Grammer Rules

Basic Overview of Grammar Rules

Structure/Order of Egyptian Sentences

Word Order

verb, adverbial predicate, subject, adverbs

*Action, subject, adjective

*adverbial phases- preposition accompanied by noun

*Dative
   subject or object is a pronoun, prep n governs a suffix-pronoun (dative case)
noun can not precede a pronoun, dependent pronoun can not precede a suffix (ref Gardiner EG 56)
   * ex. (smi ss sst/ pn n nbf m niwt tit the scribe reports this secret to his lord in this city.)
   (hAb.f Tw/ He send you) , (hAb Tw sS/ The scribe sends you.), (twtwy n.s st/ How like (to) her it is)
   (iw.f n.i/ He is mine 'he is to me') (nn n.k st/ It does not belong to you 'it is not to you')

*VsoSO:
(Verb-subject, object with ending) Subject, Object
so: word endings love-lovely love-loveable action word that
has a suffix ending to express the object and subject

*PVsioSOA
P=Particles (iw, mk)
V=Verbals (Person, place thing or idea)
s=pronominal subjects
i=pronominal indirect objects
o=pronominal objects
S=Nominal Subjects
O=Nominal Objects
A=Adverbial

verb+i
.i .k .t. .T .f

Adverbial sentence
Topic   Comment
Non-enclitic particle /\ Noun or dependent pronoun , Adverbial phrase /\

Dative
Differs from other adverbial phrases (ie preposition accompanied by a noun) in its tendency to fallow as closely as possible the word that governs it. Normal word order
smi sS sStA pn n nb.f m niwt tn/ The scribe reports this secret to his lord in this city. 'report scribe secret this to lord his in city this'

The word order is, however modified when the subject or object is a pronoun as well as when the preposition /n/ governs a suffix-pronoun so as to form a dative case. The rule a noun must no precede a pronoun and that the dependent pronoun must no precede a suffix.
ie.   hAb.f Tw/ He sends thee,   hAb Tw sS/ The scribe sends thee
DA Tn sA.f/ His son ferries you across (or) You ferry his son (/Tn/ my be the suffix just as well as the dependent pronoun)

sDm.n.f form *Past tense
verb+n+ subject
wSb.n.i n.f st/ I answered (sDm.n.f concept) it to him

~noun+adjective = nTr nb 'God every/ every god'
~noun+noun = nb nTrw   'lord of the gods'
~noun+adjective = nTr(w) nfrw   'gods perfect/ perfect gods'
~? + subject   'ptr rn.k /What is your name?'
~independent pronouns is subject + ? wr pw / How much is it
~when used as pred, the adj. proceeds it's subject no change in number or gender bin sy 'she is bad'

~nfr Hr AB construct
describe characteristics of someone or something
nfr, A part is refers to the person or thing begin described
Hr, B part is refers to something the person or thing owns or has
adjective quality to the owner rather then the thing owned
nfr Hr /good of face 'good one of face' *kindly*
A noun and adjective or noun phrase connection in a direct or indirect genitive
nfrwt nt Haw.sn/ those who have beautiful bodies 'Beautiful ones of their bodies'
aSA zrw / many of sheep, in English 'one who has many sheep'
nft n.f m hrw pn r sf /Better for him today then yesterday

Honorific transposition/ Honorific anticipation
*/nTr/ and /nsw/ Name of the god or King is placed first to honor them but spoken last*
direct genitive possessing noun is always second
Hm nTr / servant of god, priest ; glyphs read 'nTr Hm' 𓊹𓍛
Hwt nTr / mansion of god, temple ; glphs read 'nTr Hwt' 𓊹𓉗
   Hwt-nTr mAwt/ new temple; glyphs read 'nTr Hwt' mAwt
pr-nsw/ house of the king (palace); glyphs 'nsw-pr' 𓇓𓏏𓈖𓉐𓏺𓏺
    sA nsw / Son of the king, prince ; glyphs 'nsw sA' 𓇓𓅭
    mi ra/ Like Ra ; glyphs read 'ra mi' 𓇳𓀭𓏇𓇋
sA-ptH/ son of Ptaḥ ; glyphs read 'ptH sA' 𓊪𓏏𓎛𓅭𓀀 (Name)
   s-n-wsrt/ Man of the goddess Wosret ; glyphs read 'wsrt-s-n' 𓄊𓂋𓏏𓊃𓈖 (royal name)
mry-ra/ Beloved of Ra ; glyphs read 'ra-mery' 𓇳𓌻𓇌 (royal name)
   mry-imn/ beloved of Amun; glyphs read 'imn-mry' 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓀭𓌸𓇌
   nsw-sA/ Son of the king; glyphs 'nsw-sA' 𓇓𓏏𓈖𓅭𓏺
stX nTr/ Set the god ; god's name goes before but in glyphs 'nTr stX' 𓊹𓋴𓏏𓄡𓁣
sA-mrw rnsi/ Meru, son of Rensi (father's name written first in glyphs out of respect)
            'mrw sA rnsi'𓌻𓂋𓅱𓆇𓂋𓈖𓋴𓇋𓀀

