Mini Grammar V2-16-6

MIDDLE EGYPTIAN GRAMMAR Condensed from J.P. Allen

by J. Gottfred

Middle Egyptian Grammar Condensed from J.P. Allen J. Gottfred 105 Hillcrest Est. Calgary, Canada. Copyright ©2011 V2.16.6

CONDENSED TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. 0 UNILITERAL SIGNS 2.0 BILITERAL SIGNS 3.0 MULTILITERAL SIGNS 4.0 NOUNS 5.0 PRONOUNS 6.0 ADJECTIVES 7.0 ADJECTIVAL & NOMINAL SENTENCES 8.0 PREPOSITIONS AND ADVERBS A. GODS B. TRANSLITERATION SYSTEMS

CONTENTS 1. 0 UNILITERAL SIGNS 1.1 Alphabetical Order

2.0 BILITERAL SIGNS 3.0 MULTILITERAL SIGNS 4.0 NOUNS 4.1 Roots 4.2 Gender & Number 4.2.1 Masculine 4.2.2 Feminine 4.2.3 Gender & Number – Examples 4.3 Articles 4.4 Noun Phrases 4.4.1 Apposition 4.4.2 Connection 4.4.3 Possession - Genitives 4.4.4 Genitival Adjectives 4.5 Honorific Transposition

5.0 PRONOUNS 5.1 Personal Pronouns

5.1.1 Suffix Pronouns 5.1.2 Dependent Pronouns 5.1.3 Independent Pronouns 5.1.4 Personal Pronouns: Summary 5.2 Demonstrative Pronouns 5.2.1 Demonstratives– Written Forms 5.2.2 Demonstrative Pronouns - Use 5.2.2 Demonstratives – Special Uses 5.3 Interrogative Pronouns 5.3.1 Interrogatives – Written Forms

6.0 ADJECTIVES 6.0.1 Primary Adjectives 6.0.2 Secondary Adjectives 6.0.3 Derived Adjectives – nisbes 6.1 Agreement 6.1.1 Written Forms 6.2 Adjectives and Word Order 6.2.1 Multiple Adjectives 6.2.2 The Genitive and Adjectives 6.3 Adjectives as Nouns 6.3.1 nfr ḥr Noun Phrases 6.4 The Interrogative Adjective 6.5 Apparent Adjectives 6.5.1 Other - ky

6.5.2 Each, each One - ṯnw 6.5.3 Some, a few, a little - nhj 6.5.4 Whole, Complete, Entire 6.6 Comparatives and Superlatives 6.6.1 English Comparatives & Superlatives 6.6.2 Egyptian Comparatives 6.6.3 Egyptian Superlatives 6.7 Expressions for “to have” 6.7.1 “Lord of” nb 6.7.2 Ownership and nfr ḥr

7.0 ADJECTIVAL & NOMINAL SENTENCES 7.1 Sentences 7.1.1 Sentences in English 7.1.2 Nonverbal Sentences 7.2 Adjectival Sentences 7.2.1 Adjectives as Predicates 7.2.2 The Subject in Adjectival Sentences 7.2.3 Adjectival Sentences – Emphasis 7.2.4 Additions to Adjectival Sentences 7.2.5 Adjectival Sentences of Possession 7.2.5.1 Writing n(j) – Peculiarities 7.2.5.2 Uses of the n(j) A B Form 7.2.6 Summery of Adjectival Sentences

7.3 Nominal Sentences 7.3.1 A B Nominal Sentences 7.3.1.1 Most Common A B Usage 7.3.1.2 A B Usage with Two Nouns 7.3.2 A pw Nominal Sentences 7.3.3 A pw B Nominal Sentences 7.3.4 Summary of Nominal Sentences 7.3.5 Interrogatives in Nominal Sentences 7.4 Nonverbal Sentence Examples

8.0 PREPOSITIONS AND ADVERBS 8.1 English Prepositions and Adverbs 8.1.1 English Prepositions 8.1.2 English Adverbs 8.2 Egyptian Prepositions 8.2.1 Primary Prepositions 8.2.1.1 Among - jmjtw 8.2.1.2 By – jn 8.2.1.3 In – m 8.2.1.4 Like – mj 8.2.1.5 Among – mm 8.2.1.6 To, For – n 8.2.1.7 With Respect To – r 8.2.1.8 Behind, Around - ḥɜ 8.2.1.9 Together With - ḥnˁ

8.2.1.10 On - ḥr 8.2.1.11 Opposite, In Accordance - ḫft 8.2.1.12 At The Head Of - ḫnt 8.2.1.13 Near - ḥr 8.2.1.14 Throughout - ḫt 8.2.1.15 Under - ẖr 8.2.1.16 Atop – tp 8.2.1.17 Since - ḏr 8.2.2 Summary of Primary Prepositions 8.2.2 Compound Prepositions 8.2.2.1 Forming Compound Prepositions 8.2.3 Objects of Prepositions 8.2.4 Adjectival Predicates and n 8.2.5 Prepositional Nisbes 8.2.6 Summary of Forms and Meanings 8.2.6.1 Comparison of Forms 8.2.6.2 Comparison of Meanings 8.2.7 Using Prepositional Nisbes 8.2.7.1 Use as Nouns 8.2.8 “Reverse” Nisbes 8.2.8.1 Understanding nfr ḥr 8.2.8.2 Examples of Reverse Nisbes 8.2.9 Special Use of the Nisbe ẖrj 8.2.10 Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers

8.2.10.1 Special Cases 8.3 Egyptian Adverbs 8.3.1 Primary Adverbs 8.3.2 The Interrogative Adverb 8.3.3 Interrogative Adverbial Phrases 8.3.4 Forming Adverbs 8.3.4.1 Forming Adverbs in English 8.3.4.2 Forming Adverbs in Egyptian 8.3.4.3 Forming Prepositional Adverbs 8.3.5 Word Order and Adverbs 8.4 Summary of Parts of Speech

A. GODS B. TRANSLITERATION SYSTEMS

1. 0 UNILITERAL SIGNS ɜ a - ah

) f m - Same 4 j ee - meet p n - Same Z y ee - meet 1 r - Same F ˁ a - ah ] h - Same or U ḥ - as h 6 Same, oo – too or w in midkh – as German ḫ I D word ach kh – as R b - Same German 7 p - Same J ẖ ach , followed ! f - Same by ee

X z - Same i s - Same t š sh - she j q as k X k - Same

c g - Same z t - Same F ṯ ch - church ; d - Same @ ḏ j - jump

“Same” indicates that the pronunciation is as in English. 1.1 Alphabetical Order  The Egyptian uniliteral signs are ordered as follows:

ɜjyˁwbpfmnrhḥ ḫẖzsšqkg t ṯdḏ

2.0 BILITERAL SIGNS

Rɜ l ɜ n ɜ 2 ɜ N } L {

w b ḫ ḫ

jw jw jb jb

H N W G p # o s } H 4 S j ] B N jm

jḥ

jm

jz

jn

js

jn

jk

jn

jṯ

jn

ˁɜ

jr

ˁb

jr

ˁḥ

xˁ G 4 Sˁ 5 Sˁ 6 / :ˁ Q P ' ɜ Q . Kˁ r ɜ . - L ɜ ) s ; ? I 3 ɜ , q

wr

pɜ

d

ws

pr

ḏ

ws

pḥ

ḏ

wd

pd

w

wḏ

pd

w

b

pḏ

wp

b

mɜ

wn

bḥ

mj

wn

p

mj

q x = l | q \ P

mj mw

mn mn mr mr mr mr mḥ

I Y L \ c 99 w j \ , A ( o h h C W b ms

nm

mt

nm

mt

nn

md

nḥ

nj

ns

nj

nḏ

nw

rw

nw

rs

nb

hb

3 ɜ e "ɜ ; e D M [ [ y ɜ R y o g ɜ1 # i ˁ I " C } h N Y ɜ l p 0 ḥ

ḥz

ẖ

ḥw

ḥs

ẖn

ḥp

ḥḏ

ẖn

ḥm

ḫ

ẖr

ḥn

ḫ

za

ḥn

ḫ

za

ḥn

ḫw

zp

ḥr

ḫm

s

ḥr

ḫt

sw

L ] 2 V . q 5 H W b P X G I s ɜ u ɜ ) " ɜ M 8 ɜ v u ' g / X , sn

šn

gb

sk

šs

gm

st

šd

gs

sṯ

qn

gs

sḏ

qs

t

š

qd

t

šw

k

tj

šm

kp

tp

šn

km

tp

d 0 '

tm ṯɜ dj

7 k r

dj db ḏɜ

g k C

ḏw ḏb ḏd

3.0 MULTILITERAL SIGNS

R n V . s v @ n r S

jwn jmɜ jsw jdn

ˁwt ˁb ɜ ˁpr ˁnḫ ˁḥ ˁ ˁšɜ

V t z (

wɜḥ

J

wḥɜ

p C 0 _ _

wḥˁ

wɜs/wɜb

wɜḏ wbn

wḥm wsr wsḫ wḏˁ

a wḏb { bɜs IJ pɜq )_ psḏ S mɜˁ c mwt Y msn ) mḏḥ M nfr q nnj 9 nḫb

/ ; B a r ; 5 b i y t

nṯr nḏm rwḏ / rwd ḥnw ḥqˁ ḥtp ḥtm ḫpr ḫnt ḫnt ḫrw

w ? G A N F b l G | T

ḫsf ẖnm zwɜ zwn zmɜ sɜb sɜṯ sjɜ swɜ sbɜ spr

' snḏ/snd v sḫm UV sšm j stp . sḏm [ šmˁ H šms b šnˁ & šzp ^ . šsr

' f { d | O

kɜp grg tjw ṯɜz

c p t O

dmḏ / dmd dšr ḏ ˁm ḏbɜ

dwɜ dbɜ

Multiliteral signs are confined to a few specific word roots and can be learned as those specific words are encountered.

