Nonverbal Sentences

Nonverbal Sentences

Middle Egyptian has no present-tense verb “to be.” A sentence such as “the man is good,” “I am a scribe,” or “he is in the house” is built without a verb — from a subject and a predicate alone. Such a sentence is called a nonverbal sentence.

Nonverbal sentences are classified by the type of predicate:

Each type has its own fixed word order — and it is the order that makes it possible to identify it.

Word order:

The adjectival sentence is the only one in which the predicate precedes the subject — this is its unmistakable identifying mark.

How to identify it? By the type of predicate:

• A predicate that is an adjective → adjectival sentence.

• A predicate that is a prepositional phrase or an adverb → adverbial sentence.

• A predicate that is a noun or an independent pronoun (as well as pw) → nominal sentence.

The pronoun series in each type:

English needs the verb “to be” in all three types — Egyptian uses none, and in the adjectival sentence the order is reversed as well.

Adjectival Sentence

In the adjectival sentence the predicate is an adjective, and it tells what kind the subject is — not who it is and not where it is. This is the difference between it and the other two nonverbal types: the nominal sentence identifies (“I am a scribe”), the adverbial sentence locates (“he is in the house”), and the adjectival sentence characterizes (“the house is big”).

Three identifying marks:

• The predicate comes first, and the subject after it — this is the only one of the three types in which the order is reversed: ꜥꜣ pr, literally “big house.”

• No verb and no copula — two words only, with no “is” and no “to be.”

• The adjective does not agree — it is frozen in the masculine singular, even when the subject is feminine or plural; in this it differs from the same adjective when it is used attributively.

English marks the difference differently: “the house is big” and “the big house” differ by the verb “is” and by word order. In Egyptian it is order and agreement that make the distinction.

Example (subject in red, adjective in orange):

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	ꜥꜣ pr	“[The] house [is] big” (lit: big house)

No agreement: the predicate adjective always appears in the masculine singular — even when the subject is feminine, dual, or plural.

Example:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	ꜥꜣ dp.t	“[The] boat [is] big”

The subject can be a noun, a noun phrase, an adjective used as a noun, or a pronoun. A personal pronoun appears as a dependent pronoun (nfr sw “he is good”).

Example:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	nfr dšr.wt	“[The] red ones [are] beautiful”
	nfr sjj	“She [is] beautiful”

Attribute or predicate? The same two words — and agreement decides. In a noun phrase the adjective agrees with the noun; as a predicate it never agrees.

Example:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	dp.t nfr.t	“[a] good boat” (phrase)
	nfr dp.t	“[The] boat [is] good” (sentence)

There is no first-person adjectival sentence. The form nfr wj does not exist; instead a nominal sentence with an independent pronoun is used — jnk nfr (lit. “I am a good one”), and in the plural jnn nfr.w.

Although jnk nfr serves as the first person of nfr sw, it is still a nominal sentence, not an adjectival one. This is where the boundary between the two types runs.

Exclamation: the adjective takes the ending .wjj: nfr.wjj ḥm.t tn “how beautiful is this woman!”

Without a subject: when the adjective is followed only by a prepositional phrase with n “to, for,” there is no subject at all — compare English “good for you,” “woe to me.”

Examples:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	bjn.wjj n=j	“How bad for me!”
	nfr.wjj n ḥw.t-nṯr	“How good for [the] temple!”

In comparison the preposition r comes after the subject: nfr st r ḫ.t nb.t “it is better than anything” — see the section “Degrees of Comparison” in Chapter 6.

A special adjectival sentence of possession, n(.jj) sw “he belongs to,” is discussed in the chapter “Possession”.

Nominal Sentence

In the nominal sentence the predicate is a noun or a pronoun, and it identifies the subject or assigns it to a class: “I am a scribe,” “this is a bee,” “the West is a harbor.”

There are three main patterns:

1. A B — two nouns or pronouns in sequence

When the subject is a personal pronoun, an independent pronoun stands at the head of the sentence (jnk, ntk, ntf...):

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	jnk sš	“I [am a] scribe”
	jnk ntk	“I [am] you”

Two nouns can also stand one after the other — but such a construction is rare, and is used mainly when the predicate is a name or a title:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	ḏdj rn sš	“Djedi [is the] name [of the] scribe”

2. A pw — “This is A”

The demonstrative pronoun pw “this” serves as the subject, with the predicate before it: bj.t pw “this is a bee.” This is the most common pattern.

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	bj.t pw	“It [is a] bee”

3. A pw B — “B is A”

When both the predicate and the subject are nouns, pw comes between them: dmj pw Jmn.t “the West is a harbor” (lit. “a harbor is this, the West”). The predicate (A) comes first and the subject (B) last.

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	dmj pw Jmn.t	“[The] west is [a] harbor”

Adverbial Sentence

In the adverbial sentence the predicate is a prepositional phrase or an adverb: “he is in the house,” “the sun is in the sky,” “he is here.”

Everyday examples:

• English: He is in the house

English has a verb “to be”; Egyptian does not.

In Middle Egyptian:

The subject comes first and the predicate after it. In a main clause they are usually preceded by a proclitic particle (jw or mk); in a subordinate clause the particle is omitted.

A personal pronoun as subject: after jw — a suffix pronoun (jw=f m pr); after mk — a dependent pronoun (mk sw m pr).

Examples:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	jw=f m pr	“He [is] in [the] house”
	jw s m njw.t	“[The] man [is] in [the] city”
	mk wj r gs=k	“Here, I [am] at your side”

The adverbial sentence describes place, state, time — and also possession (jw n=k ꜥnḫ “you have life”; see the chapter “Possession”). Constructions with ḥr + infinitive (jw=f ḥr sḏm “he is hearing”) are discussed in the chapter “The Verb”.

of Predication

To say that someone fills a role or holds a status — “he is a scribe,” “she is a priestess” — Egyptian often uses an adverbial sentence with the preposition m “as.”

Connection to the basic meaning of the preposition m:

The usual meaning of the preposition m is “in” / “inside.” The “m of predication” is exactly the same preposition, except that its meaning here is metaphorical: “in the role of” / “in the status of.”

Structure:

Subject + m + noun (role, status, or acquired quality)

Examples:

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	English
	jw sꜣ=j m sš	“My son is [a] scribe”
	jw=j m ḥm-nṯr Wsjr	“I am [a] priest of Osiris”

The essential difference:

When the relation between the two sides is essential and permanent → a nominal sentence is used (A + B)

When the relation is functional, temporary, or acquired → the m of predication is used.

Compare:

Similarly, r “to, toward” indicates a status the subject will attain: jw=f r sš “he will be a scribe” (lit. “he is toward a scribe”).

Chapter New Vocabulary

Hieroglyphs	Transliteration	Type	English
	Jmn	Proper noun	Amūn
	Jmn.t	Noun (place)	The West
	bjn	Adjective / verb	Bad, evil
	dmj	Noun	Harbour, town
	dšr	Adjective	Red
	ḏdj	Proper noun	Djedi (personal name)