The sḏm.n.f form

The sḏm.n.f verb form shows the perfective aspect, but it is not a tense. This means it talks about an action that is completed, but it does not indicate when: it could have just been completed, or completed in the past, or even will be completed in the future.

The sḏm.n.f is one of the suffix conjugations, so it has a fairly simple form, and it’s right there in the name: the verb stem plus the suffix -n plus the suffix pronouns (if the subject is a pronoun). The stem used, with a few exceptions, is the base stem.

𓉐𓂋‌𓂻𓈖𓋴‌𓈖𓏥 pr.n.sn
“They have emerged”

𓆑‌𓄿𓀋𓂡𓈖𓀀 fꜣ.n.j
“I have carried”

Spelling

The n is written after the verb’s determinative (if any), but sometimes before, especially if the verb stem ends in -n already: ḏn.n.f “he has threshed grain” could be spelled 𓆓𓈖𓀜𓈖𓆑‌ or 𓆓𓈖𓈖𓀜𓆑‌.

𓏎𓈖 jnj “bring, get, fetch” has no determinative but in the sḏm.n.f form, it is usually written with two n signs: 𓏎‌𓈖𓈖‌𓀀 jn.n.j “I have brought”, but sometimes only one is written. If jnj has a 1st person singular pronoun that is omitted in writing and goes straight into the dative (like “I have brought for her”), only two n signs are written in all: only one for the verb and its sḏm.n.f suffix, and one for the dative preposition n: 𓏎‌𓈖𓈖𓊃 jn.n.s “I have brought for her”. Allen 2014 says (p. 247) that three n ripples together usually are reserved for the word 𓈗 mw “water”.

With the stative

As said above, the sḏm.n.f describes completed action. Compare this with the stative, which describes the state that results from an action, rather the action itself, so these often act as complements to each other in a narration. Intransitive verbs use the stative, and transitive verbs use the sḏm.n.f.

𓏃𓈖𓏏𓏭𓊛𓎡𓅱‌𓊪‌𓎛‌𓄖𓂻𓈖𓀀𓍋𓃀𓃰𓅱𓎶𓈉 ḫnt.kw pḥ.n.j ꜣbw
“I have sailed upstream and reached Elephantine”

Note how “sail upstream”, which is intransitive, is in the stative, while “reach”, which has a direct object (Elephantine) and thus is transitive, is in the sḏm.n.f.

This rule is not hard and fast, but it is the usual preference: for the perfective aspect (completed action), transitive gets sḏm.n.f, intransitive gets stative.

With adjective verbs

Adjective verbs are always intransitive. A flamingo “is red”; the heart of a happy man “is good”. In the sḏm.n.f, an adjective verb means the subject has “become” the thing or “gained” the quality described, not that it has previously had it. 𓊵𓏏𓊪𓈖𓆑‌ ḥtp.n.f means “he has become contented”, not “he has been contented”.

Counterfactuals

In a few cases, the sḏm.n.f is preceded by a particle like ḥꜣ “if only” to express something that did not happen in the past. English does a similar thing with its past perfect tense, as you can see in the translation:

𓇉𓄿𓀁𓊪‌𓎛‌𓄖𓂻𓈖𓀀𓍋𓃀𓃰𓅱𓎶𓈉 ḥꜣ pḥ.n.j ꜣbw
“If only I had reached Elephantine”
(lit. “if only I completed reaching Elephantine”)

sḏm.n.f as past tense

Despite it not being inherently a past tense, the sḏm.n.f can act as one. Usually, when it’s being marked as past, it’s introduced by a particle. Sometimes this is jw, but more often it is 𓊢‌𓂝𓈖 ꜥḥꜥ.n, which was used for narratives with the pseudo-verbal construction too.

𓇋𓅱‌𓊪‌𓎛‌𓄖𓂻𓈖𓀀𓍋𓃀𓃰𓅱𓎶𓈉 jw pḥ.n.j ꜣbw
“I reached Elephantine” (as opposed to the usual “I have reached Elephantine”)

𓊢‌𓂝𓈖𓊪‌𓎛‌𓄖𓂻𓈖𓀀𓍋𓃀𓃰𓅱𓎶𓈉 ꜥḥꜥ.n pḥ.n.j ꜣbw
“Then I reached Elephantine”

The other narrative word seen with the pseudo-verbal construction, 𓃹𓈖𓇋𓈖 wn.jn, can be used in this role with the sḏm.n.f but it’s rare.

rḫ “know”

The stative of rḫ “experience, learn” was used to show that one was in the state of having learned something: in other words, one knows it. This is done with the sḏm.n.f of that verb as well:

𓂋𓐍𓏜𓈖𓀀𓂋𓈖𓏪𓍿𓈖 rḫ.n.j rnw.ṯn
“I have learned your names”

Both the stative and sḏm.n.f then boil down to knowing the information because of having learned it. The distinction is probably that the stative emphasizes the state of knowing, while the sḏm.n.f emphasizes the process of learning it.

Negation

The sḏm.n.f can be negated with 𓂜 nj. Since it means an action has not been completed, it usually is a present tense, describing the fact that the action is not complete. It can also mean that the thing cannot be done.

𓂜𓄔‌𓅓𓈖𓎡 nj sḏm.n.k
“you can’t hear” or “you don’t hear”
(lit. “you have not heard”)

The sḏm.n.f can also be negated with 𓂜𓈖 nn, but this is uncommon. It seems to describe something that cannot happen in the future:

𓂜𓈖𓄔‌𓅓𓈖𓎡 nn sḏm.n.k
“you won’t be able to hear”

Questions

Broadly, a verbal predicate can be questioned in two ways. One way is to ask if the verb happened; the other is to ask about some other details, such as who did the verb, or to whom was it done, or when, etc. These can be distinguished (per Allen 2014, p. 259) as predicate versus adjunct questions. The verb itself is the predicate; the adjuncts are other parts of the sentence that add to the meaning.

For a predicate question, the sḏm.n.f is preceded by jn jw (or sometimes just jn):

𓇋‌𓈖‌𓇋𓅱‌𓄔‌𓅓𓈖𓎡 jn jw sḏm.n.k
“Have you heard?”

The negated version can also be used in a predicate question, with jn before the negative particle (which seems to fill in for jw in this case).

𓇋‌𓈖‌𓂜𓄔‌𓅓𓈖𓎡 jn nj sḏm.n.k
“Haven’t you heard?”

But in an adjunct question, the sḏm.n.f heads the sentence by itself, with the appropriate interrogative word included in the appropriate place.

𓇍𓈖‌𓍿𓈖𓏥𓍿𓈖𓌙𓅯𓈐 j.n.ṯn ṯnj
“Where have you come from?” (lit. “You have come where?”)