4.0 NOUNS 4.1 Roots The root is the part of the noun that is common to all related nouns. 4.2 Gender & Number Egyptian nouns are singular, plural, or dual. 4.2.1 MASCULINE Singular Plural Dual root singular + w singular + wj root + j singular + w singular + wj root + w singular + w singular + wj 4.2.2 FEMININE Singular Plural Dual root + t root + wt singular + j

4.2.3 GENDER & NUMBER – EXAMPLES ROOT S PL DUAL

brother sister ruler ruler (fem) god goddess enemy enemy (fem) snake snake (fem)

sn ḥqɜ nṯr ḫft ḥfɜ

sn snw snwj snt snwt sntj ḥqɜ ḥqɜw ḥqɜwj ḥqɜtḥqɜwtḥqɜtj nṯr nṯrw nṯrwj nṯrt nṯrwt nṯrtj ḫftj ḫftjw ḫftwj ḫftt ḫftwt ḫfttj ḥfɜw ḥfɜww ḥfɜwwj ḥfɜt ḥfɜwt ḥfɜtj

4.3 Articles Egyptian has neither a definite article (the), nor the indefinite article (a). 4.4 Noun Phrases A phrase is two or more words. A noun phrase is two or more nouns. In Egyptian, a noun phrase can express the following: 4.4.1 APPOSITION Both nouns refer to the same thing. our friend the dog. 4.4.2 CONNECTION In English conjunction is shown with and, and disjunction is shown with or. In Egyptian, both can be implied by context only. t ḥnqt “bread (and) beer” To explicitly shown conjunction Egyptian may place one of the following between the two nouns:

ḫnˁ “together with”

ḥr “upon” To explicitly show disjunction Egyptian may follow the second noun with: r-pw “whichever” 4.4.3 POSSESSION - GENITIVES The direct genitive is shown in Egyptian simply by the placing of two nouns one after the other where the second noun is the possessor. nbt pt “mistress of the sky” ṯɜw ˁnḫ “breath of life” Nothing can stand between the two nouns of the direct genitive. The indirect genitive is used when another part of speech (e.g. a suffix pronoun) comes between the two nouns. In this case, the two nouns must be linked with a word called the genitival adjective.

4.4.4 GENITIVAL ADJECTIVES Use when the first noun is:

n masculine singular nw masculine plural or dual nt feminine (regardless of number) 4.5 Honorific Transposition The possessing noun is always second in the direct genitive. However, when the possessor is a god or the king the written order of the nouns may be reversed, placing the important figure first in the phrase. This is called honorific transposition.

ḥtpw-nṯr“god’s offerings” “princess”

zɜt-nswt (“daughter of (the) king”)

5.0 PRONOUNS Pronouns are words that replace a noun. There are several kinds of pronouns. Personal pronouns replace the names of persons e.g. I, me, mine, myself, we, us, our, ours, ourselves are the English first-person singular and plural personal pronouns. 5.1 Personal Pronouns Egyptian has three types of personal pronouns, the suffix, dependant, and independent pronouns. 5.1.1 SUFFIX PRONOUNS  Are the most common pronouns in Egyptian.  Always attached to the end of the word they modify and cannot stand alone.  Always added after all other suffixes.  1S was often not written.**  1S ideogram (seated man) was often replaced to better indicate the speaker’s status such as woman, god, king, or dead.  Plural forms used for both plural and dual.

SUFFIX PRONOUNS 1S

.j

a, 4, 4a, **

2MS

.k

X

2FS

.ṯ

F, z

3MS

.f !

3FS

.s

i, X

1PL

.n

,p

2PL

.ṯn

,

3PL

.sn

,

,

, , , ** See 5.1.1 Suffix Pronouns

DEPENDENT PRONOUNS 1S

.wj

,

2MS

.ṯw

,

2FS

.ṯn

3MS

.sw

3FS

.sj

iA, i, X

1PL

.n

,p

2PL

.ṯn

,

3PL

.sn

3NT

.st

,

, etc.

,

, ,

, ,

,

, ,

,

5.1.2 DEPENDENT PRONOUNS  Are separate words, not a suffix.  Always used after some other word.  Cannot stand alone.  3PL also has a neutral form .st, .zt, (sometimes written with plural strokes) which is used for the plural of “it”. 5.1.3 INDEPENDENT PRONOUNS  Are not dependent on another word in the sentence.  Can stand alone.  Note that the signs: are determinatives and can be replaced by other ideograms in both the suffix, and independent 1S pronouns.  It is best not to think of the pronouns in terms of English words such as “him, her, they”, etc. This is because an Egyptian pronoun can stand for several English pronouns. For example, the 3MS suffix pronouns .f, sw, and ntf can all mean he, him, his, it, or its.

INDEPENDENT PRONOUNS 1S

jnk

,

, ,

2MS

ntk

2FS

ntṯ

3MS

ntf

3FS

nts

1PL

jnn

2PL

ntṯn

3PL

ntsn

,

, , , ,

, ,

,

5.1.4 PERSONAL PRONOUNS: SUMMARY SUFFIX

DEPENDENT

INDEPENDENT

1S

.j

wj

jnk

2MS

.k

ṯw, tw

ntk

2FS

.ṯ, .t

ṯn, tn

ntṯ ntt

3MS

.f

sw

ntf

3FS

.s

sj, st

nts

1PL

.n

n

jnn

2PL

.ṯn, .tn ṯn, tn

ntṯn, nttn

3PL

.sn

ntsn

sn, st

5.2 Demonstrative Pronouns  The demonstrative pronouns in English are this, these, that, and those.  Egyptian has a masculine (p-), feminine (t) and neutral (n-) form for each.  Egyptian demonstratives are made by adding one of four different endings: -n, -w, -ɜ, -f (or -fɜ).  The -n series mean this or that, depending on how far away the subject is.  The -f series are used to contrast with the -n series, in which case they can be taken to mean that.  The -w series were used like the -n series during the Old Kingdom and are passé.  The -ɜ series were used like the -n series but were in colloquial use.  Any of the demonstratives can stand alone, but the neutral n- forms were preferred for this use.  Masculine forms were used with masculine singular nouns, feminine forms with feminine singular nouns, and the neutral forms with plural or dual nouns.

5.2.1 DEMONSTRATIVES– WRITTEN FORMS MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTRAL SINGULAR SINGULAR



p-

t-

n-

-n

,

-f,  -fɜ -w

,

,

,

,

, ,

-ɜ

,

 The forms do not change to indicate the plural, rather the singular forms are

connected to their plural nouns by the genitival adjective n. 5.2.2 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS - USE MASCULINE SINGULAR nṯr pn this god, that god nṯr pw this god, that god nṯr pf that god pf nṯr that god pɜ nṯr this god, that god FEMININE SINGULAR nṯrt tn this goddess, that goddess nṯrt tw this goddess, that goddess nṯrt tf that goddess tf nṯrt that goddess tɜ nṯrt this goddess, that goddess MASCULINE PLURAL nn n nṯrw these gods, those gods nw n nṯrw these gods, those gods nfɜ n nṯrw those gods nɜ n nṯrw these gods, those gods FEMININE PLURAL nn n nṯrwt these goddesses, those goddesses nw n nṯrwtthese goddesses, those goddesses nfɜ n nṯrwtthose goddesses

nɜ n nṯrwt these goddesses, those goddesses  pn/tn and pw/tw always follow their noun.  pɜ/tɜ always precede their noun.  pf/tf or pfɜ/tfɜ can precede or follow their noun.  Plural forms always precede their nouns and joined to them with the genitival adjective n. 5.2.2 DEMONSTRATIVES – SPECIAL USES  Vocative- If a god or human is invoked, pw and tw may be used to convey emphasis. jrt tw nt ḥrw - “O Eye of Horus!”  When pw and tw are used with nouns they are sometimes written as pwy and twy. 5.3 Interrogative Pronouns  The most common is mj meaning who? or what?. It acts like a dependent pronoun.  ptr, meaning who? or what? acts like an independent pronoun and usually starts the sentence.

 jḫ meaning what? is sometimes used instead of mj, but only when the question is about things.  jšst meaning what? is occasionally used instead of ptr, and can also start a sentence.  zy, zj mean which? or which ones? If used with a noun, zy always precedes the noun and acts like a direct genitive. 5.3.1 INTERROGATIVES – WRITTEN FORMS

mj

,

,

ptr jḫ jšst zy, zj

,

,

6.0 ADJECTIVES Describe qualities like size, color, value, etc. 6.0.1 PRIMARY ADJECTIVES  Egyptian has only one primary or true adjective nb, meaning all. 6.0.2 SECONDARY ADJECTIVES  Are actually participles, a kind of verb form. E.g. the running man. (pp.)  E.g. nfr - good, beautiful, perfect, is from the verb nfr - to be (or become) good beautiful, perfect.  Most Egyptian adjectives are this kind. 6.0.3 DERIVED ADJECTIVES – NISBES  Made from nouns or prepositions (8.2.5, 8.2.7).  E.g. nwtj - local, is derived from the noun nwt - town.  Derived adjectives are called nisbes (NISSbees) by Egyptologists, from the Arabic.

