Lesson 20: Prepositions I

• Overview
• Primary prepositions
• 𓅓 m “in”
• 𓈖 n “for, to (the benefit of)”
• 𓂋 r “to, towards, in regards to”
• 𓁷𓐰𓏤 ḥr “on, upon”
• Summary
• Vocabulary
• Exercises

Prepositions are so important, and there are so many of them, that we’re going to spend multiple lessons on them.Egyptian prepositions work much like English ones. With a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase, they form a prepositional phrase, which adds information to a sentence, like “in the house”, “with her friends”, and so forth. They can also be used as standalone adverbs, modifying the predicate as a whole: for example, “We wanted to go out.”

Prepositions rarely translate one-to-one between languages. For example, sometimes the best German translation of English “from” is von, but sometimes the best English translation of von is “of”. So we can’t simply have a table of English prepositions in one column and an Egyptian equivalent in the other. Some match pretty closely, but there are very important differences.

Prepositions are so important, and there are so many of them, that we’re going to spend multiple lessons on them.

Primary prepositions

According to Allen (2014), Egyptian has seventeen primary (single-word) prepositions, some of which have been mentioned and used in previous lessons, such as 𓏇𓇋 mj “like, as” and 𓂋 r “to, towards, in regards to”. Some Egyptian prepositions have one or two forms besides their “usual form”: some have a different form if their object is a personal pronoun; some have a different form when they’re used as a standalone adverb; and some have both.

In this lesson, we are focusing on just a few primary prepositions. These are some of the most used in Egyptian, and they are used in quite different ways than their rough English equivalents are. In upcoming lessons, we will look at more prepositions, but they will mostly be simpler ones.

𓅓 m “in”

With pronouns or as an adverb: 𓇋𓅓 jm “therein, there, within”.

This is the most common preposition. Its essential meaning is “in”, but it is used in very different senses than in English. First, here are five uses for it that do match the English usage of “in”:

• “in” a place: m pr “in the house”
• “in” a time: m rnpt 5 “during/for five years”; 𓅓𓎼𓐰𓂋𓎛𓇰 m grḥ “in the night”
• “in” a state/condition: 𓅓𓌶𓂝𓐰𓏏𓏜 m mꜢꜤt “in Maat” (truth, justice, order)
• “in” a material: m nbw “in gold, of gold”
• “in” units: 𓊢𓂝𓅱𓇳𓅓𓆳𓏏𓐰𓏥 ꜤḥꜤw m rnpwt “period of years”, lit. “a period in years”

Then here are three uses which are very different than English use of “in”. You can remember them with the mnemonic “SIR”:

• “Separation” from a place or state: 𓉐𓐰𓂋𓂻𓅓𓉐𓐰𓏤 prj m pr “emerge from the house”, 𓆄𓅱𓅪𓅓𓇋𓊃𓐰𓆑𓐰𓏏𓅪 šw m jzft “empty of wickedness”
• “Instrument” of an action: 𓈖𓇋𓋴𓀞𓅓𓂋𓐰𓈖 njs m rn “call by name”, 𓅓𓐍𓐰𓊪𓈙𓐰𓄗𓀀 m ḫpš.j “with my strong arm”.
• “Role” in which someone acts: 𓈍𓐰𓂝𓅓𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖 ḫꜤj m nswt “appear as king” (Urk. IV. 2027, 2)

Egyptian therefore has some phrases which would be rather unfortunate if translated literally: a man may be acting as a mayor, but this would be literally expressed as “the man was in the mayor”.

𓈖 n “for, to (the benefit of)”

As an adverb: 𓈖𓏭 nj “thereto, for it”, etc.

• “for, to” a beneficiary: 𓂋𓐰𓂞𓇋𓄿𓅱𓀢𓈖𓁹𓐰𓊨 rdj jꜢw n jsjr “giving praise to Osiris” (Sethe 63, 4)
• “to” a person: 𓈝𓅓𓂻𓐰𓈖𓎡𓇌 šmj n ky “go to another person” (Peasant R 13, 6)
• “for, because of”: 𓈖𓊵𓐰𓏏𓐱𓊪 n ḥtp “for peace, because of peace”
• “for, in” a time: n ḥrw “in a day”, 𓈖𓆓𓐳𓐷𓏏𓐰𓇾𓐸 n ḏt “for ever”
• “toward”, “at” with some verbs: 𓂧𓐰𓎼𓁹𓐰𓈖𓈎𓐰𓂝𓎛𓂢𓐰𓎡 dgꜢ n qꜤḥwj.k “look at your elbows” (Smith 7, 16)

As we saw when we looked at verbal sentence structure, a phrase referring to the beneficiary or recipient for whom an action is performed is called the dative of the sentence. In rdj jꜢw n jsjr above, the dative is the phrase n jsjr “to Osiris.”

