Lesson 18: Nominal sentences with nj

← Previous

Index

Next β†’

A “nj A B” sentence is one that begins with some variant of the genitival adjective nj. These can be oddly complicated: If “A” is an independent pronoun, the sentence means “B belongs to A”, but if “A” is a dependent pronoun (or, rarely, a noun), the sentence means “A belongs to B”. Making matters worse, nj can be “contracted” with pronouns and even become “invisible”!

In “nj A B” sentences the possessor is generally the predicate. The information provided is to whom or what the subject belongs.

With noun “A”

“A” can be a noun in “nj A B” sentences only when the sentence is a personal name. “B” is usually the name of a god or king, and the name means “A belongs to B”. This is common in the Old Kingdom, but rare after that.

A well-known person with this form of name is the royal manicurist π“ŽΈπ“ƒπ“ˆ–π“‹Ή nj ꜀nαΈ« αΊ–nmw Niankhkhnum, which means “life belongs to Khnum.” (Khnum’s name was honorifically written first, since he is a god.) Niankhkhnum is famous in part because he shared a tomb with Khnumhotep, who may have been his same-sex partner.

With pronoun “A”

If A is an independent pronoun, it is the possessor, but if A is a dependent pronoun, it is the possessed.

π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“°π“π“°π“Ž‘π“‰”π“°π“‚‹π“…±π“‡³π“°π“€ nj ntk hrw
“The daylight belongs to you.” (CT I, 254f)

π“ˆ–π“…±π“€€π“‡³π“€­ nj wj r꜀
“I belong to the sun.” (Ebers 1, 7–8)

When “B” is a pronoun

“B” is usually a noun in a “nj A B” sentence, but if “A” is an independent pronoun, “B” can be a dependent pronoun:

π“ˆ–π“Œπ“°π“Ž‘π“€€π“‹΄π“ nj jnk st
“it belongs to me”

And if “A” is a dependent pronoun, “B” can be the interrogative adjective wr:

π“ˆ–π“‡“π“…±π“…¨π“°π“‚‹ nj sw wr
“how much is it?” (Rhind problem 45)
(lit. “it belongs to how much?”)

“B” cannot be a pronoun if “A” is a noun. The correct way to say “Noun belongs to Pronoun” is nj + independent pronoun “A” + noun “B”, as seen above.

“Contractions” of nj with pronouns

The n(j) and pronoun are often spelled as one word. The following contracted forms are the most common:

  • nj wj “I belong to”: π“ˆ–π“…±π“€€, π“ˆ–π“°π“Œπ“…±, π“ˆ–π“°π“‡π“Œπ“…± nw(j)
  • nj sw “he belongs to”: π“ˆ–π“‡“π“…±, π“ˆ–π“°π“„“π“‡“π“…± nsw
  • nj sj “she belongs to”: π“ˆ–π“°π“„“π“‹΄π“­, π“ˆ–π“°π“„“π“‹΄, π“ˆ–π“‹΄π“­, π“ˆ–π“‹΄, π“ˆ–π“°π“Šƒ ns(j)
  • nj jnk “… belongs to me”: π“ˆ–π“°π“ˆ–π“°π“Ž‘ nnk

“Invisible” nj with independent pronouns

With the independent pronouns that begin with n- (which is all of the second and third person ones), the n- of the nj is often contracted with the n- of the pronoun, so that only one n is written, and the result looks just like the independent pronoun alone! This is the “gotcha” for second and third person “A B” sentences we mentioned in the previous lesson.

π“ˆ–π“°π“π“°π“Ž‘π“‡Ύ (n)ntk t꜒
“the land belongs to you”
or ntk t꜒ “you are the land”?
π“ˆ–π“°π“π“°π“Šƒπ“‰π“°π“€ (n)nts pr
“the house belongs to you”
or nts pr “you are the house”?

So when you see a sentence that appears to begin with a second or third person independent pronoun, you should consider translating it both as “B belongs to X” and “X is B” and see which makes more sense, given both what “B” is and the context of the sentence.

nsw-B, ns(j)-B with deities

A lot of personal names take the form n(j)-sw (masculine) or n(j)-s(j) (feminine) followed by a deity. The deity’s name is often honorifically written first: π“ π“°π“ˆ–π“°π“Ώπ“ˆ–π“‡“π“…± n(j)-sw-mnαΉ―(w) “He belongs to Montu.”

Two famous people of the Third Intermediate Period are examples of this, with complicated deity names: The owner of the Greenfield Papyrus, Nesitanebetashru, and the first pharaoh of Dynasty 21, usually known by his Hellenized name Smendes, but actually named Nesubanebdjed (or -djedet).

π“„“π“Šƒπ“°π“­π“›π“°π“π“„Ώπ“ŽŸπ“‡‹π“ˆ™π“°π“‚‹π“…±π“¦π“°π“Š– nsj t꜒ nb(t) jΕ‘rw
“She belongs to The Lady of the Asheru.”