6.1 Agreement  When modifying nouns, adjectives must take the same gender and number. Note that the feminine plural (FP) is the same as the feminine singular (FS). PRIMARY SECONDARY NISBE nb MS Root Root + j nbw MP MS + w MS + w nbt FS MS + t Root + t nbt FP same as FS same as FS Adjective form using nb, nfr, and nwt: MS MP FS FP

PRIMARY nb nbw nbt nbt

SECONDARY nfr nfrw nfrt nfrt

NISBE nwtj nwtjw nwtt nwtt

6.1.1 WRITTEN FORMS  Sometimes feminine plural adjectives are written with plural strokes. This is a holdover from earlier times. (Eventually

Egyptian lost all forms except the masculine singular.) WRITTEN FORMS OF ADJECTIVES PRIMARY SECONDARY

NISBE

MS MP FS FP Note that in the example above the vulture in nwtjw is the multiliteral tjw. 6.2 Adjectives and Word Order  Adjectives always follow the noun that they modify. Note: pr nb means “every house”, but nb pr means “lord/owner of (the) house”.

 Adjectives must follow demonstrative pronouns.  Adjectives must follow suffix pronouns. 6.2.1 MULTIPLE ADJECTIVES  More than one adjective may follow a noun.  If present, nb must be the first of the adjectives following the noun.  All the adjectives must take the same form. 6.2.2 THE GENITIVE AND ADJECTIVES  Nothing can stand between a direct genitive and its possessor, this includes adjectives. nd  If the adjective modifies the 2 noun then there is no conflict. ḥmt wˁb nb - every priest’sst wife  If the adjective modifies the 1 noun, then this must be made clear by agreement of st the 1 noun and thendadjective, and nonagreement by the 2 noun and the adjective. ḥmt wˁb nbt - every wife of a priest

 otherwise , the direct genitive must be converted to an indirect genitive.  ḥmt nbt nt wˁb - every wife of a priest  Note that the indirect genitive can simply be used for greater clarity. 6.3 Adjectives as Nouns  The previous paragraphs have described how adjectives are created from verbs, prepositions, and nouns. Additionally, adjectives can be used as nouns.  In fact, all Egyptian adjectives are nouns except for nb.  A noun followed by one or more adjectives is actually a noun phrase of apposition. The adjectives are in apposition to the noun. sḫrw.j jqrw - my plans [sḫrw], the excellent ones  Adjectives often do not need to modify another noun in order to convey the full meaning. This is because Egyptian adjectives show gender and number. E.g. nfrt (FS) by itself could mean any

“beautiful”, “good”, or “perfect” woman ḥmt (FS) or thing ḫt (FS).  Sometimes additional clarity was provided by the addition of a determinative: nfrt “a beautiful woman” nfrt “a beautiful cow” nfrt “something good”  When used as a noun, an adjective behaves and takes the forms of regular nouns. They are pluralized the same way, take suffix pronouns, and are modified by demonstratives and other adjectives just like other nouns. 6.3.1 nfr ḥr NOUN PHRASES  As already seen, adjectives being used as nouns can be part of a noun phrase of apposition. As nouns, they can also be part of a direct or indirect genitive.

“good of face” (kindly)  This is called the nfr ḥr construction by Egyptologists and the translation of such can sound odd to an English speaker.

nfr ḥr

nfrwt nt ḥˁw.sn “beautiful ones of their bodies” i.e. “those with beautiful bodies”  The construction can be used even when the adjective-noun is modifying another noun: zẖɜw jqr n ḏbˁw.f “a scribe excellent of his fingers” i.e. “a scribe skilled with his fingers”  I interpret this example as the noun “scribe” in apposition to the noun phrase “skilled of his fingers”- the noun phrase is the adjective-noun “excellent” forming a direct genitive with “his fingers”.

6.4 The Interrogative Adjective  Egyptian has one interrogative adjective: wr “How much?”, “How great?”  The way to think of this is as the adjective “great” being used as a noun (even though it does not have a determinative.) 6.5 Apparent Adjectives  Some Egyptian nouns are best translated by English adjectives, these are called apparent adjectives and are covered below. 6.5.1 OTHER - KY

ky

MS FS PL



kt, ,

kty

 ,

,

kjwj  When used with a noun it always precedes the noun.

 When used with another noun it is always in apposition to that noun.  As a noun itself, it can stand alone in which case it takes the meaning of “another one” or “the other one”.  Can also take suffix pronouns.

kty.f wɜt “its other path” (lit. “its other one, the path)  NOTE that when the plural stands alone to mean just “others” or “the others”, it takes the form of a compound noun together with ḫt “thing”: kt-ḫt “others”, kt-ḫj

“the others”

6.5.2 EACH, EACH ONE - ṯNW

ṯnw “each”, tnw“each one”

 Only one form.  Can stand alone.  In a noun phrase, use only as the first noun of a direct genitive. 

ṯnw rnpt “each year” 6.5.3 SOME, A FEW, A LITTLE - nhj

nhj “some, a little, few”  Only one form.  Can stand alone.  In a noun phrase, use only as the first noun of an indirect genitive.

nhj n r(m)ṯ“a few people” 6.5.4 WHOLE, COMPLETE, ENTIRE  Egyptian has several prepositional phrases (8.1.1) used to express that something is complete or whole. That it exists in its entire form, that nothing is missing.

r ḏr

“to the limit”

r ɜw

“according to the length”

mj qd

“like the shape”

mj qj “like the character”  These phrases are usually translated as English adjectives  They modify nouns.  Must stand after the noun they modify.  Placed after any modifiers to the noun. rd  Usually have a 3 person suffix pronoun that agrees in gender and number with the noun being modified.

ḥwt-nṯr mj qd.s “the whole temple”

lit. “the temple, like its shape”

tɜ pn r ḏr.f “this entire land” lit. “this land, to its limit” 6.6 Comparatives and Superlatives 6.6.1 ENGLISH COMPARATIVES & SUPERLATIVES

 A regular adjective describes some quality possessed by something: “a cheap hat”  The comparative is a different form of the adjective used to compare some quality of something to the same quality of another. It is formed by either adding –er to the adjective, or for some adjectives, inserting the word more. “a cheaper hat” “a more expensive hat”  The superlative is yet another form of the adjective used to indicate that something has the greatest amount of the quality

being compared. It is formed by adding -est to some adjectives, while inserting most in front of others. “the cheapest hat” “the most expensive hat”  There are a few exceptions to these general rules in English, such as: “good, better, best” 6.6.2 EGYPTIAN COMPARATIVES  There are no special forms for Egyptian adjectives to indicate comparatives or superlatives. In general, context is used to determine what is meant. For example, nfr can mean “good”, “better”, or “best”. It can also mean “beautiful”, “more beautiful”, and “most beautiful”.  To clarify when a comparative is meant, Egyptian uses the preposition r “with respect to”, after the adjective.  The word r connects to the thing that the adjective is being compared to.

nṯr mnḫ r nṯr nb “the most beneficent god” lit. “a god beneficent with respect to all gods”  This construction can also be used with adjectives that are used by themselves:

nfrt r ḫt nbt “something better than anything” lit. “a good one with respect to everything” 6.6.3 EGYPTIAN SUPERLATIVES  There are no special forms for Egyptian adjectives to indicate superlatives.  Normally the superlative is constructed using adjectives that stand by themselves.

 The most common means to indicate a superlative was by using a direct or indirect genitive.

wr wrw “the greatest of the great”  Sometimes the superlative is indicated with the use of jm(j) “among” placed after the adjective.

wr jm(j) sˁḥw “the greatest dignitary” lit. “the great one among the dignitaries” 6.7 Expressions for “to have”  Egyptian contains no word(s) for “to have”, “to possess”, or “to own”. 6.7.1 “LORD OF” nb  The noun nb means “lord”, so using it in a direct genitive results in an expression of ownership: nb pt “lord of the sky”

 In this case, “lord” would be the correct translation. However, in others: nb ˁɜ “owner of donkeys”  The word nb has the meaning of “owner”.

