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The Cuniform characters are actually highly stylized hieroglyphics and ideographs. The "wedge shape" indentations are simply a result of the way they were drawn. Earlier forms of Sumerian show a clear development from purely ideographic expression all the way to the use of characters to represent syllables, much the same way Korean and Cherokee are expressed.

That's what allowed Sumerian writing to pass from one language to another successfully.

There is substantial evidence claimed to exist to the effect that Sumerians actually created Egyptian hieroglyphs! They also created an hieroglyphic character set for use in China ~ which pedates the Shang dynasty characters.

An earlier form of ideographs was developed in the Kola Peninsula in far Northern Scandinavia/Russia. Given that the Sa'ami languages have clear indications of being far more ancient than the competing Finno-Ughric languages in that area in modern times, several analysts have linked those languages to ancient Sumerian as a cognate, and that small group to ancient Indian languages in the Dravidian group.

To a degree recent archaeological discoveries in Iran have demonstrated a clear link between ancient Mesopotamian cities and Southern India!

Now all of that might seem strange ~ the basis for an ideographic language being laid down in the Arctic, but this was just over 9,000 years ago and that period was warmer than it is now. Rice was domesticated in Northeast Asia during that period, and Korea's classic heating system was devised in Alaska!

Things were going on of which we have only the barest glimpse.