The Asheru is a sacred lake at Karnak, in the precinct dedicated to Mut, Amun’s wife and queen of the gods. Therefore, Nesitanebetashru’s name is a more poetic way to say “She belongs to Mut” than the simple Nesimut would be.

π“„“π“‹΄π“ƒπ“°π“ŽŸπ“Š½π“Š½π“π“°π“Š– n(j)sw b꜒ nb ḏdt
“He belongs to Banebdjed.”

Banebdjed was the god of the city of Djedet in the Delta, which the Greeks called Mendes — hence Nesubanebdjed being named “Smendes” (presumably the “s” in nsw-, plus the Greeks’ mispronunciation of Djedet). The god’s name itself means “ram, lord of Djedet”, or possibly “soul, lord of Djedet” (both “soul” and “ram” being written b꜒). Mendes was the capital of Egypt during Dynasty 29 (roughly 20 years).

The breakdown of nominal sentences

As with “A pw” sentences, Allen (2014) categorizes what we have called “nj A B” sentences as a type of “A B” sentence, where the “A” is nj plus the noun or pronoun. Ultimately he concludes that there are really just two nominal sentence patterns: “A B” and “A pw B”, the former used when a pronoun is involved, the latter when only nouns are involved.

As I always disclaim, I am not an Egyptologist, much less a professor with literal decades of experience with Egyptian and one of the most-cited grammars available. Prof. Allen has probably written more about Egyptian in an average year than I will ever know.

But I present these lessons in a way that makes sense to me. I hope that you find these lessons useful and I hope my presentation makes this accessible, but as I have said before and will say again, my website can only help you get started. Reading the works of Prof. Allen and others such as Manley, Collier, Hoch, and Gardiner is the way to go.

Summary: Nominal sentences with nj

  1. A “nj A B” sentence expresses ownership, belonging, and/or possession.
  2. If “A” is an independent pronoun, it is the possessor: nj ntk hrw “the daylight belongs to you.”
  3. If “A” is a dependent pronoun or a noun, it is the possession: nj wj r꜀ “I belong to the sun.”
  4. “A” can be a noun only if the sentence is a personal name; this is common in the Old Kingdom but rare afterwards: nj ꜀nαΈ« αΊ–nmw “Life belongs to Khnum”.
  5. “B” is usually a noun, but if “A” is an independent pronoun, “B” can be a dependent pronoun: nj jnk st “it belongs to me”.
  6. If “A” is a dependent pronoun, “B” can be the interrogative adjective wr: nj sw wr “how much is it”, lit. “it belongs to how much?”
  7. nj forms contractions with some of the dependent and independent pronouns. When this happens before the second and third person independent pronouns, the nj can be invisible.
  8. nsw- and ns(j)- are common with the names of deities, forming personal names of the form “He/she belongs to …”

Vocabulary

  • π“‡‹π“ˆ™π“°π“‚‹π“…±π“¦π“°π“Š– jΕ‘r.w “Asheru” or “Isheru”, Mut’s sacred lake at Karnak
  • 𓅨𓐰𓂋 wr “how much?”
  • 𓅑𓐴𓏀 b꜒ “ba, soul” (the part of a person that makes them “them”; personality)
  • π“ƒπ“³π“ŠΈ b꜒ “ram”
  • π“ƒπ“°π“ŽŸπ“Š½π“Š½π“π“°π“Š– b꜒-nb-ḏdt Banebdjed, god of Mendes
  • π“ π“°π“ˆ–π“°π“Ώπ“€­ mnαΉ―.w Montu, Theban god of war
  • π“ŽΈπ“ƒ αΊ–nmw Khnum, god of Elephantine and maker of humans
  • π“Šƒπ“°π“ˆ–π“π“°π“  znt “Senet” (the board game)
  • π“Š¨π“π“°π“‰ st “place, seat, position”
  • π“ˆ™π“ƒ€π“…±π“‘π“°π“Š Ε‘b.w “food, meal”
  • π“ˆ‹π“°π“€ ḏw “mountain”
  • π“Š½π“Š½π“π“°π“Š– ḏdt “Mendes”

Exercises

The reason nj can disappear in front of the n– pronouns is phonological. Allen (2014) suggests that ntk, ntf, etc. were pronounced *intΓ‘k, *intΓ‘f, etc. and that the contractions with nj would have been *nintΓ‘k, *nintΓ‘f, etc. So with two n‘s right next to each other, separated only by an unstressed vowel, sometimes only one n would be written.

nj would also contract with the first person pronoun jnk (*inΓ‘k) to produce *ninak, but since jnk does not begin with an n, the contraction nnk can be distinguished from jnk.

← Previous

Index

Next β†’