(MK) A sA B "A, son of B"
   ink swnw nsw/ I am a royal doctor; ink nsw swnw/ I am doctor of the King
n(i)-sw-mnTw (spoken)/ He belongs to Montu; mnTw-ni-sw (glyphs written )
* (ref. Middle Egyptian:... by James P. Allen)

Verbal sentence Verb, subject, object
wbn ra m pt (The sun rises in the sky 'rises sun in sky')
| \ \
action subject object

Nonverbal sentences without a subject
    (nfr n.tn/ It is good for you 'good it you')
    (iw mi sxr nTr/ It was like the plan of god)
* Predicate either has no proper verb or has (is, are, was etc.) links between subject and predicate expressed in English by part of the verb 'to be' often left unexpressed in Egyptian
ra m pt (The sun is in the sky 'sun in sky')

Nominal sentences
AB , A pw B (A or B subject of predicate)
(pXrt pw anx/ Life is cycle) (J.PA 123)
   *in ME must have an expressed subject except in negative, pw/he in 'A pw ' can be removed
    (ni zA.i is/ He is not my son)

Adjective
i, t: makes noun into adjective 'nisbes' (nwti [m] nwtt [f]/ local; nwt/ town root word) can also makes preposition into adjective

Personal pronouns plurals and more

Plurals
Male
w: plural [m] [(S)] sn(w), xfty(w), HfAw(w), nTr(w)
wy, wi : dual [m] [(S)] sn(wi), xfty(wi), HfAw(wi), nTr(wi)

i : root+i
w : root+w

i.e.
pAyw sDmw n nTrw/ The matters heard among the gods (plural endings w added to match the plural nTr)
pAyw bAkw n tpyw aw/ That were put into effect by the first chiefs.
ddw.f nin msy sArw/ If you speak to him, the young one will not come up short. (nin sArw= not a needy man)
HAty-a m Tzw n mdwt nfrwt/ Beginning of the collection of fine words (collection= Tz speech)

Female
wt : plural [f] [(S)] root+wt sn(wt), xft(wt), HfA(wt), nTr(wt)
ty, ti : dual [f] [(S)] root+i sn(ti), xft(ti), HfA(ti), nTr(ti)

t : root+t   snt, xftt , HfAt, nTrt

i.e.
dpt nbt Smt/ Taste is altogether gone. (female endings nb all+t)

who
wy: in action root+wy wnn(wy) who exist
wt: in action root+wt qd(wt) disposition character

Possessive plural
Singular    n(y) N35 [m]                                nt   N35:X1 [f]
Plural      n(y)w W24 or W24:Z1 [m]        n(y)t N35:X1 [f]
Dual          n(y)wy N35-G43-Z4 [m]            n(y)ty   N35:X1*Z4 [f]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The, This, That, Those, These

Male

𓅮 pA - The/This

𓇋𓊪𓅱 ipA - These

𓊪𓈖 pn - This/That

𓇋𓊪𓈖 ipn - These

𓊪𓆑𓄿𓈐 pfA - That

𓊪𓆑 pf - That (one)

𓇋𓊪𓆑 ipf - Those

𓊪𓅱 pw - The/This

𓇋𓊪𓅱 ipw - These (plr)

Female

𓏏𓄿 tA - The/This

𓍿𓈖 Tn - This

𓏏𓈖 tn - This/ That

𓇋𓏏𓈖 itn - That/These

𓇋𓊪𓏏𓈖 iptn - Those (plr)

𓍿𓆙 Tf - That

𓏏𓆑𓄿𓈐 tfA - That (over there)

𓏏𓆑𓄿𓏭𓈐 tfAy -That (over there)

𓏏𓆑 tf - That (one)

𓏏𓆑𓏭 tfy - That/This

𓇋𓊪𓏏𓆑 iptf - Those (plr)

𓏏𓅱 tw - This/That

𓏏𓅱𓇋𓇋 twy - This/That

𓇋𓊪𓏏𓅱 iptw - These (plr)

𓇋𓊪𓏏𓅱𓏏 iptwt - These (plr)