𓂋 r “to, towards, in regards to”

With personal pronouns: The normal 𓂋 is typical, but 𓇋𓂋 is sometimes used.
As an adverb: 𓇋𓂋𓐰𓏭 jrj or 𓇋𓂋 jr “with respect to (it)”, “thereto”.

Like m, this has a variety of uses and English translations:

• “to” or “at” a place: 𓈝𓅓𓂻𓐰𓂋𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖𓀔𓈖𓐰𓈖𓊖 šmj r nn-nswt “go to Herakleopolis” (Peasant B1, 63–64)
• “toward, after, for” a person: 𓉔𓄿𓃀𓂻𓐰𓂋𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖𓄟𓋴𓅱𓀔𓀀𓐱𓁐𓐰𓏥 hꜢb r msw-nswt “send for the king’s children” (Sin. R 22-23)
• “toward” a purpose: 𓂋𓏎𓈖𓐰𓏏𓅧𓈎𓐰𓏲𓈀𓐰𓏥 r jnt Ꜥqw “in order to get rations” (Peasant R 1, 3)
• “against” (opposition): 𓁹𓐰𓂋𓂋𓐰𓆑 jrj r.f “act against him”, lit. “act toward him”
• “in regards to” (comparison/distinction): 𓂋𓐰𓐍𓏜𓌶𓂝𓐰𓏏𓏜𓂋𓇋𓊃𓐰𓆑𓐰𓏏𓅪 rḫ mꜢꜤt r jzft “know truth from evil”
• “about, concerning”: ḏd r.s “speak about her”

At the beginning of a sentence before a noun, the form jr means “as for, about”: 𓇋𓐰𓂋𓋴𓆑𓐰𓇳𓊨𓐰𓁹𓊪𓅱 jr sf jsjr pw “as for yesterday, it is Osiris” (CT IV, 193b). Before a verb, it means “if, when”: 𓇋𓂋𓇍𓎡 jr jj.k “if you come”

When in doubt about “for, to” and purposes: n is used if the object of the preposition is the beneficiary or recipient of the action (the indirect object or dative); r is used if the object of the preposition is a place, and usually when it’s a verb. jr.j nn n jsjr “I do this for Osiris”; jr.j nn r mꜢꜢ “I do this to see”.

𓁷𓐰𓏤 ḥr “on, upon”

With personal pronouns: Usually written 𓁷𓐰𓂋 ḥr.

The usual meaning is “on, upon”, but Egyptian uses it in cases where English might use “at” or “in”.

• “upon” an object (including figuratively): 𓁷𓐰𓏤𓍯𓏏𓐰𓈐 ḥr wꜢt “on the path”, ḥr jb.k “in your heart” (lit. “upon your heart”, Peasant B1, 104)
• “upon” a location: ḥr kmt “in Egypt”, lit. “on the Black Land”.
• “upon” an event or cause: 𓊵𓐰𓏏𓐱𓊪𓁷𓐰𓏤𓌴𓐰𓁹𓄿𓄿 ḥtp ḥr mꜢꜢ “content because of the sight”, lit. “content upon the sight”.
• “upon” as distribution: t-ḥḏ ḥr wꜤb nb “a loaf of white bread for each wab-priest” (lit. “… upon each”; Siut I, 273)
• “upon” as an addition to: 𓊪𓆑𓐰𓊃𓊮𓁷𓐰𓏤𓆤𓏏𓐰𓏊 psj ḥr bjt “cooking with honey” (lit. “cooking upon honey”; Ebers 19, 2), that is, cooking with whatever other ingredients “on top of” honey.

The last of those uses is the basis for using ḥr to mean “and” in noun phrases, as we saw previously: t ḥr ḥnqt “bread and beer”, lit. “bread upon beer”.

