== 名前 ==
アンズーと呼ばれる神話上の生物は、シュメール最古の楔形文字では𒀭𒉎𒈪𒄷(''AN.IM.MI<sup>MUŠEN</sup>''、楔形記号𒄷またはMUŠENは文脈上「鳥」を表わす)と書かれていた。 古バビロニア時代のテキストでは、「𒀭𒉎𒂂𒄷 (''AN.IM.DUGUD<sup>MUŠEN</sup>'')」と表記されることが多い<ref name=alster/>。1961年、ランズバーガーはこの名前を「アンズー」と読むべきと主張し、ほとんどの研究者がこれに従った。1989年、トーキル・ヤコブセン(Thorkild Jacobsen)は、楔形文字の読み方("<sup>d</sup>IM.dugud"と表記)も有効であり、おそらくこれが本来の発音であり、「Anzu」は初期の発音変化から派生したものであると指摘している。また、「イムドゥグッ」(「重い風」の意)が「アンスク(''ansuk'')」になるなど、並列する言葉にも同様の音韻変化が起こった。)」になるなど、並列する言葉にも同様の音韻変化が起こった。このような変化は、imがanに変化し(一般的な音韻変化)、新しいnが次のdと混ざり合い、dhとして吸引され、その音がアッカド語にzやsとして借用されることで起こった<ref name=jacobsen1989>Jacobsen, T. (1989). God or Worshipper. pp. 125-130 in Holland, T.H. (ed.), ''Studies In Ancient Oriental Civilization no. 47''. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.</ref>。
The name of the mythological being usually called Anzû was actually written in the oldest Sumerian [[cuneiform]] texts as {{script|Xsux|𒀭𒉎𒈪𒄷}} (''AN.IM.MI<sup>MUŠEN</sup>''; the cuneiform sign 𒄷, or ''MUŠEN'', in context is an ideogram for "bird"). In texts of the Old Babylonian period, the name is more often found as {{script|Xsux|𒀭𒉎𒂂𒄷}} ''AN.IM.DUGUD<sup>MUŠEN</sup>''. In 1961, Landsberger argued that this name should be read as "Anzu", and most researchers have followed suit. In 1989, Thorkild Jacobsen noted that the original reading of the cuneiform signs as written (giving the name "<sup>d</sup>IM.dugud") is also valid, and was probably the original pronunciation of the name, with Anzu derived from an early phonetic variant. Similar phonetic changes happened to parallel terms, such as ''imdugud'' (meaning "heavy wind") becoming ''ansuk''. Changes like these occurred by evolution of the ''im'' to ''an'' (a common phonetic change) and the blending of the new ''n'' with the following ''d'', which was aspirated as ''dh'', a sound which was borrowed into [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] as ''z'' or ''s''.<ref name=jacobsen1989>Jacobsen, T. (1989). God or Worshipper. pp. 125-130 in Holland, T.H. (ed.), ''Studies In Ancient Oriental Civilization no. 47''. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.</ref>
It has also been argued based on contextual evidence and transliterations on cuneiform learning tablets, that the earliest, Sumerian form of the name was at least sometimes also pronounced Zu, and that Anzu is primarily the Akkadian form of the name. However, there is evidence for both readings of the name in both languages, and the issue is confused further by the fact that the prefix 𒀭 (''AN'') was often used to distinguish deities or even simply high places. AN.ZU could therefore mean simply "heavenly eagle".<ref name=alster>Alster, B. (1991). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23282051 Contributions to the Sumerian lexicon]. ''Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale'', '''85'''(1): 1-11.</ref>