/

6.7.2 OWNERSHIP AND nfr ḥr  The nfr ḥr construction (6.3.1) usually has the connotation of possession: “one who has nfr ḥr a good face”

nfrwt nt ḥˁw.sn “ones who have beautiful bodies” “ones who have beauty (in) their bodies”

zẖɜw jqr n ḏbˁw.f “a scribe who has skilled fingers” “a scribe who has skill (in) his fingers”

7.0 ADJECTIVAL & NOMINAL SENTENCES 7.1 Sentences  A sentence consists of two parts: a subject, what the sentence is referring to, and a predicate, which says something about the subject. 7.1.1 SENTENCES IN ENGLISH  An English sentence is always has the subject followed by the predicate: “This plan is excellent” In this sentence the subject is “this plan”, and the predicate is “is excellent”.  In English, the sentence also must contain a verb. In the example above, the verb is “to be”. This is the infinitive or dictionary form. The verb in the sentence has been rd conjugated to its 3 person singular, present tense form is. 7.1.2 NONVERBAL SENTENCES  Egyptian (like Russian and Arabic) has no verb for “to be”. It is perfectly possible to

construct a grammatical sentence in Egyptian which contains no verb.  Such a sentence is called a nonverbal sentence (which at first glance seems to indicate something rather strange).  Although it is ungrammatical in English, “this plan excellent” is perfectly understandable. This is exactly like Mandarin Chinese and the sentences: ni how ma “How are you?” lit. “you good verbal-question-mark” how bu how “How are you?” lit. “(you) good (or) no good(?)”  Egyptian has several kinds of nonverbal sentences. The nonverbal sentences that consist of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives fall into two categories: the adjectival and the nominal sentences. 7.2 Adjectival Sentences  Must contain a subject and a predicate.  If the predicate consists of an adjective, then the sentence is one which has an adjectival predicate.

 A sentence with an adjectival predicate is usually just called an adjectival sentence.  All adjectival sentences have the form: PREDICATE then the SUBJECT For example:

jqr sḫr pn “This plan is excellent.” lit. “excellent this plan” 7.2.1 ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATES  When used as a predicate, the adjective (with one exception) always takes the simplest form, the masculine singular. This rule is true regardless of its normal gender. nfr ẖɜrt tn “This widow is beautiful”

/ jqr nn n sḫrw “These plans are excellent”

 The one exception to the simplest form rule is explained under Adjectival Sentences – Emphasis(7.2.3).  Only secondary adjectives (6.0.2) are used as adjectival predicates. (see also 7.2.5).  nb can only be used to modify a noun.  Only one nisbe nj can appear as a predicate. It is a special case explained under adjectival sentences of possession. 7.2.2 THE SUBJECT IN ADJECTIVAL SENTENCES  The subject always follows the adjectival predicate (7.2).  Subjects are always nouns. This includes:  Nouns  Noun phrases  Personal pronouns  Demonstrative pronouns  Adjectives in noun form nd rd  Only dependent 2 and 3 person pronouns were used as subjects in adjectival sentences.  Pronouns follow the adjectival predicate.  Interrogative pronouns were not used.

 Examples of subjects in adjectival sentences: nfr ṯw ”You are good” nfr ṯn ”You are good” nfr sw ”He is good” nfr sj ”She is good” nfr ṯn ”Y’all are good” nfr sn ”They are good” nfr st ”It is good”, “They are good” nfr dšrwt “The red ones are beautiful.” nfr nn “This is beautiful.”

7.2.3 ADJECTIVAL SENTENCES – EMPHASIS  One exception exists to rule that adjectival predicates must be in their simplest form (7.2.1).  If presented in the old masculine dual form (4.2.3) the sentence becomes an exclamatory one:

nfrwj ḥmt tn “How beautiful this woman is!”  Personal pronouns, just like other subjects, can be used with exclamatory adjectival predicates:

nfrwj st “How good it is!” 7.2.4 ADDITIONS TO ADJECTIVAL SENTENCES  The word wrt “very” can be added between the adjectival predicate and the subject. (Note the t which differentiates wrt “very” from wr “great”).

štɜ wrt wɜt “The path is very inaccessible.” or “The path is very secret.”  Adjectival predicates (like adjectives themselves) can be used as comparatives to their subjects (6.6.2). Note that in this case the comparative phrase introduced by r is placed after the subject.

nfr st r ḫt nbt “It is better than anything.” lit. “It is a good (one) compared to every thing.”  Occasionally the subject can consist of a personal pronoun (see 7.2.2 for rules of use) followed by a noun in apposition (4.4.1) to the pronoun.

rwḏwj sw jb.j “How firm is my heart!” lit. “It, my heart, is twice firm!”

7.2.5 ADJECTIVAL SENTENCES OF POSSESSION  The genitival adjective n (4.4.4) is actually the nisbe n(j) meaning “belonging”.  n(j) is the exception to the rule that only secondary adjectives (6.0.2) can be used as adjectival predicates (7.2.1).  n(j) occurs in an adjectival sentence of the form: n(j) A B meaning either that A belongs to B, or that B belongs to A, depending upon the contents of A.  If A is a dependent pronoun (5.1.2), then it means that A belongs to B. n(j) wj rˁ “I belong to Re”  if A is an independent pronoun (5.1.3) then it means that B belongs to A. n(j) ntk hrw “The day is yours.”

 1 person pronouns can be used in the n(j) A B form. This is the exception to the nd rd rule that only 2 and 3 person pronouns are used in adjectival sentences (7.2.2). st

7.2.5.1 Writing n(j) – Peculiarities  1S

n(j) wj n(j)w(j)

“I belong”

n(j)w(j) 

3MS

n(j) sw “he belongs” n(j)sw

 3FS

n(j) sj n(j)s(j) “she belongs” n(j)s(j)

 The combination of n(j) with the dependent pronouns was often

abbreviated, with the weak consonant j often missing from both words.  A similar contraction was used with the independent pronouns where the p of n(j) and the first p of the pronoun were only written once, with the result that the existence of n(j) must be deduced by context alone. ntk nbw “Gold belongs to you.”  Similarly, n(j) jnk was often contracted to nnk. nnk pt nnk tɜ “The sky is mine, the earth is mine” 7.2.5.2 Uses of the n(j) A B Form  The n(j) A B form is common in names of people where B is the name of a god. Note that honorific transposition (4.5)is required in the following example:

n(j) sw mnṯw “He belongs to Montu.”  Normally the A part of a n(j) A B adjectival sentence is either a dependent or an independent pronoun, but for personal names, both parts can be nouns. When this occurs, B is usually the name of the king or of a god and the meaning is that A belongs to B.

n(j) ˁnḫ ptḥ “Life belongs to Ptah”  Normally the B part of a n(j) A B adjectival sentence is a noun, but it can be a pronoun, or the interrogative adjective. nnk sj “She belongs to me.”

n(j)-sw wr “How much is it?” lit. “It belongs to how much?”

7.2.6 SUMMERY OF ADJECTIVAL SENTENCES  Sentences with adjectival predicates:  Predicate (P) is followed by subject (S) with the meaning “S is P”.  The predicate is:  A secondary adjective  In masculine singular adjective form  The subject may be a:  Noun  Noun phrase nd rd  2 or st3 person dependent pronoun (not 1 )  Demonstrative pronoun  Adjective in noun form  Not an interrogative pronoun.  n(j) A B  If A is a dependent pronoun then the meaning is “A belongs to B”.  If A is an independent pronoun then the meaning is “B belongs to A”.

7.3 Nominal Sentences  A sentence in which the predicate consists of a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase is said to have a nominal predicate.  In the sentence: “This plan is a disaster.” The subject is “this plan”, and the predicate consists of the words “is a disaster”. If you ignore the verb the remainder of the predicate is “a disaster”. This is a noun, not an adjective, and so such a sentence is said to have a nominal predicate.  A sentence with a nominal predicate is usually just called a nominal sentence.  Unlike the adjectival sentence (7.2), the rule of predicate followed by subject does not apply to the nominal sentence.  Egyptian has three forms of nonverbal (7.1.2) nominal sentences: A B, A pw, and A pw B.

7.3.1 A B NOMINAL SENTENCES 7.3.1.1 Most Common A B Usage  The A B nominal sentence is mostly used when:  A is an independent pronoun (5.1.3).  and B is a noun or noun phrase.  The meaning is “A is B” jnk wḥmw jqr “I am an excellent herald.”  The A B nominal sentence can also be formed where:  A is a noun or noun phrase,  and B is the neutral form of a demonstrative pronoun (5.2.1).  The meaning is “B is A” dpt m(w)t nn “This is the taste of death.”  In the A B form:  Independent pronouns are always first: jnk B “I am B”.

