Conventions

General

1. In general, transliteration conventions and sign values follow Borger 2010.
2. Akkadian text is transliterated in italics: šarru. Sumerian text is transliterated spaced: lugal.

Syllabic values

1. ʾ (Aleph) written with Ḫ-signs is transliterated with ḫ:1 ú-na-aḫ-ḫi-id, ḫu-ur-ḫu-du-um. But in bound transcription ʾ is used: unaʾʾid, (ʾ)urʾudu.
2. Instead of u₄, lìb, and t/ṭup, UD, ŠÀ, and DUB are used in mixed logographic-syllabic writings: UD-mu, ŠÀ-bi, DUB-pi.
3. Mimation in CVm signs at the end of a word in the status rectus of nouns is kept in all periods: a-wa-tum, not a-wa-tu₄. This is based on the assumption that these are historical spellings.

Logograms

1. Logograms are transliterated in small caps: lugal.

Determinatives

1. For determinatives, lowercase superscript is used (as in AHw): LUGALmeš, not LUGAL.MEŠ.
2. The determinative for masculine personal names is m, for feminine names f.
3. The determinative for feminine nouns is munus, not mí.
4. The plural determinative is ḫi.a, not ḫá.

Corrections

1. Corrections of the cuneiform text are marked by “!” following the corrected sign. Corrections of the cited edition are marked by “*” following the corrected sign.
2. Emendation through addition is marked “< >”, emendation through deletion is marked “<< >>”.
3. Broken and half broken signs are indicated by “[]” and “⸢⸣”. Erasures are marked by “{ }”.

Glosses, Correspondences, Repetitions, Parallels

1. The glossenkeil is transliterated “:”.
2. Correspondences in lexical lists are marked by “=”.
3. Repetition of any kind in lexical lists (MIN, KI.MIN, glossenkeil, etc.) is indicated as “ditto(repeated word)”.
4. Parallels, duplicates, and variants are marked by “‖”.

In General

1. The special characters used in the bound transcription for Akkadian and other Semitic words are those recommended by the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft:2 ʾ, ʿ, ḍ, ḏ, ǧ, ġ, ḫ, q, ṣ, ś, š, ṭ, ṯ, y, and ẓ. For j in Akkadian see the section on consonants below.
2. In Old Akkadian and in Ebla, s (spelled with Z-signs) and ś (spelled with S-signs) are distinguished in bound transcriptions: surrātim, but iśakkanūma. In transliterations, s is used instead of ś: i-sa-kà-nu-ma.

Vowels

1. The -i in the genitive singular is short, as in CAD:3 ana bēlišu. Etymologically short vowels before enclitic suffixes are not lengthened secondarily in stressed position:4 aḫukama (not aḫukāma).
2. Etymologically long vowels in closed syllables are not shortened secondarily: alāktu (pattern PaRāSt, not alaktu), ḫarīmtu (pattern PaRīSt, not ḫarimtu). This is also true for cases like mīmma < mīn-ma or kīttu < kīntu.
3. Root vowels in verbs mediae infirmae are long: dūʾāru, šīʾāmu, qīʾāpu.
4. Final vowels of verbs tertiae infirmae in the older Akkadian periods (3rd millennium, Old Babylonian, Old Assyrian) are not secondarily shortened:5 ibnī, išmē, iklā, iḫdū. In younger periods, they are shortened: ibni etc., but the length is retained before suffixes: ibnīma.
5. The final vowel -ī (< aj)6 of some particles is long in the older Akkadian periods (3rd millennium, Old Babylonian, Old Assyrian): adī, ittī, matī etc. In younger periods, it is shortened: adi, itti, mati etc.
6. The locative case has a long vowel:7 elēnū, ṣuprānūššu etc.
7. Deviations from AHw and/or CAD for some frequent words: damu with short a (as in CAD); mīšāru, not mīšaru; panu (and derivatives) with short a;8 ēkallu has a long ē, mīmma long ī (see above).

Consonants

1. In keeping with AHw and CAD, LAD uses j in Akkadian instead of y: jāšibu.
2. A secondary aleph is always placed between two vowels:9 īdēʾanni, šīʾāmu.
3. Deviations from AHw and/or CAD for some frequent words: tuppu, not ṭuppu “tablet” (and derivations).10

1. The citation form is Old Babylonian, but without mimation: bēlu. With roots primae waw, the citation form keeps initial w: wabālu (as in AHw), not abālu (as in CAD). If a lemma is attested only in older or only in later sources or only in Assyrian, the corresponding form (without mimation) is used as citation form: muḫurrāʾu (not muḫurrû), nabaizbāda, kumruttu (not kumrūtu).
2. Instead of secondary e before r and ḫ, lemmata are listed with etymological i (as mostly in CAD). Forms with e are listed as variants: tamirtu (variant tamertu), šiḫṭu (variant šeḫṭu).
3. The citation form for verbs is the infinitive in the G-stem. If no G-stem is attested, the D-, Š- or N-stem is the citation form.
4. Homonymous lemmata are numbered with Roman numerals, as in AHw: kalû I, kalu II etc.