Egyptian Hieroglyphs – Lesson 6 – Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Egyptian Hieroglyphs – Lesson 6

Adjectival Sentences and Relative Clauses

The Basics

Up until this point, only the most basic concepts of the Egyptian language have been introduced. From this point on, we will begin to integrate these concepts into the bigger picture–how these basic components interact with each other to create a complex language through which ancient Egyptians communicated. This lesson, and a handful of the following, will deal with different types of nonverbal sentences and clauses.

Sentences are combinations of words and phrases that express a complete idea, and consist of a subject and a predicate. At the most basic level, the subject of a sentence is the person or thing who performs the action of the verb. On the other hand, the predicate expresses something about the subject. Here’s an English example:

“King Tutankhamun is interesting.”

King Tutankhamun is the subject, while is interesting is the predicate. Try to identify the subject and predicate in the following sentence．

Example

Subject

Predicate

Example

Subject

Predicate

The examples above the verb “is” is used. There is not a counterpart to this verb in the Egyptian language. Instead, we would find a sentence like “Interesting, King Tutankamun” or “Hatshepsut, the pharaoh of Egypt.” When we find these types of sentences in Egyptian, we identify them as nonverbal sentences; however, we will supply the verbs “is,” “was,” “were,” or “are” in order to create a more meaningful English translation. The first type of nonverbal sentence we will look at is the adjectival sentence.

Adjectival Sentences

When a sentence uses an adjective for the predicate, it is know as and adjectival sentence. This type of sentence follows the format of adjectival predicate + subject. Both the gender and the number of the adjective does not need to match the subject. Lets look at a few examples to make more sense of this.

𓈖𓆱𓐍𓏏𓂝 𓊃𓀀𓏤
nḫt s	“the man is strong” or “strong is the man” literally “strong, the man”
𓈖𓆓𓇛𓅓𓏜𓆤 𓏏𓏌 𓏏𓈖
nḏm bit tn	“this honey is sweet” or “sweet is the honey” literally “sweet, this honey”
𓇋𓇩𓋴𓆰𓏜𓄤𓆑𓂋𓏏
is nfrt	“the beautiful one is old” or “the beautiful ones are old” literally “old, the beautiful one”
𓅨𓂋𓇓𓅱
wr sw	“he is great”

In each example above, the adjective is located at the head of the sentence, followed by the subject. In the first example, the subject is the noun s and the predicate is nḫt. As you may have discovered, the subjects of the sentences can be both a noun (phrase) or a pronoun. In the third example, the subject nfrt is a nominalized adjective (an adjective acting as a noun) and the predicate is is ,”old.” In the last example, the subject is the pronoun sw and the predicate is wr. See if you can identify the subject and predicate of the second example.

Example

Subject

Predicate

Example

Subject

Predicate

The common thread in adjectival sentences is that the they express a certain quality or characteristic about the subject. That quality functions as the main purpose of the sentence.

Adjectival Sentences of Possession

This construction is fairly rare in long texts of Middle Egyptian; however it is quite common to find in names. This construction was used in the name of the owner whose coffin I studied for my thesis, Nesytanebbettawy. This construction is composed of the genitival adjective, n 𓈖, + either a dependent or independent pronoun at the head of the sentence, followed by the thing or person being possessed. You might want to check out Lesson 3 for a quick refresher on pronouns. This may seem confusing at first, but let’s look at a few examples to clear it up.

𓈖𓍿𓅱𓅃
n ṯw ḥrw	You belong to Horus.
𓈖𓇓𓅱𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖
n sw kmt	He belongs to Egypt.

There is one tip that might help you identify this construction. When either the feminine or masculine form of the third person singular dependent pronoun is used, the genitival adjective often rendered as 𓈖𓄓. Once we identify this type of construction, we can begin translating. Look for the pronoun in the first example. The pronoun is the 2ms dependent pronoun, “you.” Begin your translation with the pronoun “you.” Then, insert “belong to” between the pronoun and the noun, “Horus.” The translation results with “you belong to Horus.” So, it is the noun that acts as the posessor and the pronoun that acts as the possessed. Since this pattern is fixed, you follow the same steps with the second example. The pattern changes slightly when independent pronouns are used.

𓈖 𓈖𓏏𓎡𓏇𓇋𓅱𓃠
n ntk miw	“the cat belongs to you”
𓈖 𓏌𓎡𓀀𓃛𓅱𓃡
n ink iw	“the dog belongs to me”

When the independent pronoun is used, the possessor/possessed relationship flips. Now, it is the pronoun that acts as the possessor, rather than the noun. Remembering small details like this is what makes learning Egyptian hieroglyphs frustrating at times. The language is difficult. My only suggestion is to accept this and keep practicing, because once you pass through the barrier, everything falls into place. Remember, nothing worthwhile comes easy.

Relative Clauses

Clauses

Clauses have both a subject and a predicate, and they function as either a main clause or a subordinate clause. Main clauses are sentences that can stand alone as a complete sentence. “I walked to school,” for example, is a main clause because it completes a thought. Subordinate clauses, on the other hand, cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. “Before the sun rose,” is a subordinate clause that must be attached to a main clause in order to complete a thought.

