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From: Stephen Fryer <sfryer@prcn.org> Geoff has asked me to keep the lessons and exercises moving ahead in his absence (since it sounds as though he won't have time to work on then for quite a while). So here is the first bit, which should keep things going for a little while at least (I hope, since I'm going to be incommunicado from Christmas to New Year). This topic is one that needs to be thoroughly digested, since it is basic to a lot of other Egyptian grammar, so if you have any doubts about any of it BE SURE TO ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS! Even if I'm out of touch, there are others on the list who can help out. ADVERBS AND THE ADVERBIAL SENTENCEADVERBSSo far we have talked about nouns, adjectives and pronouns. Now we need to talk about another part of speech: adverbs. An adverb is similar to and adjective in that it describes, or "modifies" another word. An adjective modifies a noun. An adverb modifies a verb or an adjective. They tell how or when or where something happens: He ran QUICKLY. He stayed HOME. He came YESTERDAY (At least that is the basic idea. To confuse the issue a little, there is a tendency to call words that don't fit into any of the other categories, "adverbs.") Egyptian has very few actual adverbs: aA here min today im there ADVERBIAL PHRASESEgyptian makes up for its lack of adverbial words by using adverbial phrases. An adverbial phrase is typically made up of a preposition + a noun phrase. (A noun phrase is simply a noun plus any adjectives that modify it.) We make frequent use of adverbial phrases in English too: He is IN THE HOUSE. She went TO THE STORE. They left IN A HURRY. In Egyptian we have the same sort of thing: m pr in the house r niwt to the city Hr wAt on the road m pr=k nfr in your beautiful house We also have cases where an adverbial phrase is apparently used as an adjective (that is, it modifies a noun): m dpt m wAD wr in a boat on the sea This is usually taken to be a "virtual relative clause," that is it should be understood to mean: m dpt nty m wAD wr in a boat which is on the sea This sort of thing can allow us to string adverbial phrases together to build up meanings. ADVERBIAL SENTENCESEgyptian makes a lot of use of adverbial sentences; in fact they are rather basic to understanding much of Egyptian grammar. An adverbial sentence takes one of three basic forms: iw [NOUN] [ADVERB] iw=[SUFFIX] [ADVERB] [NOUN] [ADVERB] In all cases the noun could be a noun phrase and the adverb could be an adverbial phrase. Notice that two of these types of sentence start with the particle "iw," which is not translated into English. The first type of sentence is used for stand-alone statements of fact (whether true or not!), and in fact you could consider the "iw" to indicate that a factual statement follows. Some examples of this type of sentence are: iw s.t m pr=s The woman is in her house. iw sS Hr wAt The scribe is on the road. Note that although the Egyptian sentence doesn't contain a verb, like the Adjectival Sentence, we have to stick in the copula ("is'" "are," "were," etc.) in English. The second type of sentence is very similar to the first, except that the noun subject is replaced by a suffix pronoun: iw=f m Xnw He is at home. iw=n m dpt We were in a boat. Here the particle "iw" has to do double duty as a sentence opener, and as a support for the suffix pronoun. We will return to this in a moment. The third type of structure does not start with "iw" and cannot be used as an independent sentence. It is used as a "circumstantial clause," that is a subordinate sentence which describes the circumstances in which the main sentence occurs. In English we mark our circumstantial clauses with introductory words ("conjunctions") such as "when," while," "although," "but," etc. Egyptian makes very little use of conjunctions, so you will find you have to supply them yourself when you are translating. The whole sentence structure then becomes: iw [NOUN][ADVERB][NOUN][ADVERB] iw sxt.y m AH.t Hm.t=f m pr The peasant was in the field while his wife was in the house. Now if we want to use a pronoun as the subject of our circumstantial clause, we have to use the suffix pronoun supported by "iw." Unfortunately, at first, this is going to look confusingly like a main sentence, so be a little careful! iw [NOUN][ADVERB]iw=[SUFFIX][ADVERB] iw sxt.y m rS.wt iw=f m AH.t=f The peasant is in rejoicing when he is in his field. We could also combine this with an adjectival sentence: nfr.wy pr=i Hm.t=i im How beautiful my house is when my wife is in it! We are starting to build up some rather complex expressions here, and you may be feeling a little like stopping here. However, let me throw just one more idea at you. The infinitive in Egyptian is a noun: mr(i).t loving ii.t coming sDm hearing So if we put a preposition in front of it, we get an adverbial phrase: Hr mr(i).t upon loving (present progressive) m ii.t in coming (present progressive) r sDm to hearing (future) And if we put these into an adverbial sentence we get: iw=i Hr mr(i).t Hm.t=i I am upon loving my wife (=I love my wife.) iw sS m ii.t The scribe is in coming (=The scribe is coming.) iw sS r sDm The scribe is to hearing (=The scribe will hear) These are called "pseudo-verbal" sentences, because the Egyptian sentence doesn't contain a verb, but it is translated into English as if it did. And I believe you have seen something like that before ;-) You should try translating the (few) hieroglyphic exercises now, and then try to translate these sentences. 1) The scribe is in his house. 2) The peasant is at home. 3) The boat is on the sea. 4) She is in the house with her daughter. 5) The peasant is happy (=in rejoicing) when Re' is in the sky. 6) The woman is in the house baking bread while the peasant is in the field. 7) His majesty will go to that city when the boat is on the river. 8) How sweet the taste of honey is! It is better than anything! -- |
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