 Demonstratives are always second: A nn “This is A”.  Demonstratives stand as close to the start of the sentence as possible, even inside an indirect genitive, but not inside a direct genitive, see (4.4.3):  st nfɜ nt ḫnt “That is a place of landing.” 7.3.1.2 A B Usage with Two Nouns  The use of the A B form with both A and B being nouns or noun phrases is confined to two cases:  Either A or B contains a noun of kinship or the noun rn “name”.  Or, both A and B contain the same noun in two different phrases, a so-called “balanced sentence”.  In both cases, the meaning is that “A is B”.  Normally, when both A and B are nouns, a different form: A pw B is used (7.3.3).

7.3.2 A PW NOMINAL SENTENCES  The A pw nominal sentence is composed as follows:  Where A is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun.  And where B is the demonstrative pronoun or pw.  The meaning is : “ * is/are A”, where * is “he, she, it, they, this, that, these, those”:

zɜ.j pw “He is my son.”

rˁ pw “It is Re” ḥmt wˁb pw “She is the wife of a laypriest.”

ḥwrw pw “They are miserable ones.”

 If A is a pronoun, it can only be a dependent (5.1.2) or independent (5.1.3) pronoun. ntf pw “It is him.” pɜ pw “It is this”  pw must be as close as possible to the first noun. This means that pw will come between:  the noun and the genitival adjective (4.4.4) of an indirect genitive (4.4.3).  the noun and any adjectives (6.2.1). Note that pw will not come between the two nouns of the direct genitive (4.4.3). sḫtj pw n sḫt-ḥmɜt “He is a peasant of the Wadi Natrun” Lit. “He is a peasant, one belonging to the Wadi Natrun.”

tɜ pw nfr “It is a good land” Lit. “It is a land, a good one.” ḥw pw ḥnˁ sjɜ ”They are (the gods) Hu and Sia.” Lit. “It is Hu, together with Sia.” 7.3.3 A PW B NOMINAL SENTENCES  The A pw B is the pattern normally used when both A and B are nouns or noun phrases. (Note that the A B nominal sentence is used only for two specific cases (7.3.1.2).)  pw must be as close as possible to the first noun. This means that pw will come between:  the noun and the genitival adjective (4.4.4) of an indirect genitive (4.4.3).  the noun and any adjectives (6.2.1).

Note that pw will not come between the two nouns of the direct genitive (4.4.3).  pw must always stand before B. pẖrt pw ˁnḫ “Life is a cycle.” Lit. “It is a cycle, life.” snt.f pw tfnt “His sister is (the goddess) Tefnut.” Lit. “It is his sister, the goddess Tefnut.”  mnw pw n z(j) nfrw.f “The monument of a man is his goddness.” Lit. “It is the monument belonging to a man, his goodness.”

7.3.4 SUMMARY OF NOMINAL SENTENCES AB  A is an independent pronoun: “A is B”.  B is a demonstrative pronoun: “B is A”  Both A and B can be nouns or noun phrases, but only if:  A or B contains the word rn “name”, or other kinship term.  A and B are the same noun.  In both cases, the meaning could be either “A is B” or “B is A”, depending upon context.  A pw  A is a:  noun or noun phrase  independent pronoun  demonstrative pronoun  The meaning is “It is A” (or “She is A”, “They are A”, “This is A”, etc.)  A pw B  Both A and B are nouns/noun phrases.  The meaning is either “A is B” or “B is A”, depending upon context.

7.3.5 INTERROGATIVES IN NOMINAL SENTENCES  The interrogative pronouns (5.3) can all be used with nominal sentences.  They are always the predicate.  mj “who?” or “what?”:  Independent pronoun + mj  Used mostly in archaic religious texts.

ṯwt mj “Who are you?”  jn mj + dependent pronoun:

(j)n mj tr ṯw “Who are you?”  jn and tr are particles and not translated.  tr is often added to questions, as in ptr (actually p(w)-tr).  ptr “who?”, “what?”:  Most common interrogative in nominal sentences.

 Always stands first in the sentence.  Is followed by a noun, noun phrase, or dependent pronoun, as the subject.

ptr rn.k “What is your name?”

 ptr sj tɜ r(w)d-ḏdt “Who is this (woman named) Ruddjedet?” Lit. “Who is she, this (woman named) Rud-djedet?”.  jšst “what?”  Sometimes used with the A pw form.

jšst pw “What is it?” (Lit. “It is what?”)

 zy “which?”  Independent pronoun + zy

ntk zj “Which one are you?”  zy pw B

zj tj pw mjw pw ˁɜ “Which is that great cat?” Note that tj in the example above is an alternate way to write tr. It is a particle and not translated. 7.4 Nonverbal Sentence Examples  The following examples should help clarify the usage of adjectival and nominal nonverbal sentences.

 sḫr pw

sḫrw pw

“It is a plan.”

“They are plans.”





jqr sḫr

jqr sḫrw

“The plan is excellent.”

“The plans are excellent.”

 jqr sḫr pn

 jqr nn n sḫrw

“This plan is excellent.” “These plans are excellent.”

 sḫr pw jqr

 sḫrw pw jqrw

“It is an excellent plan.” “They are excellent plans.”





jqr st

jqr st

“It is excellent.”

“They are excellent.”

8.0 PREPOSITIONS AND ADVERBS 8.1 English Prepositions and Adverbs 8.1.1 ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS  A preposition relates one thing to another.  In the sentence: Jill’s cat is inside the house. The preposition inside shows the relationship between the things in the two noun phrases (4.4) Jill’s cat and the house.  Prepositions can be followed by:  Nouns (4.0)  Noun phrases (4.4)  Pronouns (5.0) When followed by any of these, called the object of the preposition, the preposition is said to govern them, and together they form a prepositional phrase (8.2.3).  A preposition or prepositional phrase can stand by itself, in which case it is said to be functioning adverbially (8.1.2):

 A preposition used as an adverb is called a prepositional adverb (8.3.4.3).  A prepositional phrase used as an adverb is called an adverbial phrase (see 8.1.2).

8.1.2 ENGLISH ADVERBS  An adverb is a word or phrase indicating when, where, why, or how something happens or is true.  Adverbs and adverbial phrases (see also 8.3.3) modify:  Verbs: The treaty was signed here. The adverb here shows where the signing took place.  Adjectives a moderately heavy rain The adverb moderately modifies how heavy the rain was.  Prepositions: apart from Here the adverb apart shows where in relation to the preposition from.  Other adverbs:

almost always The adverb almost modifies how often something occurred.  A prepositional phrase (8.1.1, 8.2.3) can act adverbially: The treaty was signed in this room. The prepositional phrase (8.1.1) in this room showing where the action took place.  Most prepositional phrases can act adverbially because they specify when, where, why, or how something happens or is true.  A prepositional phrase used as an adverb is called an adverbial phrase (see also 8.3.3). See also Forming Adverbs (8.3.4)

8.2 Egyptian Prepositions  Egyptian prepositions are used more-orless like English prepositions.  They are placed before the word that they modify.

8.2.1 PRIMARY PREPOSITIONS 8.2.1.1 Among - jmjtw

jmjtw between, among  Means between if used with a dual. jmjtw bɜtj “between two bushes”  To relate two nouns, the second noun is preceded by the preposition r “with respect to” (6.6.2). jmjtw ḫɜst tn r nhrn “between this country and Naharina” lit. “between this country with respect to Naharina.”  Means among, amidst, in the midst of if used with a plural. jmjtw šzpw “among the sacred images”  Refers to a specific physical position.  Sometimes written as r-jmjtw.  Used adverbially it is written:

jmjtw-nj between them, among them 8.2.1.2 By – jn

jn by  Not a true preposition, it is used to identify the agent of the passive verb form (x.x.x).  Not used adverbially.  Not used with personal pronouns (see 5.1) 8.2.1.3 In – m

m in  The most common preposition in Egyptian, the meaning varies:  in, into a physical space: m pr “in the house” ˁq m pr “enter into the house”  in, for, by, during a time: m grḥ “in the night”, “by night”

m rnpwt 3 “for three years”, “during three years”  in a state of being: m ḥtp “in peace”  in, of a material or contents: m jnr “in stone”, “of stone” ˁḥˁw m rnpwt “a period of years”  from or of a place or state: prj m nwt “emerge from (in) the town” šw m ˁbˁ “free from boasting”, “free of boasting”  as something or someone: ḫˁj m nswt “appear as king”  with, through, or by something: wrḥ m mrḥt “anoint with oil” jnj m zšɜ “get through prayer”, “by prayer” njs m rn “call by name”  Used adverbially it is written as:

jm there, there in, in it, of them, etc. wˁ jm “one thereof”, “one of them”

