Pre-Late Egyptian Reconstruction/The Perfect Active Participle
< Pre-Late Egyptian ReconstructionAn accepted theory in Egyptological studies is that The Perfect Active Participle mirrored an identical internal frame as most other Afroasiatic languages, emitting a sort of adjectival dimension to the verb. The vocalic template being: CaCic[1].
The CaCiC form appeared to have collapsed alongside the CaCaC forms and both were indistinguishable from each other at a point in Egyptian history when not only the vowels of unstressed syllables were no longer distinguishable in speech but also when a relocation of stress due to an augmented affix (or word) caused a deletion of a medial vowel. So, for example:
- nāfir + af = nǎfraf ...and... nāfar + af = nǎfraf
- nāfir + af = nǎfraf ...and... nāfar + af = nǎfraf
This may explain why their Old Egyptian function as a synthetic adjective form grew unproductive in Late Egyptian and eventually assimilated to lexiconized nouns in Coptic. Below are the forms of the Perfect Active Participle CaCiC.
Helmut Satzinger [2] says: To be exact: we are dealing in Egyptian with two verbal nouns, an unmarked form CaCVC, and a marked form with gemination or reduplication and “pluralic” meaning, as we would say today.
Templatic Class II
The following paradigm equates to Osing and Schenkel's: Subjekts-Nominalisierungen: Nominalbildungsklasse II 1: sādim/sǎdm-t.
Form 1: AaBiC (masc)
| Root Class | Formula | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-lit. | AǎB | ||
| 2ae-gem. | AǎB | wǎn - someone | ⲞⲨⲞⲚSB, ⲞⲨⲀⲚAA2F - someone |
| 3-lit. | AāBiC | wāɜid - green; fresh | |
| 3ae-inf. | AāBij | māsij - who was born | |
| 3ae-gem. | |||
| 4-lit. | AǎBCiD | dǎldil[3] - drop, drip, leak | |
| 4ae-inf. | AǎBCij | zǎḫnij[4] - fellow; pair |
Form 1: AaBCat (fem)
| Root Class | Formula | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-lit. | AāBat | mānat[5] - root | NOYNE - root |
| 2ae-gem. | AāBat | dābat - brick | |
| 3-lit. | AǎBCatLEg AaBǐCatOEg-MEg[6] | nǎfratLEg - the good/beautiful one nafǐratOEg-MEg - the good/beautiful one bǎjnat - bad (fem) | ⲚⲞϤⲢⲈS, ⲚⲞϤⲢⲒB, ⲚⲀϤⲢⲈAA2 - good, profitable ⲂⲞⲞⲚⲈSA, ⲂⲞⲚⲒB, ⲂⲰⲚⲈO, ⲂⲀⲀⲚⲈSf, ⲂⲀⲚⲒF |
| 3ae-inf. | AǎBjat | gǎbjat - weak, bad | |
| 4-lit. | AaBCīDat | daldīlat[7] - drop, drip, leak |
Templatic Class II: Form 2
There appeared to be a variant perfect active participle vocalization[8];
Antonio Loprieno [9] mentions Wolfgang Schenkel's notations consisting of III-inf verbs of movement showing the pattern ci:caj. This may possibly explain one (of many) reasons for the original use of this vocalic form.
Form 2: AiBaC (masc)
| Root Class | Formula | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-lit. | AǐB | mǐn - stable (binding) | |
| 2ae-gem. | AīBaB | šīrar - small | |
| 3-lit. | AīBaC | ꜥīfad - nail; pin | |
| 3ae-inf. | AīBaj | jījaj - has come |
Note:
A shift of stress to the final syllable comprises Form 4 (Osing and Schenkel's Subjekts-Nominalisierungen: Nominalbildungsklasse II 4: sidǎm/sidāmat)
(3-lit.) pitǎḥ - creator
(4-lit.) jinbǎɜ - mute (person)
Form 2: AiBCat (fem)
| Root Class | Formula | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-lit. | AǐBat | ||
| 2ae-gem | AǐB(B)at | šǐrrat - small | |
| 3-lit. | AǐBCat | qǐbɜat - chest | |
| 3ae-inf | AǐBjat | mǐsjat - woman who gave birth |
Note:
A shift of stress (of the fem form) to the middle syllable comprises Form 4 (Osing and Schenkel's Subjekts-Nominalisierungen: Nominalbildungsklasse II 4: sidǎm/sidāmat)
(3-lit.) jiḥānat - cupped hand
Templatic Class II: Form 3
This form appears to be specialized for adjectives[10].
Form 3: AūBiC (masc)
| Root Class | Formula | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-lit. | |||
| 2ae-gem | AūBiB | wūrij/r - big | |
| 3-lit. | AūBiC | mūɜiꜥ - true | |
| 3ae-inf | AūBij | mūtij - correct |
Form 3: AūBCat (fem)
| Root Class | Formula | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-lit. | |||
| 2ae-gem. | AūBat | wūrat - big | |
| 3-lit. | AǔBCat | mǔɜꜥat - true | |
| 3ae-inf. | AǔBjat | mǔt(jat) - correct |
- ↑ Most adjectives other than nb and nisbes have an extant cognate verb, e.g. nfr "good" and nfr "become good". These can usually be analyzed as participles, because they share a common vocalization with non-adjectival participles, e.g. wbḫ *wabiḫ > ⲞⲨⲰⲂⳈ/ⲞⲨⲰⲂϢ "white" ("one who is light", from wbḫ "become light") and wḥꜥ *wáḥiˤ > ⲞⲨⲰϨⲈ "fisherman" ("one who nets", from wḥꜥ “net”). They are therefore generated by the same syntactic process as participles, as in jmnt nfrt (Pyr. 282b) "the beautiful West". - Allen, James P. The Ancient Egyptian Language: An Historical Study pg 75.
- ↑ https://homepage.univie.ac.at/helmut.satzinger/Texte/EgnSem01.pdf pg 230
- ↑ A noun (not an adjective/participle) according to Jürgen Osing and Wolfgang Schenkel (Zur Rekonstruktion der deverbalen Nominalbildung des Ägyptischen).
- ↑ A noun (not an adjective/participle) according to Jürgen Osing and Wolfgang Schenkel.
- ↑ A noun (not an adjective/participle) according to Jürgen Osing and Wolfgang Schenkel.
- ↑ Loprieno, Antonio. A Linguistic Introduction pg 87.
- ↑ A noun (not an adjective/adjective) according to Jürgen Osing and Wolfgang Schenkel.
- ↑ 'As was to be expected, pattern no. 1 (sādim fem sǎdmVt) is the vocalization of the perfect active participle. It can not be excluded that also pattern no 2 (sīdam) has this function, although languages usually have a uniform pattern for participle forms. - Satzinger, Helmut On Egyptian Participles and Nomina Agentis pg 475 http://homepage.univie.ac.at/helmut.satzinger/Texte/Participles.pdf
- ↑ In his book 'Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction' pg 87 and 260.
- ↑ Satzinger, Helmut On Egyptian Participles and Nomina Agentis pg 475 http://homepage.univie.ac.at/helmut.satzinger/Texte/Participles.pdf