One use of ḥr which is hard to fit into an English sense of “upon” is:

• “from, of” indicating origin: 𓁷𓐰𓏤𓉐𓌉𓉐 ḥr pr-ḥḏ “from the treasury”, lit. “(from) upon the treasury” (M. Karnak 33)

Summary: Prepositions I

(forthcoming)

As a final note on this lesson: The author of this website wishes to take credit and/or blame for the “SIR” mnemonic; it is of my own invention. I wanted to come up with a way of remembering the uses of m which aren’t very similar to English “in”.

Vocabulary

• 𓇋𓄿𓅱𓀢 jꜢ.w “praise”
• 𓏎𓈖 jnj “bring, fetch, use”
• 𓁹𓐰𓂋 jrj “do, make”𓇋𓊃𓐰𓆑𓐰𓏏𓅪 jzf.t “evil, wrong, chaos”; the opposite of mꜢꜤt
• 𓊨𓐰𓁹 jsjr Osiris (god) (also 𓁹𓐰𓊨, 𓁹𓐰𓊨𓐱𓀭)
  • Also transliterated wsjr.
• 𓊢𓐰𓂝𓅱𓐴𓇳 ꜤḥꜤ.w “period of time, lifetime”
• 𓅧𓈎𓐰𓏲𓈀𓐰𓏥 Ꜥq.w “income, bread, rations, supplies”𓍯𓏏𓐰𓈐 wꜢ.t “road, way, path”
• 𓅨𓐰𓂋𓆓𓀉 wrḏ “(be) tired, weary”
• 𓆤𓏏𓐰𓏊 bj.t “honey”𓃀𓇋𓈖𓐰𓅪 bjn “bad, evil”
• 𓉐𓌉𓉐 pr-ḥḏ “treasurehouse, treasury”
• 𓉐𓐰𓂋𓂻 prj “emerge, issue forth, go up”
• 𓊪𓆑𓐰𓊃𓊮 psj “cook, bake, heat up (food)” (note odd spelling)
• 𓅓 m “in”
  • 𓇋𓏶𓅓 jm (adv.) “therein, there, within”, var. 𓇋𓅓𓌴𓐰𓁹𓄿𓄿 mꜢꜢ “see, sight”𓌶𓂝𓐰𓏏𓏜 mꜢꜤ.t “truth, justice, the right order of things”
• 𓏇𓇋𓇋 mjj “like, likewise”
• 𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖𓄟𓋴𓅱𓀔𓀀𓐱𓁐𓐰𓏥 ms.w-nswt “royal children”
• 𓌃𓂧𓅱𓀁 mdw “words, speech”
  • 𓊹𓌃 mdw-nṯr “hieroglyphs” (“god’s words”)
• 𓈖 n “for, to (the benefit of)”
  • 𓈖𓐰𓏭 nj “thereto”, “for it”
• 𓈖𓐰𓏏𓂝𓐰𓏤𓏛𓐰𓏥 n.t-Ꜥ “custom, practice, ritual” (lit. “what belongs to the hand”)
• 𓈖𓇋𓋴𓀞 njs “call upon”, “reckon (math)”
• 𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖𓀔𓈖𓐰𓈖𓊖 nn-nswt “Herakleopolis Magna”
• 𓂋𓐰𓂞 rdj “give”
• 𓈍𓐰𓂝 ḫꜤj “appear”
• 𓐍𓐰𓊪𓈙𓐰𓄗 ḫpš “strong arm”
• 𓌨𓐰𓂋𓏭𓐰𓏛 ẖr.j (adv.) “under (it)”
• 𓋴𓆑𓐰𓇳 sf “yesterday”
• 𓆄𓅱𓅪 šwj “(be) empty, free of”
• 𓈝𓅓𓂻 šmj “go, walk, traverse”
• 𓈎𓐰𓂝𓎛𓂢 qꜤḥ “elbow, shoulder”
• 𓂧𓐰𓎼𓁹 dgj “look, behold”
• 𓆓𓐳𓐷𓏏𓐰𓇾𓐸 ḏt “forever”

We’ve met some of the prepositions before and included them in the vocabulary of previous lesson; those have not repeated here. This lesson introduced many words in its examples; hopefully your personal dictionary is growing nicely!

Exercises

(forthcoming)