8.2.1.4 Like – mj

mj like  Indicates that one thing is like another: mj sḫr nṯr “like the plan of a god”  In accordance with, according to: mj nt-ˁ.f nt rˁ nb “according to his daily custom” lit. “like his custom of every day”  As well as something: hrw mj grḥ “day as well as night” lit. “day like night”  Not used with personal pronouns (see 5.1)  Used adverbially it is written as:

my likewise 8.2.1.5 Among – mm

mm among

 Used with a plural or plural meaning noun, it means among in a general sense, without a specific physical position in mind. (see also 8.2.1.1) mm ˁnḫw “among the living” mm mw “among the waters”  It is used adverbially with no change in the written form and with the meaning among them. 8.2.1.6 To, For – n

n to, for nj to, for This form is used only before a noun.  n indicates the goal of something:  to or for something. rdj jɜw n wsjr “giving praise to Osiris” nfr sḏm n rmṯ “listening is good for people”  Motion to a person. šmj n ky “go to another person”  to, or at (in the sense of towards) something. dgɜ n qˁḥwj.k “look at your elbows”

 in or for a time or period of time. n ɜbd 2 “in two months” n ḏt “forever”  for, at or because of something. rmj n mr “weep for/at/because of pain”  Used adverbially it is written as:

nj thereto, therefore, for it, &c. 8.2.1.7 With Respect To – r

r with respect to jr with respect to  jr is used at the start of a sentence.  jr is sometimes used before personal pronouns (5.1).  Translation varies with context:  The basic meaning is with respect to.  Motion to, towards, or at a place. prj r pt “go to/toward the sky” r rdwj ḥm.f “at the feet of His Incarnation” spr r ẖnw “arrive at the royal residence” šmj r nn-nswt “go to Herakleopolis”

 at a time. r tr pn “at this season”  to, in order to, or for a purpose. r jnt ˁqw “in order to get food” hɜb r msw-nswt “send for the king’s children”  from, indicating separation from or distinction from something. rḫ wḫɜ r rḫ “to know the foolish man from the knowledgeable” lit. “to know the foolish one with respect to the knowledgeable one”. fḫ r kpnj “depart from Byblos”  concerning, about, according to something. ḏd r “speak about” something r hp “according to the law”  as for, when used at the start of a sentence. jr sf wsjr pw “As for yesterday, it is Osiris.”  Used adverbially it is written as:

jrj  Often written like jr instead of jrj.

 Has the basic meaning of with respect to it or pertaining to it.  against or to act against someone or something. jrj r “act against” so./sth.  for, or to act for someone or something. jrj n “act for”, “on behalf of” so./sth. 8.2.1.8 Behind, Around - ḥɜ  Basic meaning is behind and around. pẖr ḥɜ “going around the walls” zɜ ḥɜ ẖrd “protection around a child”  Not used adverbially. 8.2.1.9 Together With - ḥnˁ

ḥnˁ together with  Indicates accompaniment of one thing together with another. ḥnˁ snw.j “together with my siblings” ḥɜtj ḥnˁ zmɜ “heart and lungs”  It is often translated as and or with but it does not imply a means of attaining a goal, i.e. “with a hammer”(see 8.2.1.3).

 Used adverbially with the meaning of with them etc. Usually written the same way, although pluralisation strokes may be added. 8.2.1.10 On - ḥr ,

ḥr on

The form at left is often used with personal pronouns.  The basic meaning is on. Translation depends upon contex:  on, upon, in , at, by something. Indicates placement or position. ḥr wɜt “on the path” ḥr ḫt qɜ “upon a high tree” ḥr rdwj “on foot” ḥr wnmj.f “on his right”, “at his right” ḥr kmt “in Egypt” ḥr jb.f “in his heart”, “on his mind” prj ḥr ḫrw “come forth at the sound” swɜ ḥr jz “pass by the tomb”  with, and, than something. Indicates adding on to something.

jrj ḥɜw ḥr nfr “do more than well” psj ḥr bjt “cook with honey (added)” ḏˁ ḥr ḥyt “storm wind and rain (too)”  for, per someone or something. Indicates distribution of something. t-ḥḏ ḥr wˁb nb “a loaf of white bread for each priest”  from, of somewhere. Indicates physical origin of someone or something. nbw ḥr ḫɜst “gold from the desert” prrt nbt ḥr ḫɜt “everything that comes from the alter” ˁwn ḥwrw ḥr ḫt.f “rob a poor man of his property”.  at, with, concerning, about, because of, for something. Indicates cause of a nonphysical origin. ḥtp ḥr “content at/with” something ḥzj ḥr “bless because of/on account of” rd-tp ḥr “watchful concerning” sth jj ḥr “come about”, “come for” sth mhj ḥr “forget about” something ˁḥɜ ḥr “fight for”, “on behalf of” so.  Not used adverbially.

8.2.1.11 Opposite, In Accordance - ḫft

ḫft opposite, in accordance with  Indicates the something is physically opposed to something else, i.e. face to face. ˁḥˁ ḫft “stand opposite”, “stand before” ḏd ḫft “speak in front of” someone  When governing a noun or pronoun referring to a thing it means in accordance with that thing. ḫft zẖɜ pn “in accordance with this writing” ḫft ḫɜy “according to measure”  Used adverbially it is written as:

ḫftw meaning accordingly. 8.2.1.12 At The Head Of - ḫnt

ḫnt at the head of  Indicates that something is in front of something else, or has priority.  Usually indicates superiority.

ḥmsj ḫnt nṯrw “sit in front of the gods” ḫnt ˁnḫw “at the head of the living”  Used adverbially it is written as:

ḫntw meaning that something happened before or previously in time. 8.2.1.13 Near - ḥr

ḥr near  Indicates proximity to someone or something.  Used to indicate that the governed noun, noun phrase, or pronoun is someone of higher social status than the speaker. ḏd ḫr ḥm.f “speak to His Incarnation” ḫr nṯrw “in the presence of the gods” ḫr ḥm n “during the incarnation of *king’s name+” jmɜḫy ḫr “honoured by *god’s name+”  Not used adverbially.

8.2.1.14 Throughout -

ḫt

ḫt throughout  Used as in English. ḫpr ḫt tɜ “happen throughout the land”  Not used adverbially. 8.2.1.15 Under - ẖr

ẖr under  Indicates something is literally under something else. ḥmsj ẖr ḥtɜw “sit under an awning” ẖr mw “under water” jw ẖr jnw “come with tribute” ɜtp ẖr jtj “loaded with grain” tɜ ẖr ršwt “the land in joy” wrḏ ẖr šmt “tired from walking”  Used adverbially it is written as: ẖrj  meaning that something is under it or under them.

8.2.1.16 Atop – tp

tp atop, above ,  Means atop, on top, above, and usually in contact with a specific thing. tp jnb “on top of the wall” ˁnḫ tp tɜ “live on earth”  Note that ḥr also means on, but in a sense which implies closer contact than tp. sḏr ḥr tɜ “to lie on the ground”  Not used adverbially. 8.2.1.17 Since - ḏr

ḏr since  Indicates a time since an occurrence. ḏr rk ḥrw “since the age of Horus”  It is used adverbially to mean over (completed), finished.

8.2.2 SUMMARY OF PRIMARY PREPOSITIONS PREP USAGE jmjtw between, among (a specific location) jn by (object of a passive verb) m in/into (a space), in/by/for/during (a time), in (a state), in/of (a material), from/of (a place/state), as (so. /sth), with/through/by (means /use of sth) mj like (sth else) mm among (in a general sense) n to (goal), toward (so.), for/at (sth), in/for (time), because of (sth) r with respect to, to/toward/at (a place), go to (a place), in order to/for (a purpose), from (separation/distinction), about/concerning/according to (sth), against (sth), as for (sth) ḥɜ behind/around (so. /sth) ḥnˁ together with (so./sth), with (accompanying so. /sth. Use m for means)

ḥr on/upon/in/at/by (sth), than/with/and (addition), for/per (distribution), from/of (origin), at/with/concerning/about/ because

of/on account of/for (so./sth), ḫft opposite (physically from so./sth), in accordance with (so./sth) ḫnt at the head of (in front/has priority), ḫr near (proximity), to (an underling) ḫt throughout (a place/space, a period of time)

ẖr under (an object/mood) tp atop (position above sth) ḏr since (a time)  Note the the primary prepositions all consist of a single word. ADVERBIAL USAGE OF PRIMARY PREPOSITIONS ADVERB USAGE jmjtw-nj between them, among them there, therein, in it, of them jm likewise my among them mm therefor, thereto, for it, etc. nj with respect to it, pertaining to jrj it; jrj r against, act against sb./sth

ḥnˁw ḫftw ḫntw ẖrj ḏr

jrj n act for, on hehalf of sb./sth with them, etc. accordingly before (in time), previously under it, under them over (completed), finished

8.2.2 COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS  English has prepositions made up by combining a preposition with other words. For example in the word: alongside the preposition along is combined with the noun side to form the compound preposition. (see also 8.3.4.3)  Compound prepositions exist in Egyptian and they must contain a primary preposition (8.2.1). 8.2.2.1 Forming Compound Prepositions

 Egyptian compound prepositions are formed three ways:

1. A primary preposition (8.2.1) followed by a noun (4.0) or noun phrase (4.4).

m ḥɜt “in front of” r ḥɜt “to the front of” ẖr ḥɜt “at the front of” This is the most common way of forming a compound preposition in Egyptian. 2. A primary preposition (8.2.1) followed by the infinitive form (x.x.x) of a verb, or an infinitival phrase (x.x.x).

r ḏbɜ “instead of”, “in exchange for” 3. An adverb (8.3) or adverbial phrase (8.1.2) followed by a primary preposition (8.2.1).

