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Notes
Infinitives
What we call the infinitive in Egyptian is sometimes best translated by the English infinitive (e.g. “to walk”, “to hear”) but often is better translated by an English gerund (“the walking”, “the hearing”).
The infinitive has the characteristics of both a verb and a noun. It is a verb in that it can have a subject and object; it is a noun in that, for example, it can be used in genitive phrases.
Form and gender
The general rule, which has fairly defined exceptions, is: For verbs with a strong final radical, the infinitive is the base stem. For verbs with a weak final radical, it is the base stem plus -t. This is the general rule, but there are two types which reverse this:
- The subgroup of 4ae-inf. verbs which can form a geminated stem behave like strong verbs and lack the -t.
- caus. 2-lit. verbs behave like weak verbs and require the -t.
The infinitive is always grammatically masculine, even if it has the -t ending.
Unusual writings
There are a few unusual spelling situations for infinitives. First, the -t of the infinitive was lost in pronunciation like the feminine ending, so it is sometimes omitted. This is most common with, but not exclusive to, caus. 3ae-inf. verbs.
Second, if the infinitive of a 2ae-gem. verb is written with a suffix pronoun, the third radical is usually dropped. This probably means the “two consonants together” rule applied to its pronunciation: πΉππ wnn “existing”, but πΉππ wn.f “his existing”. They were perhaps pronounced something like *wanan but *wannef.
One 2ae-gem. verb is even weirder: π΄πΉπΏβπΏ mκ£κ£ “see”, because of the unusual κ£κ£ combination. The second κ£ could be dropped even without a suffix pronoun, not just with one as with other verbs of its class. But, because of whatever the sound of κ£ actually was, sometimes the infinitive is written as though it were mκ£n instead, and that applies whether there’s a suffix pronoun or not. mκ£.P, mκ£n.P, mκ£, mκ£κ£, mκ£n are all possibilities.
Subject of the infinitive
An infinitive is a verb form, so it can have a subject. As usual, the options for that subject are a noun, a demonstrative, or a personal pronoun.
Broadly, the subject can be stated in two ways:
- treating the subject as an agent, who is “doing” the verb.
- treating the subject as a possessor of the verb, “owning” its action.
To express a noun or demonstrative as a agent, the preposition ππ jn “by” is used, followed by the subject. With a personal pronoun, however, jn is not used; the subject is the nj + independent form of the pronoun: the form of the independent pronoun that has n(j) contracted to the beginning of it. The latter is not common.
πβπ§βπ
±ππππππ€π mdwt jn αΈ₯m.f
“The speaking by His Incarnation”
π
π
ππππ‘ gmt nnk
“my finding” (lit. “finding belonging-to-me”)
When treating the subject as the “owner” of the action rather than its agent, a suffix pronoun is used for a personal pronoun subject, or a genitive phrase for a noun or demonstrative:
πβπ§βπ
±ππππ€π mdwt αΈ₯m.f
“The speaking of His Incarnation”
π
π
ππ gmt.j
“my finding”
When a genitive phrase is used, it is usually direct, but can (rarely) be indirect.
The genitive and suffix pronoun options are usually used with intransitive verbs, because in a transitive verb, these genitive/possessive constructions can be used for the object instead of the subject. But they are sometimes used for transitive verbs anyway.
Object of the infinitive
The object can also be stated in two ways, depending on if and how the subject is expressed.
If the subject is expressed as an agent or omitted entirely, then the object can “own” the action with a direct genitive or a suffix pronoun:
πβπ§βπ
±πππΆβπππππππ€π mdwt mκ£κ₯t jn αΈ₯m.f
“The speaking of truth (maat) by His Incarnation”
π
π
πππππ‘ gmt.f nnk
“his finding by me” (lit. “his finding belonging-to-me”)
But if the subject “owns” the action in a genitive rather than being an agent, then the action cannot be “owned” by the object, and the object must be expressed the way the object of a verb in a normal verbal clause would be expressed. This is done with a noun, demonstrative pronoun, or dependent personal pronoun:
πβπ§βπ
±ππππ€ππΆβπππ mdwt αΈ₯m.f mκ£κ₯t
“His Incarnation’s act of speaking truth”
π
π
ππππ² gmt.j sw
“my finding him”
ππβππβπ
±βππ
πππ€π‘ππ§πππ₯π rdjt.f wj m αΈ₯κ£t αΊrdw.f
“his act of putting me in front of his children”
Notice that English has the same situation: I can say “his finding by me” (the finding is “owned” by its object, because its subject is given as an agent with “by”), or I can say “my finding him” (the finding is “owned” by its subject, and the object is given with “him”, which is the pronoun used when “he/his” is the object of a verb).
The neutral dependent pronoun π΄βπ st can be used without a subject, if it refers to one or more things, or more than one person, but not just for one person: gmt.j st “my finding it”, mdwt αΈ₯m.f st “His Incarnation’s act of speaking it”.
Uses of the infinitive
The infinitive can be the subject in a non-verbal sentence: nfr sαΈm “to listen is good”.
It can be used as a catenative verb; that is, in a “chain” with other verbs, like in English: mr.j mκ£κ£ sw “I want to see him,” rαΈ«.s jrt mr “she knows (how) to make a pyramid”.
The infinitive can be the object of a preposition, but if the preposition is αΈ₯r, m, or r, that is a special situation: the pseudo-verbal construction.
Infinitive forms
| Verb class | Form | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| caus. 2-lit. verbs, and all verbs with final-weak roots except those 4ae-inf. which can geminate | base stem + t | jr.t (3ae-inf.) “to do, to make” αΈ₯ms.t (4ae-inf., non-gem.) “to sit” sαΈ«κ₯.t (cause. 3ae-inf.) “to make appear” |
| All verbs with final-strong roots, except caus. 2-lit. verbs, and those 4ae-inf. which can geminate | base stem | bκ£g “to be lax” |
Unusual writing of infinitives
| Verbs | Notes |
|---|---|
| Any verb with an infinitive that adds -t | Sometimes the -t is omitted, like the ending of feminine nouns; most common for caus. 3ae-inf. verbs. |
| 2ae-gem. infinitives when a suffix pronoun is used | The third radical disappears in writing: wnn “to exist”, but wn.f “his existing”. |
| mκ£κ£ “see” | As other 2ae-gem. but the third radical (κ£) sometimes disappears even without a suffix pronoun. Or the third radical is sometimes written as n, in which case it is retained, with or without a suffix pronoun. mκ£κ£, mκ£, or rarely mκ£n “the seeing” mκ£.f or mκ£n.f “his seeing” |
Subject and object (subject as agent or unstated)
| Concept | If it is a noun | If it is a personal pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| Subject1 | after the infinitive, in a phrase preceded with jn “by” | after the infinitive, as an independent pronoun with nj contracted to it |
| Object | after the infinitive in a genitive phrase | suffix pronoun attached to the infinitive, or as the dependent pronoun st following the infinitive2 |
2. The dependent pronoun st cannot refer to a single person. It can be used to refer to a single non-person thing, or multiple things or persons. If the object is a pronoun standing for a person, and is the “owner” of the action, it is a suffix pronoun.
When the subject is the agent or not present, the object is expressed as the “owner” of the action.
Subject and object (subject as “owner” of action)
| Concept | If it is a noun | If it is a personal pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | after the infinitive in a genitive phrase | suffix pronoun attached to the infinitive |
| Object | after the infinitive and its “owning” subject | after the infinitive and its “owning” subject, as the appropriate dependent pronoun |
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