# KU-NI-SU (kunīšu)

> emmer (Akkadian loan)

A Linear A word in the Linear A Lexicon. The reading is a proposal and carries its tier.

- Reading: kunīšu
- Confidence: Probable. Fits the word’s contexts and has a close external comparison, without an independent control.
- Root: [\*kunaṯ-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/1604/index.md>) 'emmer'
- Kind: Commodity
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: KU (ku) · NI (ni) · SU (su)
- Rank: #5 of the top 100

## Compared forms

- Akkadian: kunāšu (kunīšu, kunšu) 'emmer' (CAD K 536); Nuzi ku-ni-šu, ku-ni-ši (HSS 14 163:1ff.; HSS 16 114:1; JEN 427:9; CAD K 537); Boğazköy ZÍD ku-ni-ši 'emmer flour' (AfO 16 48:21)
- Ugaritic: polyglot [ÁŠ = ku-na]-šu = Hurrian ut-te = Ugaritic ku-sú-mu (GlOS 1, 323)
- Syrian Aramaic: kunnātā (PS *kunaṯ-)

## Attestations

- [HT 10a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT10a/index.md>): KU-NI-SU — emmer (heading)
- [HT 86a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT86a/index.md>): KU-NI-SU GRA+K+L 20 — emmer
- [HT 86b](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT86b/index.md>): KU-NI-SU GRA+K+L 20 — emmer
- [HT 95a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT95a/index.md>): KU-NI-SU 10 — emmer
- [HT 95b](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT95b/index.md>): KU-NI-SU 10 — emmer

## Commentary

HT 10a KU-NI-SU · heads a list of issues with no commodity logogram (SA-MA 4, DA-RE 16½, *305-RU 2½, DA-RI-DA 8, ME-ZA 3); HT 86a/b A-KA-RU · KU-NI-SU GRA+K+L 20, SA-RU 20, DI-DE-RU 20, QA-RA₂-WA 10, the grain sign after the word; HT 95a/b the same set with DA-ME, MI-NU-TE and QE-RA₂-U. kunīšu 'emmer', an Akkadian loan (Gordon 1966, §116): CAD K 536 lists kunīšu beside kunāšu, and Nuzi writes ku-ni-šu in grain issues, 1 imēr ku-ni-šu ana PN (HSS 14 163:1; CAD K 537). S writes the Akkadian š of PS *kunaṯ-, and the Ugarit polyglot sets [ku-na]-šu beside Ugaritic ku-sú-mu (GlOS 1, 323). GRA+KU abbreviates the word, and MI-NU-TE minūtu stands in the same set. Weak point: on HT 95a/b the word stands in a fixed set whose DA-ME and SA-RU take commodities elsewhere, as recipients do. Five attestations. See GRA+KU.

## Same root

- [GRA+KU](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/GRA~2BKU/index.md>)

## References

- Reading: di Mino; Gordon 1966; CAD K; GlOS 1
- Gordon, Cyrus H. (1966), Evidence for the Minoan Language. Ventnor Publishers,68
- CAD K: Oriental Institute (A. Leo Oppenheim and Erica Reiner, eds.) (1971), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 8, K. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt
- GlOS 1: Sanmartín, Joaquín (2019), A Glossary of Old Syrian, Volume 1: ʔ – ḳ. Languages of the Ancient Near East 8/1,Eisenbrauns (Pennsylvania State University Press), University Park

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/KU-NI-SU/
Licence: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Cite as: di Mino, Tom. 2026. Linear A Lexicon. Plasma AI. https://linear-a.ai/. Data: kaphtor, commit add28e94.