ḥrw r “apart from”, “in addition to”, “as well as”

8.2.3 OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS  The governed (8.1.1) noun (4.0), noun phrase (4.4), or pronoun (5.0) is called the object of the preposition.  A preposition together with its object is called a prepositional phrase (8.1.1).  The form of the object of a preposition, does not change regardless if it is a primary or compound preposition.

ẖrdw “boys” n ẖrdw “for boys”  Only the suffix pronouns (5.1.1) are used if the object of either a primary or a compound preposition is a pronoun.  jn (8.2.1.2) and mj (8.2.1.4) are not used with personal pronouns (5.1). 8.2.4 ADJECTIVAL PREDICATES AND n  n, meaning to or for is often used in an adjectival sentence (7.2) where the subject, if the sentence were in English, would be “it”. Egyptian dispenses with the

“it” in such cases, resulting in a sentence with no subject.

nfr n.tn “It is good for you.” Lit. “(It is) good for you.” 8.2.5 PREPOSITIONAL NISBES  Adjectives (6.0) derived from nouns or prepositions are called nisbes (6.0.3).  Most primary prepositions (8.2.1) form nisbes using the same procedure as used to make nisbes from nouns (6.1). in jmj inherent from m “in” mjtj similar from mj “like” belonging to from n “to”, nj “for”. This is also the genitival adjective (4.4.4) to jrj pertaining from r “with respect to”.

from ḥɜ ḥɜ(j) surrounding “around, behind”.

ḥnˁ(j) accompanying from ḥnˁ “together with”. ḥrj ḫftj ḫntj ḫr(j) ẖrj tpj

upper, lying upon from ḥr “on”. opposing from ḫft “opposite”. foremost from ḫnt “at the head of”. adjacent from ḫr “near”. lower, lying under from ẖr “under”. standing atop from tp “atop”.

8.2.6 SUMMARY OF FORMS AND MEANINGS  The following two tables show a side-byside comparison of prepositional, adverbial, and adjectival (nisbe) forms and meanings of the prepositions covered.

8.2.6.1 Comparison of Forms ENG. PREP PREP ADV among jmjtw jmjtw-nj in, into m jm like mj my among mm mm to, for n nj with respect to r jrj around ḥɜ together with ḥnˁ ḥnˁw on ḥr opposite ḫft ḫftw at the head of ḫnt ḫntw near ḫr under ẖr ẖrj atop tp since ḏr ḏr

ADJ jmj mjtj nj jrj ḥɜ(j) ḥnˁ(j) ḥrj ḫftj ḫntj ḫr(j) ẖrj tpj -

8.2.6.2 Comparison of Meanings PREP ADV ADJ among in, into like among to, for with respect to around together with on opposite at the head of near under atop since

among them* of them likewise among them for them with respect to them with them accordingly previously under them finished

inherent in similar belonging to pertaining to surrounding accompanying laying on opposing foremost adjacent lying under standing atop -

* Note that other personal pronouns may replace “them”. 8.2.7 USING PREPOSITIONAL NISBES  Used like any other derived adjective (nisbe), and taking the appropriate adjectival ending for any nisbe, e.g. nwtj, nwtjw, nwtt, nwtt, etc. (6.1).

 Can be used to modify nouns. ˁt ḥrt “an upper room”  Can be used as nouns. (see also 8.2.7.1) ḥrt nbt “every upper one”  Derived adjectives (6.0.3) created from prepositions (8.2.1) (prepositional nisbes) can also govern a following pronoun, noun, or noun phrase, just like regular prepositions. nṯrw jmjw pt “the gods who are within the sky” lit. “the gods, the inherent ones in the sky”

jmjw.s “Those who are in her” lit. “her inherent ones” 8.2.7.1 Use as Nouns  Prepositional nisbes are often used as nouns, especially when referring to:  a person’s office/function jr(j)-ˁt “roomkeeper” lit. “one pertaining to a room”

 gods or kings  When used as a description of a god or king, they are called epithets.  Like regular nouns, prepositional nisbes acting as nouns can be:  modified by adjectives (6.0).  the nisbe is modified, not the noun or pronoun that the nisbe governs. jrj-ˁt nb “every roomkeeper” vs. jrj ˁt nbt “one pertaining to every room”  adjectives normally follow the nisbe phrase, but may move closer to the nisbe if clarification is required. jrj nb sšm “every functionary” jrj sšm nb “one pertaining to every functionary”  they take suffix pronouns (5.1.1) jmt ḥɜt.sn lit. “the inherent one of their front” jmt.sn ḥɜt

lit. “their inherent one of the front” The difference is that the former means “that which is in front of them”, while the latter means “their predecessor”. 8.2.8 “REVERSE” NISBES  Derived adjectives (nisbes)(6.0.3) created from prepositions are also used in nfr ḥr constructions (6.3.1).  One must analyse these constructions carefully in order to understand them. This is best illustrated by an example:

mḏɜt jmt pr The sentence above consists of three elements:  mḏɜt, “scroll”, a feminine noun.  jmt, “inherent in”, the feminine form of a derived adjective (6.0.3, 8.2.5) created from the preposition m, “in”(8.2.1.3). Note that an adjective created in this

manner is also called a prepositional nisbe (8.2.5, 8.2.7).  pr, “house”, a noun.  These elements can be read in two distinct ways. First:  jmt, a prepositional nisbe (8.2.7), acts as a preposition governing pr. This yields the noun phrase: mḏɜt jmt pr “the scroll that is in the house” lit. “the scroll inherent in the house”.  Or, it can be read:  jmt, a prepositional nisbe (8.2.7), acts as a derived adjective (8.2.5) in the nfr ḥr (6.3.1) noun phrase: jmt pr “the one with the house in it” Lit. “the (one) that has inherent in (it) the house”

 I interpret this noun phrase as being in apposition with the word “scroll”(4.4.1). mḏɜt [jmt pr] “the scroll that the house is in” lit. “the scroll, the one that has inherent in (it) the house”

 Note that in the first example, the nisbe is acting prepositionally on the following noun, while in the second case, the nisbe is acting adjectivally on the preceding noun. For this reason, the second case is referred to as a reverse nisbe.  Only context can determine which of these readings is the correct one.  Note that jmt pr is the Egyptian idiom for “will/testament”. 8.2.8.1 Understanding nfr ḥr  Consider the following examples: [See also nfr ḥr (6.3.1, 6.7.2)].

z(j) ˁšɜ zrw “a man who has many sheep”

mḏɜt jmt pr “The scroll that the house is in”

 The adjective ˁšɜ “many”, modifies the preceding noun zj “man”, even though it describes a quality of the zrw “sheep”. “a man, one who has many of sheep”  The adjective jmt “inherent in” modifies the preceding noun mḏɜt “scroll”, even though it describes a quality of the pr “house”. “a scroll, one that has inherent in (it) the house”  Note that in both cases the adjective takes the same gender and number as the noun it modifies. 8.2.8.2 Examples of Reverse Nisbes jmj-r “overseer” ,  If no word appears in front of the derived adjective (6.0.3) you must remember that it is acting on someone, or something, even though it is not stated.  jmj-r therefore is literally: “(someone) that has inherent in (them) the mouth”. i.e. “the one in whom the mouth is”.

