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nꜣ

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Egyptian

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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n
A

 anaphoric demonstrative pronoun

  1. (Old and Late Egyptian) Used for vocative reference
  2. (Middle Egyptian) the aforementioned ones, the said ones (see usage notes)
  3. (Late Egyptian) the plural definite article; the
  4. (Late Egyptian, with following noun) those of, these of

Usage notes

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This demonstrative was originally a pronoun, and so did not directly modify nouns. In Middle Egyptian it becomes used as a demonstrative modifying plural nouns. When used in this way, it precedes the noun, with the genitival adjective n(j) in between, e.g. "said feet" is nꜣ n(j) rdw (literally "the aforementioned one of feet").

In Middle Egyptian, this pronoun is somewhat colloquial; in Late Egyptian its force has weakened to that of a definite article.

Inflection

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Old Egyptian demonstratives
determiners pronouns1 adverbs
singular dual plural unmarked
masculine feminine masculine feminine masculine feminine
proximal to speaker pn
tn
*jpnj
jptnj, jptntj
jpn
jptn
nn

distal pf
tf
*jpfj
*jptfj, *jptftj
jpf
jptf
nf

proximal to spoken of pj, pw, p
tj, tw
jpwj
jptwj, jptwtj
jpw
jptw, jptwt
nw

vocative pꜣ
tꜣ




nꜣ
ꜥꜣ

1 Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives
determiners and pronouns adverbs
singular plural1
masculine feminine
proximal pn
tn
nn
ꜥn
distal pf, pfꜣ
tf, tfꜣ
nf, nfꜣ
ꜥf
‘copula’ and vocative pw, pwy
tw, twy
nw

anaphoric pꜣ
tꜣ
nꜣ
ꜥꜣ

1 Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles
masculine feminine plural adverb
pronoun pꜣw
dj
determiners and pronouns pꜣj
tꜣj
nꜣj
possessive determiners1 pꜣy
tꜣy
nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’) p-n, pꜣ
t-nt, tꜣ
nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles pꜣ
tꜣ
nꜣ2
indefinite articles wꜥ2
nhꜣy2

1 Used with suffix pronouns.
2 Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Descendants

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  • Demotic: nꜣ
    • Coptic: ⲛ- (n-), ⲛ̄- (n̄-) (Sahidic, Fayyumic, Akhmimic, Lycopolitan), ⲛⲉ- (ne-) (Sahidic, Fayyumic, Lycopolitan), ⲛⲓ- (ni-) (Bohairic, Fayyumic)

References

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  • James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 54–56.
  • Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 53
  • Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
  • Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN