pꜣj

Egyptian

Etymology

Compare with Classical Syriac ܦܪܚ (peraḥ).

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /pɑi/
- Conventional anglicization: pai

Verb

3ae inf.

(intransitive) to fly

Inflection

Conjugation of pꜣj (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: pꜣ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
pꜣt, pꜣj	pꜣw, pꜣ	pꜣt, pꜣwt, pꜣyt	pꜣ	pꜣ, pꜣy

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
pꜣ⁸	ḥr pꜣt, ḥr pꜣj	m pꜣt, m pꜣj	r pꜣt, r pꜣj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
aspect / mood	active	aspect / mood	active
perfect	pꜣ.n	consecutive	pꜣ.jn
terminative	pꜣt, pꜣyt	consecutive	pꜣ.jn
perfective³	pꜣ	obligative¹	pꜣ.ḫr
imperfective	pꜣ, pꜣy	obligative¹	pꜣ.ḫr
prospective³	pꜣw, pꜣ, pꜣy	potentialis¹	pꜣ.kꜣ
subjunctive	pꜣ, pꜣy	potentialis¹	pꜣ.kꜣ

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
aspect / mood	active	active	passive
perfect	pꜣ.n	—	—
perfective	pꜣw¹, pꜣy, pꜣ	pꜣ	pꜣy, pꜣ
imperfective	pꜣ, pꜣy, pꜣw⁵	pꜣ, pꜣj⁶, pꜣy⁶	pꜣ, pꜣw⁵
prospective	pꜣw¹, pꜣy, pꜣ, pꜣtj⁷	pꜣwtj^{1 4}, pꜣtj⁴, pꜣt⁴
Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine. Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.

Synonyms

Determiner

m sg demonstrative determiner

(Late Egyptian) this, that

Usage notes

This demonstrative was primarily a determiner but could also be used alone, as a pronoun. When used as a determiner it precedes the noun it describes.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns¹	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
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
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
number	singular		plural¹
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
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
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
Used with suffix pronouns. Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Descendants

Coptic: ⲡⲁⲓ̈ (paï), ⲡⲉ (pe)

References

Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 53