[Allen then refines the meaning as “the one who gives commands”. I wonder if that is true. Maybe it really means “the one who speaks for us”. Did the Egyptians have “slave drivers” for bosses, or were they more like team leaders?]  jmj-r appears in titles like: jmj-r pr “steward” jmj-r mšˁ “general [army]”  jmj-r can also be used as a prepositional nisbe (8.2.7), in which case it governs the noun following: jmj-r “the one who is in the mouth”  For this reason, scribes would often write jmj-r using the hieroglyph for “tongue”, even though they intend the “reverse” meaning: jmj-r pr “steward”

8.2.9 SPECIAL USE OF THE NISBE ẖrj ẖrj “lower, lying under”  This derived adjective (nisbe) is often used to denote possession. (see also Genitives 4.4.3)

ẖrj-ḥɜb “lector-priest” lit. “lying under the festival (scroll)” One can think of this usage as one’s responsibilities “hanging over” one’s head, so you are “under the gun”.  It is also used to indicate a place. “necropolis” ẖrj-nṯr, lit. “the place where ẖrt-nṯr the god is”  It is also commonly used with bw “place”:

bw ẖr(j).f “the place where he is” lit. “the place lying under him”

8.2.10 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES AS MODIFIERS  Prepositional phrases (8.1.1) in English can be used as noun modifiers: the gods in the sky This does not require any change to the form of the preposition.  Prepositional phrases (8.1.1 )in Egyptian can be used to modify a preceding noun, but to do so the preposition (8.2.1) must be converted into a derived adjective (nisbe)(6.0.3, 8.2.5, 8.2.7). nṯrw jmjw pt “the gods (with)in the sky” nṯrw m pt is not grammatical when following (modifying) a noun. 8.2.10.1 Special Cases  The rule in 8.2.10 is sometimes violated. The most common examples are: bɜk jm “yours truly” wˁ jm nb “every one of them”

 We have seen how the genitival adjective (4.4.4) n(j) “belonging to”, a prepositionally derived adjective (6.0.3, 8.2.5) of n “to, for”(8.2.1.6), is normally used as a modifier only when it is followed by a noun or noun phrase, thus forming an indirect genitive (4.4.3) (see also 7.2.5): zɜ n(j) zj “the son of a man” In addition, the suffix pronouns (5.1.1) are normally used when the possessor is a personal pronoun (5.1): zɜ.f “his son”.  Egyptian sometimes uses a special construction using the preposition n (8.2.1.6), with a suffix pronoun (5.1.1), and followed by the prepositionally derived adjective jm(j) . ms n.f jmy “a child of his, a child belonging to him”

tɜ ḥɜt n.n jmy “that front of ours” hdmw n.sn jm “the footstool belonging to them”  The preceding noun does not affect the following possessive phrase because n is a preposition, and therefore there is no need to match gender and number (8.2.3). 8.3 Egyptian Adverbs  See also English Adverbs (8.1.2).  English can form an adverb from an adjective by adding the ending –ly. moderate  moderately  English can also use nouns of time as adverbs: That’s enough for today (noun) Jill will sing today (adverb)  English also uses reflexive pronouns as adverbs: Jack did it himself

8.3.1 PRIMARY ADVERBS  Primary adverbs are single, non-derived words whose sole usage is as an adverb. There are three of these: ˁɜ

“here”

rsj “entirely”, “at all” rssj grw “also”, “further”, gr “any more” 8.3.2 THE INTERROGATIVE ADVERB  In addition to the interrogative adjective (6.4) and interrogative pronouns (5.3.1), Egyptian has one interrogative adverb: ṯn(j) “where?”

tnj tnw  Note that tnw uses the same glyphs as the apparent adjective “each” (6.5.2). 8.3.3 INTERROGATIVE ADVERBIAL PHRASES  For other interrogative adverbs, Egyptian constructs an adverbial phrase using a preposition (8.2) followed by an interrogative pronoun (5.3.1): mj mj “how?”, lit. “like mj jḫ what?” ḥr mj

“why?”, lit. “because of what?”

r mj

“why?”, lit. “with respect to what?”

zy nw “when?”, lit. “which

moment?” 8.3.4 FORMING ADVERBS 8.3.4.1 Forming Adverbs in English  Adjectives can form an adverb by adding the ending –ly. moderate  moderately  Nouns of time can be used as adverbs: That’s enough for today (noun) Jill will sing today (adverb)  Reflexive pronouns are also used as adverbs: Jack did it himself  Prepositional phrases (8.1.1)are used adverbially: Jill ran inside the house.  Prepositions without an object are used as adverbs: Jill ran inside. Prepositions used in this way are called prepositional adverbs (8.3.4.3)

8.3.4.2 Forming Adverbs in Egyptian  Adjectives are formed from adverbs (6.0) in several ways:  Often there is no change in form: ADJ ADV nfr “good” “well” ˁšɜ “many” “often” wr “much” “great”  Often the ending –w is added: ˁɜw “greatly”, from ˁɜ “big”  Rarely, the ending –t is added: wrt “very”, from wr “great”  Adverbs can be formed by using a preposition (8.1.1) to govern an adjective in noun form (6.3). This results in a

regular prepositional phrase (8.1.1) which can act as an adverb (8.1.2). (see also 8.4 for examples in English).

r ˁɜt “greatly” lit. “with respect to a big one” m mɜ(w)t “anew” lit. “in what is new”  Nouns of time are used as adverbs: mjn “today” sf “yesterday” ḏt “today”  Noun phrases (4.4) can be used adverbially: hrw pn “this day” rˁ nb “every day”

 Prepositional phrases (8.1.1) can act adverbially (8.1.2). (see also 8.4 for examples in English).

m mjn “today” n ḏt “forever”  Reflexive pronouns can act adverbially. The equivalent to an English reflexive pronoun is constructed in Egyptian by adding a suffix pronoun to word ḏs “self”. ḫft ḥr (n)swt ḏt.f “in front of the face of the king himself” When ḏt. + suffix pronoun modifies another suffix pronoun, it has the meaning “own”, e.g. “your own”, “his own”, etc. m hɜw.k ḏs.k “in your own day and age” lit. “In your own time yourself”

8.3.4.3 Forming Prepositional Adverbs  A preposition used without an object is called a prepositional adverb. (see 8.1.1) rdj ḫt jm.s “Put something in it.” rdj ḫt jm “Put something in.”  Most primary prepositions (8.2.1) can act as prepositional adverbs. These are formed by the addition of –j or –w to the primary preposition. (see 8.2.2, 8.2.6)  Some prepositions form adverbs by adding the prepositional adverb jrj to their regular form. ḫft jrj or ḫftw

“accordingly”

mm jrj “among them” or mm

 Compound prepositions (8.2.2.1) are used as adverbs by omitting the object: jj m ḥɜt “come in front” rdj r ḏbɜ “give in exchange”

 Compound prepositions formed using an adverb (see 8.2.2.1 #3) always use the adverbial form of the preposition: ḥrw jrj “additionally” 8.3.5 WORD ORDER AND ADVERBS  Adverbs normally precede the prepositions they modify.  Adverbs normally follow the adjective or adverb they modify: jqr wrt “very excellent” r ˁɜt wrt “very greatly” 8.3.6 COMPARATIVE ADVERBS  Comparatives and superlatives using adverbs is done in English using adverbs derived from an adjective and using more and most in front: greatly, more greatly, most greatly  Egyptian uses exactly the same method as in English with exception that sometimes the comparative is indicated with the preposition r, just as it is done for comparatives with adjectives (6.6.2).

8.4 SUMMARY OF PARTS OF SPEECH  A word root with different endings can act as different parts of speech: noun the care was poor adjective she is a careful child prepositional phrase he went for care adverb she walked carefully adverbial phrase she walked with care verb she cares for him  Other roots may not change form: noun I like the red adjective It’s a red leaf prepositional phrase see the lady in red adverb the blood ran red adverbial phrase she is dressed in red  English can be as confusing as Egyptian: Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. In the first sentence, flies is the verb, and like an arrow is an adverbial phrase consisting of the preposition like with the noun phrase an arrow. In the second sentence, like is the verb, and a banana is the direct object that the fruit flies enjoy.

A. GODS jmn Amun, god of creation. jnpw Anubis, god of the cemetery.

ˁɜppj Apophis, giant snake in

the Duat trying to stop Re.

ḥwt- Hathor, goddess of love, beauty, music, ḥrw motherhood and joy. ḥrw Horus, god of kingship, royal title. ḥw Hu, god of the power of the spoken word.

mɜˁt Maat, goddess of how things ought to be. mrt Meret, goddess of song. mnw Min, god of fertility and power.

mntw Montu, patron god of Thebes.

nmtj Nemti, ferryman of the gods to the life beyond.

rˁ

Re, sun god, master of creation and life.

sjɜ Sia, god personifying the perceptive mind.

Tefnet, goddess of tfnt moisture, water, & dryness.

wɜḏyt Wadjyet, cobra goddess of lower Egypt.

wp- Wepwawet, (parter of the ways) jackal god of wɜwt Abydos

Wenen-nefer, Onnophris,

wnnnfr.w

epithet of Osiris (“He who is continually young”)

wsjr Osiris, seat of the eye of the sun.





B. TRANSLITERATION SYSTEMS ) 4 Z F 6,D R 7 ! f p 1 ] U I J

EUROPE

TRAD

BUDGE

CDM

ɜ j y ˁ w b p f m n r h ḥ ḫ ẖ

ɜ  y ˁ w b p f m n r h ḥ ḫ ẖ

a ȧ ȧ,y ā u b p f m n r h ḥ χ, kh χ, kh

A j y a w b p f m n r h H x X

X i t j X c z F ; @

z s š q k g t ṯ d ḏ

s s š ḳ k g t ṯ d ḏ

s s s q k ḳ t θ, th ṭ t , tch

z s S q k g t T d D