𓈖𓏏𓏏 nt(y)t- That

𓈖𓏏𓏏 nt(y.w)t- That (plr)

Genderless & Plural

𓈖𓄿 nA - The/This/These

𓈖𓄿𓈖 nA-n(y) - Those/That/These/This

𓇑 nn - This/These

𓇑𓇑𓈖𓈖 nn n(y) -That/Those/This

𓈖𓆑𓄿𓈐 nfA - That/Those

𓈖𓆑𓈖 nfAy - That/Those

𓈖𓆑 nf - That/Those

𓈖𓆑𓄿𓏭𓈐 nfy - That/Those

𓍇𓏌𓅱 nw - This/These

𓈖𓆑𓈖 nf-n(y) - This/These

Of

Male

𓅮𓄿𓇋𓇋 pAy

he of

Female

𓏏𓄿𓇋 tAy

he of, she of, they of, the

Genderless

𓅓 m

with, by means of, from, out of, as, namely, when, as, in, though, together with

𓈖 n

with, by means of, from, out of, as, namely, when, as, though, together with, because of

Plr

𓏌𓏤 nw

of, belongs to

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Personal Pronouns

Suffix Dependent Independent

1s    nwk ink I am, I

1s .i     wi ink    I, me, thee

1dual .ny we two, us two

1pl .n(w) n(w), inn (LK) we, us, our

2ms .k, *ky tw, (older Tw)   ntk (older Twt)    you, your, thou, thy

2fs .T, .t tn, (older Tn) ntT, ntt (older Twt) you, your, thou, thy

f&ms                                 Twt, twt (later)      you, thou (originally m)

2dual   .Tny you two

2pl   .Tn, .tn Tn(w), tn(w) ntTn, nttn (later) you, your

2dbl Tny you two, your, you both

3ms .f, *fy sw sw, ntf (older swt) he, him, his, it, its

f&ms                              swt, Swt (originally) he, she, it

3fs   .s, *sy sy, st    nts, ntst she, her, it, it

None    st it

One .tw one

3pl .sn sn(w), st ntsn, ntw they, them, their, (it)

3dual   .sny they two, them two,

* goes with dual nouns

effeminate and masculine agree with the nibis themselves and not with noun or pronoun (iri-at nb/ every room keeper, not iri-at nbt/ one pertaining to every room)

Hr-ntt nwk wab/ because I am pure
ink Hmt.f /I am his wife
hAb wi nsw/ The king sends me
Hmt.f nfr.t / His beautiful wife
iw.f Hna.i /He is with me
Dd.f n.i /He says to me
iw.f m pt/ He is in the sky
redi.n.f wi Hr tA/ He placed me on the ground (verb+n+subject)

Used only as subject, includes adverbial predicate.
Adverbial Sentences
*Stands first*   (after 17th Dynasty not standard middle Egyptian)

1s   tw.i        I

1pl   tw.n we

2ms   tw.k you, you are

2fs   tw.(t) you, you are

2pl   tw.tn     your

3ms   sw he, it

3fs   si she, it

3n   st(w), zt it, they

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1s     tw.i       I am

ms   tw.k you are, thou art

fs    tw.T you are, thou art

ms tw.f he is, it is

fs   tw.s she is, it is

pl   tw.n we are

pl tw.Tn you are

pl    tw. sn they are

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stative Verbs
Sunject + Stative
-ed

1s        .kw , .kwi , .ki (OE)       ( I )

1pl .nw (OE-ME) ,   .w(i)n                                           (we are )

2s .ti (NK m&f)        ( you )

2pl .tywni (rare) (m&f)

3ms .w , .i (OE)   (not always written)                              ( it )

3fs .ti , tw (NK)

3fpl              .ti (OE)

3pl       .wi , .y (MK m&f), .w (not always written)    ( they )

3plf    .ti (NK)

3m2          .wii (OE dual)

3f2          .tii (OE dual)

pr.ti/ You have come. (when the verb ends in t is can be omitted)
nxt.ti / Forceful
hA.w/ descended
Htp.win/ We are contented
iwa.kw/ I have been rewarded
itrw Sw.(w) nw kmt/ The river of Egypt is dried up
m.k wi Atp.kw m ianw/ Look, I am laden with woe
mH.ti/ It is filled
mH.w/ it was filled
qrs.wi/ They are burred
ann.ti/ It was returned
ii.kw/ I have come
aHa.n.tw Ha.w/ Then it was rejoiced (.n. past tense, hai- rejoice) Hai.f / Then he rejoiced)
inbw.sn fx.wi/ Their walls have been destroyed
mn.w/ It stuck
Hr.i Hs.w/ I was brave 'My sight is blessed' (Rutgers) or 'My face looked forward' "Confronting" (Baines) (Hsi- favor, praise)
ib.kw/ I thought
sDr.kw/ I laid (down.)
ref. James P. Allen, Rutgers

