JU

Status: proposed. A proposed value.

Evidence: l and d 17/20, r 15/20; the /ra/ elimination assumes no repeated sign, against SA-RA-RA (HT30). l reads all 4 context words; yu possible in JU-KU-NA (KNZc6) and the endings

Phonetic value

Alternate values

Forms cited for the value

• DA-JU-TE = dalate "door" (√d-l-t)—unique to /l/, no alternative consonant produces a root
• SU-JU-TA = šalāṭa "to rule" (√š-l-ṭ)—unique to /l/
• Co-occurrence proof: JU ≠ RA (JU-RA in same word, HT80); JU ≠ RU (PI-RU-E-JU, PH2)

Note

Second /l/-sign alongside RA₂ (AB76). Possibly vowel-distinguished: RA₂ = /la/, JU = /lu/. Both fill the L/R distinction gap needed by Semitic substrate. || Position rule: (a) standalone JU + numeral/fraction in a list (ARKH4a, HT68, HT97a, HT108, ZA11a) = commodity ABBREVIATION, gloss 'flour (commodity)' Candidate—a GORILA positional gloss, not acrophonic (no Semitic flour word is /l/-initial); mark '[commodity?]' where ambiguous. (b) standalone JU without quantity, separator-delimited votive context (KNZb4 'JU 𐄁 JA-SI 𐄁 SI') = syllabic /lu/—dedicatory preposition l(u) 'to/for' or asseverative lū, Candidate. (c) word-internal JU = /lu/ or /yu/ (below). *ḳamḥ- 'flour' for KE-JU-MI stays rejected (unaccounted l). || JU writes a palatal liquid, /ʎu/ ~ /lʸu/: lu in Semitic roots (DA-JU-TE, SU-JU-TA), yu where the word needs the glide (KNZc6 JU-KU-NA yukūna, √k-w-n, DULAT 442; the endings -iyyu, -y, KU-RE-JU beside KU-RE; A-RA-JU ʾArāyu = ᵘʳᵘA-ra-yu, RGTC 12/2, 30). It is the u-member of RA₂'s series: Linear B *76 ra₂ = /rya, lya/ and ro₂ = /ryo, lyo/, 'liquid yodized resonants', *76 'already attested in Linear A' (Melena 2014, 63); Linear A had 'a series of post-palatalized and post-labialized consonants' (Palaima 2020, 8). Linear B took JU over as *65, which writes both ju and zu (Melena 2014, 16), and renders Linear A JU words with a glide: ku-ma-ju > ka-ma-jo, qa-ti-ju > qa-ti-ja (Davis 2026, 162–163).

Lexicon words written with this sign