Journal issue

"The Etymology of the Ancient Egyptian Suffix Pronoun =f. A contact linguistical approach for solving one of the major enigmata of Afroasiatic comparatism."
For more than 150 years, scholars have been wondering why the suffix pronoun of the 3rd person singular =f in Ancient Egyptian is not a sibilant, like his Afroasiatic cognates. To explain this, one has either tried to connect the Egyptian =f to Afroasiatic forms by sound change, or sought morphemes that could have served as a substitute. All these hypotheses are evaluated thoroughly. The view that there was a chain shift should finally be contrasted with a scenario based on linguistical contact between speakers of Egyptian and those of tu-Beɗawíɛ (Beja) where a very prominent morpheme for marking masculina b exists.

“A Critical Examination of the Split-Stative-Theories in Egyptian Linguistics”
This article deals with the so-called split-stative-theories brought into discussion by F. Kammerzell and W. Schenkel at the beginning of the 1990ies. These theories are subject of an extensive critical review. It starts with some prelimary remarks about the semantical, syntactical and formal features of the Egyptian pseudoparticiple, a short excursion to the Akkadian stative and also to the research history. In the first main part it is demonstrated that the theory of Kammerzell and its arguments can more or less impossible have been a real fact in Egyptian language, and that the theory of Schenkel works on the surface in the Coffin Texts but cannot be generalized because of several weak points, and also that both theories are not combinable. In the second main part a third theory under observation is the split-function-theory of E. Oréal which states that the primary functions of Egyptian pseudoparticiple and Akkadian stative are diametrically opposite when the two languages were first be written in script. Here it is illustrated that her arguments are dubitable and also her result. As epilogue, a short report is given about the recent dominating mono-stative-theory which suffices for all requested claims. The article closes with an appendix in which the possible evidence of pseudoparticiples directly built from nouns is presented and shortly discussed.

“The Reading and Meaning of PT 1 § 1a T. Grammar and Morphology in Interplay with Structure and Stylistics”
The interpretation and translation of PT 1 § 1a T is disputed for both its meaning and grammar, as becomes obvious from E. Edel’s remark that this passage is a unique exception from Old Egyptian rules for placing the copula pw in nominal (substantival) sentences. As will be demonstrated via the investigation of the structure, stylistics, grammar and contents, this passage is an example par excellence for parallelismus membrorum, which serves as a guideline in evaluating the text as well as the morphology of its constituents. PT 1 § § 1a–1b T can be recognised as a spell consisting of an introductory remark and three analogous sections: “Recitation by Nut, the greatly efficacious: This is my son, who made me give birth, Teti, who opened my womb! This is my beloved because of whom I have become content.” Furthermore, an excursus is devoted to the investigation of the ‘Älteres Kompositum’ wpj-x.t “firstborn”.

“The denial of Ay. w-s-f:G1-G41-G37 wsf in the eulogy of the Speos of el-Salamuni”
The verb wsf/sfA has been attested since the Sixth Dynasty. Its basic meaning is derogatory and can be defined as “to turn away from”, “to reject”. Being contradictory to the notion of acting – that is, one of the ways of doing Maat – it is mostly used in negative statements. Therefore, its use in a positive statement and with a positive connotation in the eulogy of the Speos of el-Salamuni, composed to glorify Ay, deserves attention. Indeed, the author of the eulogy uses wsf to express the rejection of Akhenaten’s policy by Ay. This use is not only remarkable in itself, but especially regarding the political discourse of this king. Furthermore, it may reveal Ay’s appreciation of the delicate situation due to his prominent position during Akhenaten’s reign, and thereby highlight the painful memory that the Amarna Period could have left in Egyptian society.

At the end of the Old Kingdom, the palatals T and D frequently shifted to dentals t, d under still unknown conditions. The present paper focusses on the application of this sound change in verbal roots. In verbs, depalatalization turns out to be correlated both with the position of the radical in the root and with the accent type of the infinitive. This at first seems to identify word accent as a major conditioning factor of the sound change: The palatals were preserved primarily in the onset of the stress syllable (depending, however, also on the quality of the stress vowel as a second factor), but usually coincided with the dentals in unstressed position (palatals before pretonic -i- possibly excepted). Under the assumption that erstwhile posttonic front vowels had already been reduced to a neutral -ǝ- at the time when this sound change took place, the condition can be reinterpreted to say that palatals were preserved before front vowels but merged with the dentals elsewhere.

In 2004, D. Werning presented an argument against the phonological value tp, assigned traditionally to Gardiner signs D1 [head in profile] and T8 [archaic dagger], in favor of the value dp. In 2011, S. Schweitzer critiqued several aspects of this argument. In 2014, the value dp was added to the third edition of J. Allen’s Middle Egyptian teaching grammar. This article offers a critical re-examination of the premises, supporting evidence, and logic employed in Werning’s argument for the reading of the head and dagger signs as dp. In addition, it introduces new primary evidence, ranging in date from the Middle Kingdom through the Ramesside era, which provides additional support for the traditional reading of the D1 and T8 ideograms as tp.

An overview and a structural inventory of the various cataphoric uses of pronouns in Earlier Egyptian. It is shown that although the most commonly recognised types of cataphora are attested in the data, in this language reference of pronouns is usually not established by following material. Much of the discussion centers on the issue of covert (zero) expletive cataphoric pronouns, which have been proposed to be common, but which in fact are probably equally, or even more, infrequent than their overt counterparts.

This short article deals with three marginal questions about the verbal system of Earlier Egyptian, and they shall encourage to further investigation: (1) Why it is not necessary to postulate morphological structures „circumstantial forms“ as Polotsky did? (2) Why do not all finite verb forms work in unmarked circumstantial clauses in historical times? (3) Why should a finite verbal form „Preterit/perfective“ sDm=f have been existed?

The standard etymology of the Egyptian word for horse, ssmt, is inadequate. I propose a different Akkadian etymology (sīsû māti) that explains more of the form of the word than previously done. This etymology in turn suggests a pronunciation for the Egyptian term.

This brief study details a number of hitherto unrecognized cases of paronomasia and one case of polysemy in the Tale of Sinuhe that allude to names that play prominent roles in the story. The devices constitute a sustained literary strategy that ties Sinuhe to the distant places to which he traveled during his self-imposed exile, even as they provide additional evidence for the story’s literary craft and the author’s knowledge of Syro-Canaanite idioms and culture.
Key words: Canaan, Itti-tawy, Kizzu, Phoenicia, Qaṭna, Qedem, Retenu, Sutean, Temhi.