How to decode the Cuneiform ORACC data?

Question

I just found this, the "OGSL Signlist" for Cuneiform. Remove the frame to get here. I click on a sign like A.EDIN and see this:

Values:eribₓ; eru₄; erua; erum₄; ummuₓ; ummudₓ.

for |A.EDIN| as ED form of ummu₃ see Civil ARES 4, 120

What does that mean?

I've looked around for the conventions around Cuneiform but don't know where the README is.

A more complex example is A...

What do we see here?

Looking at the raw ORACC JSON, I see this (2 examples out of a lot):

"A": {
  "values": [
    "ʾu₄",
    "a",
    "aia₂",
    "aya₂",
    "barₓ",
    "buniŋₓ",
    "burₓ",
    "dur₅",
    "duru₅",
    "e₄",
    "ea",
    "ebir₃",
    "emₓ",
    "epir₃",
    "eš₁₀",
    "ŋa₁₀",
    "ia₁₀",
    "id₅",
    "me₅",
    "mu₁₄",
    "sedₓ",
    "šegₓ",
    "ṭur₅",
    "ya₁₀"
  ],
  "gdl": [
    {
      "s": "A"
    }
  ],
  "uphase": "1",
  "uname": "CUNEIFORM SIGN A",
  "utf8": "𒀀",
  "hex": "x12000"
},
...
"|GA.NI|": {
  "values": [
    "gar₁₀",
    "gara₁₀"
  ],
  "gdl": [
    {
      "c": "|GA.NI|",
      "seq": [
        {
          "s": "GA"
        },
        {
          "o": "beside"
        },
        {
          "s": "NI"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "utf8": "𒂵𒉌",
  "hex": "x120B5.x1224C"
},

Notice that for A, the sign is 𒀀. If I then search one of the values like dur5 using the Cuneify tool, I get the same sign, 𒀀.

Looking at |GA.NI|, I see there are two signs, 𒂵 and 𒉌 making 𒂵𒉌. Does this mean the "key" in the JSON (or the name in the dictionary) is referencing each isolated glyph? And then the "values" array are all the different pronunciations that evaluate to these glyphs?

Or what does the key and value mean?

Another more complex example is:

"|A.GAN₂@t|": {
  "deprecated": "1",
  "gdl": [
    {
      "c": "|A.GAN₂@t|",
      "seq": [
        {
          "s": "A"
        },
        {
          "o": "beside"
        },
        {
          "form": "GAN₂@t",
          "mods": [
            {
              "b": "GAN₂"
            },
            {
              "m": "t"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
},

Notice the @ in the key. And there is no Cuneiform glyph in here. What does this one mean?

Basically I'm trying to figure out how they are encoding the glyphs into pronunciations and other things, but I don't see what they mean, and don't know where the docs are.

Answer 1

A is the conventional name for a particular cuneiform glyph, typically its most common or best-known pronunciation. But the sign A can be read as a, aya₂, e₄, ea, ŋa₁₀, or many others. The JSON is mapping the name to a list of all these possible readings.

Sometimes, though, a cuneiform glyph is made from other glyphs joined together. There are a variety of different ways to join them; a dot between the sign names, for example, means that they're written one after another (for example the sign IŠTAR = |U.DAR|, U followed by DAR), while a cross means that the second is inside the first (SISKUR = |AMAR׊E|, ŠE enclosed by AMAR), and so on. In ORACC, compound glyphs are transcribed with bars on either side.

This can be used to build up more complicated glyphs, like the |A.GAN₂@t| you mentioned: this means A next to GAN₂, slanted at 45 degrees (tenû in Akkadian). But this particular transcription is deprecated; the preferred name for GAN₂ tenû is KAR₂. And this particular combination, |A.KAR₂|, I haven't been able to find in my usual sign lists, so it's probably not in Unicode either.

You can find a basic overview of the transcription conventions ORACC uses on their website, but I'd recommend finding a good textbook for whichever language you're interested in (probably Sumerian or Akkadian), which will go into more detail on how exactly cuneiform writing works.