An example sentence showing how the subjective case is used for the subject of sentences (SD/429). The subject bârun “lord” is the subjective form of bâr. The verb form kallaba is the past tense of kalab- “to fall”. The masculine singular pronoun prefix u- “he” is optional, but when present makes the sentence emphatic: “it was the lord who fell” (SD/429). This sentence is contrasted with bâr ukallaba in which the subject is instead in the normal-case, which makes the pronoun u- required rather than optional (but not emphatic).
Adûnaic
bâr ukallaba
the lord fell
bârun (u)kallaba
the lord fell, it was the lord who fell
An example sentence showing how the normal-case can sometimes be used for the subject of a sentence (SD/429). The subject is bâr “lord” while the verb has the masculine singular pronoun prefix u- “he”. Such a prefix is required when the subject is in the normal case (SD/429). The verb form kallaba is the past tense of kalab- “to fall”. This sentence is contrasted with bârun (u)kallaba in which the subject is in the subjective case.