A šangir egyesek szerint a kiengir ún. szatem változata, ahogyan például Šuruppak város nevének is létezik Kuruppag variánsa, illetve olvasata.

Though sometimes identified with the Babylonian Šumer, the connection of Shinar with that name is doubtful. The principal difficulty lies in the fact that what might be regarded as the non-dialectical form šingar (which would alone furnish a satisfactory basis of comparison) is not found, and would, if existent, only apply to the southern portion of Babylonia. The northern tract was called Akkad, after the name of its capital city (see ACCAD). The Greek form Sen(n)aar shows that, at the time the Septuagint translation was made, there was no tradition that the ‛ayin was guttural, as the supposed Babylonian forms would lead us to expect. As the Biblical form Shinar indicates the whole of Babylonia, it corresponds with the native (Sumerian) Kingi-Ura, rendered “Sumer and Akkad,” from which, by changing K into Sh (found in Sumerian), Shinar may have been derived, but this explanation is not free from difficulties.