Answers and explanations

Lesson checks

1. A determinative does not add a pronounced consonant. A phonetic complement repeats information already represented; it does not require you to pronounce that consonant twice.

2. Translation gives the meaning. The transliteration nfr does not supply all the ancient vowels.

3. nṯr.t is feminine singular, “goddess”. sn.w is masculine plural, “brothers”. The ending .wy in sn.wy marks the masculine dual, “two brothers”.

4. sn.t nfr.t means “a good sister”. pr pn means “this house”. In pr n sn, the first noun, pr, controls the genitival adjective’s agreement.

5. rn.sn means “their name”. ḥnꜥ sn.t.j means “with my sister”. Pronoun choice depends on the Egyptian construction, so an English translation alone cannot determine the pronoun set.

6. jnk sš means “I am a scribe”. jw.s m pr means “She is in the house”. sn nfr is “a good brother”, while nfr sn states “The brother is good”.

7. .f identifies the subject. The spelling sḏm.f can correspond to different forms and uses; context and construction are needed to interpret it.

Reading practice

A. “Her name.” The suffix .s expresses possession after rn.

B. “Good brothers.” The adjective follows the noun and agrees with its masculine plural form.

C. “The house of the brother” or “the brother’s house”. This is an indirect genitive with n.

D. “I am a scribe.” An independent pronoun is followed by a nominal predicate.

E. “They are in the house.” .sn identifies the subject; m pr supplies the location.

F. “I am in the house with my brother.” The suffix after jw is the subject “I”; the suffix after sn means “my”.

Checking your progress

You are ready for a longer beginner lesson when you can explain your translation, rather than only match it to an answer. Identify a word’s role, point out the relevant ending or construction, and say what the surrounding text would still need to clarify.