Possession
Hmt nsw : King's women
Hmt nTr : God's wife (Wife of god)
sA sy : a man's son
nswt nTrw : "the gods' king" or "king of the gods"

Connection
*You can put one now in front of another r-pw
Dba sAH : a finger or a toe 'finger, toe' (Allen, Hearst)

-ing suffix
also sometimes nothing changes
(present participle)
sn mr/ Loving brother
snw mr(w)/ Loving brothers
snt mrt/ Loving sister
snwt mr(t)/ Loving sisters
anx/ life = anx/ living
sbA/teach = sbA /teaching

-er suffix
also sometimes nothing changes
sbA/teach = sbAyt /teacher
Hs/sing = Hsw/singer
rx/know, learn = rxw/teacher

-ed suffix
also sometimes nothing changes
rx/know, learn = rxw/learned

Past Tense

pAw : (auxiliary v. with past meaning) 'past tense' marker (who use to do)
n : past tense (Dd.n.f / he has spoken)

s sDm.i   (I hear) passive sDm.tw.i (I am heard)

ms sDm.k     (you hear) passive sDm.tw.k (you are heard)

fs sDm.T   (you hear) passive sDm.tw.i (I am heard)

ms sDm.f   (I hear) passive sDm.tw.i (I am heard)

fs sDm.s   (I hear) passive sDm.tw.i (I am heard)

pl sDm.n   (we hear) passive sDm.tw.n (we are heard)

pl sDm.Tn   (you hear) passive sDm.tw.Tn (you are heard)

pl sDm.sn   (they hear) passive sDm.tw.sn (they are heard)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adverbial uses a noun
indicated time or expressed by a noun used absolutely.
Sms ib.k tr n wnn.k/ Fallow they desire so long as you live.

Adverbial predicate
*always is masculine singular regardless if it has a plur or diffarent gender subject
sS m im/ Scribe is there
sS m niswt / Scribe in the city
sS nfr/ scribe is good
nfr nbt tn/ This lady is beauitful.
aA Hwt tn/ This house is large.

Subject as pronoun
*then it's dependent not a suffix pronoun
nfr tw / You (m) are good
nfr tn /you (f) are good
nfr sw / He is good
nfr sj / She is good
nfr tn / tn - You (pl)are good
nfr sn/ They are good
nfr st /It (n) is good, they (n) are good
nfrwi st / How good it is! (exclamatory)
*First person excluded and called a Nominal sentence
ink nfr / I am (a) good (one)
inn nfrw/ We are good (ones)
* ref https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Pre-Late_Egyptian_Reconstruction/Adjectives

Direct Genitive
Direct genitive is made by use of two nouns that are placed side by side
ex.
imy-r pr (overseer of the house, 'steward')
nb imAx (possessor of veneration, venerable)
rx xrt-ib nb.f (knowing the desire of his lord)
imy-r sxtyw mnx (efficient overseer of fowlers)

Indirect Genitive
Expresses possession. It uses genitival adjective (ny 'belongs to', n 'to' or 'for') and is place in between two nouns, the first noun is the possessed noun. It match in both gender and number.
ex.
nsw n kmt/ The king of Egypt
niwt nt nHH/ The city of Eternity.
wrw nw AbDw/ The great ones of Abydos
aAw n sxty pn/ The asses of this peasant.
Hmwt nt wrw/ The wives of the chiefs
inw nb nfr n sxt/ All good produce of the country.
imyw-r.k nw rwyt / Thy overseers of the portal.
sDAwt im.f nt pr-HD/ Valuable were in it belonging to the treasury.

Vocative
When pw(y) or tw(y) is used in place of a god or a human name.
ex.
hA nxt pw / Oh Nakhet! 'Oh, this Nakhet''
Hsw Hs tw Hry-S.f/ O praised one, may Arsaphes praise thee.
irt tw nt Hrw/ O eye of Horu.
sDm rk n.i HAty-a/ Hearken thou to me, O prince.
mk wi r nHm aA.k sxty Hr wnm.f Sma.i/ I will take away they ass, peasant, because it is eating my corn.

Questions
/in/ or /n/ goes at the front of the sentence
/tr/ or /ty/ normally fallows after the first word
(i)n ** tr
negative maker and question maker
stands as a question mark goes at the beginning of a sentence (not normally translated)
in ink tr smA.f/ Am I his confederate?