grammar of Sumerian‎ (doctoral thesis)