LEARNING REFERENCE · MIDDLE EGYPTIAN
A short grammar glossary
| Term | Meaning in this guide |
|---|---|
| Adjective | A word expressing a quality, such as good or large |
| Agreement | Matching grammatical features such as gender and number |
| Aspect | How an event is presented, for example as completed or ongoing |
| Classifier | A sign helping identify a word’s meaning category; also called a determinative |
| Dual | A grammatical number referring to two |
| Genitive | A construction expressing an of relationship |
| Infinitive | A non-finite verb form used in several nominal and verbal constructions |
| Logogram | A sign used to represent a word |
| Noun | A word naming a person, place, thing or idea |
| Object | A participant affected by or involved in an action, as required by the verb |
| Phonetic complement | A sound sign repeating part of another sign’s value |
| Phonogram | A sign representing one or more consonants |
| Predicate | What a sentence says about its subject |
| Preposition | A word expressing a relationship such as in, towards or with |
| Pronoun | A form referring to a participant without repeating a noun |
| Subject | The participant about whom a statement is made; often the actor in an active clause |
| Suffix | An element attached to the end of a preceding word |
| Transliteration | A conventional representation of Egyptian writing in another character system |
Keep three distinctions clear
A sign’s appearance, its reading and a word’s meaning are different kinds of information. A picture of an object can be used for its sound value in a word unrelated to that object.
An English translation may require words that have no separate equivalent in the Egyptian example. Supplying “the” or “is” can be necessary for readable English.
A teaching pattern is a starting point. When an ancient text does not fit it neatly, check spelling, sentence type, genre and historical period before deciding the text is wrong.
Continue exploring with the dictionary or return to the hieroglyphic studio.