Download Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives

Simple Egyptian Grammar
GRAMMAR : explains how sentences are constructed from blocks of ideas
made up of individual words. Words have different functions in a sentence
depending upon what the person writing or speaking wants to say.
The basic types of words are as follows:
NOUN : does things or has them done to it;
ADJECTIVE : describes nouns (good, bad, large);
ADVERB describes the state of existence of a noun ( there , here , quickly );
VERB describes what a noun does or has done to it.
There is no word for the a or is in Egyptian.
NOUNS : Writings and Uses
Gender
All nouns are either masculine or feminine and are later referred back to by the
pronouns he or she (there is no neutral gender it ). Masculine and femine words
are usually easy to distinguish because feminine words have the ending t. In
transliteration such words are written with a full-stop between the word and t:
ë! nb lord
C
:! zn
brother
L
≈ pr
house
ë
µ [ nb.t lady, mistress
C
: µ [ zn.t sister
C
Oµ∂ nh.t sycamore tree
Number: Plural and Dual
Plurals are shown in three ways: with three strokes and in transliteration add w:
L
∆ prw
houses ,
ô« nTrw gods
With three dots or circles in appropriate words (incense, sand, grains, fruit, things
with seeds)
J
¢Ø dbw figs
C µ
¶¶¶
ôôô nTrw,
nzwt, OÉ ∂∂∂ nhwt
By writing a logogram or determinative three times:
LL
L prw,
sycamore trees
For pairs of things, there is a separate dual form, which can be shown in a similar
way. The endings are . w y (maculine) and . t y (feminine)
1
ò
»
ò or ò
òÉ
≈ a arm : ò≈ a.wy or ò
1
0
0 tA land : 0
0 tA.wy or G Two Lands a name for Egypt; and plural 0
0
tAw lands
JOINING˚NOUNS together
Genitive Constructions
This is a method of joining two nouns, in English we use of or the possessive
ending s: the house of the woman , or the woman s house. There are two ways of
making a genitive in Egyptian:
Direct: by putting the two nouns you wish to join next to each other in the sentence:
ë L
ë
; ! nb pt Lord of heaven (the sky)
µ [ ≈ nb.t pr Mistress of the House
µ
ë<
∆ nb xaw Lord of crowns ; ÃCôôô nzw nTrw King of the gods
%
~ zA Ra son of Ra ; HB Aw-ib wideness of heart , joy, happiness
á≈m≈
Indirect genitive: n of goes between the two words it joins:
C!
rA n z the mouth of a man
However IT˚MUST˚AGREE˚IN˚GENDER˚AND˚NUMBER˚WITH˚THE˚FIRST
NOUN:
C JCL
Feminine noun: µ n.t µ µ ≈ Hm.t n.t pr woman of the house
≥
≥|
Plural noun: ≈ nw ôôô« ≈ µ≈ nTrw nw niw.t
OTHER˚JOINING˚WORDS
Prepositions
Small, useful particles to stick nouns and ideas together.
m L
≈!g ≈ z m pr
g m in, on, from :
the man in the house
∏
= " t n Hqr bread to the hungry man
C n to, for : Giving µ
∂∆Cèá
|≈ iw r niw.t Going to the city
á r to, towards (a place) ´Éáµ
s
≈ Hr
µ
upon :
Æ∆ɬs≈H Ü miw Hr tmA the cat upon the mat
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PRONOUNS
Pronouns are the words for I, you, he/she, it, we, you, they - they replace nouns. In
Egyptian there are different types of pronouns depending upon their exact use and
function.
SUFFIX PRONOUNS
They come after the word to which they refer and in transliteration are joined onto
the word by =. They agree with the noun which they replace.
!
í
Ä
°
…
=i
I
=k
you (masculine)
=T
you (feminine)
=f
he/it
=z
she/it
C
∆
Ä
C
∆
=n
we
=Tn
you (all)
m
C
C
∆ or …∆ =zn they (all)
The hieroglyph for the first person suffix =i can vary depending on the person to
whom it refers. If it were a woman it would be written with a woman determinative
[; if it were a god it would have the appropriate god determinative K.
Sometimes the first person I was not written at all.
FUNCTION: the function of the suffixes depends upon what they are attached:
1. Attached to nouns: they show possessiveness, my, your, his/her, our, your,
their :
B≈
:!í
zn=k your brother ; ° ib=f his heart ;
µ C
ôQL…∆ Hwt-nTr=zn their temple
C
give something í n=k to you/for you
C
go ° n=f to him
C
–
stand á…∆ xr=zn before them
2. Attached to a preposition, the suffix pronoun is the object of the preposition:
g m, then the preposition has the
in/with me; ∆g… im=z in/with her
When a suffix is attached to the preposition
∆g ∆g!
im:
im=i
longer writing
When an object rather than a person is referred to, then the suffix pronoun must
agree with the gender of the object:
he sees a house ... the woman is
there is a throne ... the cat is
∆g° im=f in it
s
≈ … Hr=z upon it
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ADJECTIVES
Adjectives describe nouns: fast, slow, beautiful, small etc.
They agree with the word they describe in number and gender.
m C
≈!Ø∆| z bin
They follow the word they describe:
J
µ[Cµ Hm.t nfr.t a beautiful wife
a bad man
ôC nTr nfr good god (epithet of the king)
µë
–
Ω µ Cµ± x.t nb.t nfr.t wab.t everything good and pure
Adjectives are also nouns: nfr beautiful , is also good , good one , good thing , a
beauty etc. and an extra determinative can help to define its meaning more clearly:
á
á
µµ
C°µ[ C°
or
F
F
á∆2! Sri from á∆| small .
Adjective Sentences:
The adjective stands at the beginning of the sentence and is followed by the noun
Ω
subject:
h L
òU ≈ aA pr
the house is big
Demonstratives This..... , these.. always FOLLOW the word to which they refer
and agree with it in gender and number.
Grammatically, they are adjectives.
ç
C pn
µ
C tn
ç
O
For example: áÉ%C hrw pn this day
m.sing.
f.sing.
pl.
ÀÀ nn
The plural demonstrative is different however. It comes BEFORE the noun to which
it refers and the genitive n is used to connect it to the noun:
µ ¡– µ
–
C
ÀÀ Ω«C] Ω nn n x.t mnx these (of) excellent things
µ
J
°
µ[ C hm.t=f tn this his wife.
Wtih suffix pronouns, the demonstratives FOLLOW the main group.
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