If we were to combine the two clauses above into one sentence we would create a complete sentence, composed of two clauses, “I walked to school before the sun rose.” In this lesson, we will learn three about relative clauses.

Relative Clauses

When a clause functions like an adjective, it is considered a relative clause. Relative clauses are introduced by words such as “who,” “which,” or “that,” and function as the subjects of the relative clauses. These clauses are subordinate clauses because they describe a quality of a person or thing in a separate clause.

For example, the relative clause “who was mighty,” describes a quality of something, possibly a person; however, that thought is incomplete because the thing to which the clause refers is absent. To complete this thought, an additional clause is required, such as “They spoke of Thutmosis III who was mighty.”

There are two terms that need to be introduced and defined: the coreferent and the antecedent. The antecedent is the noun or noun phrase that the adjective modifies. In the example above, “Thutmosis III” would be the antecedent. Without the antecedent, the clause “who was mighty,” is incomplete. The coreferent is the word within the relative clause which refers back to the antecedent. “Who” would be considered the coreferent in the English example above.

It is possible for relative clauses to stand on their own, but only when the relative adjective functions as a noun. When it functions as a noun it translates as “the one who.” So, we could complete the relative clause above as, “the one who is mighty.”

Relative clauses are introduced by the relative adjective, nty 𓈖𓏏𓏭. When it follows its antecedent, it shares the same number and gender. Below is a chart listing the various forms of the relative adjective.

Number	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	𓈖𓏏𓏭 nty	𓈖𓏏𓏏 ntt
Plural	𓈖𓏏𓅂𓏫 ntyw	–

There are two types of relative clauses, direct or indirect. When the subject of the relative clause is the same as the coreferent, it is a direct relative clause. The English example above, “They spoke of Thutmosis III who was mighty,” is an example of this type. When hen the subject of the relative clause is not the same as the coreferent, then it is an indirect clause. We can modify the sentence above to form an indirect relative clause, “They spoke of Thutmosis III whose army is mighty.” The subject of the relative clause is “army” and the coreferent is “whose,” so it is an indirect relative clause. Lets look at a few examples.

𓇏𓏏𓏭𓀀𓏜𓊪𓈖𓈖𓏏𓏭𓅱𓇋𓇋𓅓𓆑
sḫty pn nty wi im.f	“This peasant whom I was with.”

𓊃𓂝𓎛𓀾𓈖𓏏𓏭𓅓𓉴𓅨
*sʿḥ nty m mr wr*	“The mummy which is in the great pyramid.”

The first example, the coreferent is the suffix f, while the subject is the dependent pronoun wi–an example of an indirect relative clause. In the second example ,the coreferent and the subject of the relative clause are the same, nty–an example of a direct relative clause.

Memorization

Vocabulary

𓇋𓋴𓆑𓏏𓅪	isft	Chaos
𓇋𓍘𓇋𓇋𓅆	ity	Sovereign
𓌙𓅓𓀏	ʿ3m	Asiatic
𓇆	w3ḏ	Green
𓏠𓏌𓏌𓏌	mnw	Monuments
𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴𓉐	mr	Pyramid
𓐍𓏏𓊮	ḫt	Fire
𓄡𓊃𓏭𓅪	ẖsy	Vile, cowardly
𓊃𓂋𓀙	sr	Official
𓌞𓅱𓀀	šmsw	Attendant
𓈎𓈖𓇋𓏲𓂘𓆱	qniw	Palanquin
𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉	k3š	Kush

Biliterals

𓍋	𓄋	𓅨
3b or mr	wp	wr

𓍋𓌸𓈘𓉕	𓍘	𓁶 𓌐
mr	ti	tp

𓂞 𓏙	𓍑	𓇥
di	ḏ3	ḏr

Triliterals

𓄯	𓋾	𓌀
isw	ʿwt	w3s

𓇅	𓊠	𓊤
w3ḏ	wḥʿ	ḫrw

𓌫	𓍉	𓊏
sšm	stp	šsp

Exercises

Exercise 1.

Transliterate and translate.

𓄤𓆑𓂋𓋴𓏏𓐍𓏏𓏛𓏥𓎟𓏏

Transliteration and Translation

nfr st ḫwt nbt

It is better than anything.

𓅨𓂋𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴𓉐𓊪𓈖

Transliteration and Translation

wr mr pn

This pyramid is great.

𓀙𓏲𓀀𓏫 𓈖𓏏𓏭 𓂋𓐛𓏤 𓆑

Transliteration and Translation

srw nty r gs.f

The officials who were at his side.

𓄡𓊃𓏭𓅪𓌙𓅓𓀏𓏫

Transliteration and Translation

ẖsy ʿ3mw

The Asiatics are vile.

𓈖 𓈖𓏏𓎡𓈎𓈖𓇋𓏲𓂘𓆱

Transliteration and Translation

n ntk qniw

The palanquin belongs to you.

Return to Index – Continue to Lesson 7