Lesson 24: Verb classes

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Now that we understand what verb roots are, and what the base, geminated, and causative stems are, we can classify verbs based on how many radicals they have, which radicals those are, and what stems the verbs can form.

Names of the verb classes

Egyptian verb classes are traditionally labeled using abbreviations of Latin phrases describing the number and nature of their radicals.

  • The suffix -gem (“geminatae”) indicates that the verb root is geminated, regardless of whether it can form a geminated stem or not. Note that the prefix does not indicate the total number of radicals in the root, but rather, which one is geminated: 2ae-gem. (“secundae geminatae”, second-geminate) means that the root has a first radical “A” and a second radical “B”, which is geminated, so the root is of the pattern “ABB”. Similarly, a 3ae-gem. would have the pattern “ABCC”.
  • The suffix -inf (“infirmae”) indicates that the final radical of the root is weak (“infirm”). Here, the prefix does indicate the total number of radicals, because it identifies which one is weak: a 3ae-inf. has three radicals, either in the pattern “ABj” or “ABw“.
  • If the verb is not geminate or infirm, then its class has the suffix -lit, preceded by the number of radicals; thus, 2-lit. means a verb with pattern “AB”, 3-lit. means “ABC”, and so on for 4-lit. and 5-lit.
  • The prefix caus. means that the verb is a causative of another verb, and the rest of the name indicates what the source verb is. For example, caus. 3ae-gem. is the causative of a third-geminate, so it has the pattern “sABCC”.

It is worth remembering that in the “-gem” classes, the root has geminated consonants; the question is, which of those verbs form a “geminated” stem that is even further geminated from that.

There are some variations of this nomenclature: a Roman numeral might be used rather than a Hindu-Arabic one for the categories which have the Latin suffixes -gem and -inf, and instead of -lit, the suffix -rad, for “radicals”, may be used. TLA uses these variations. So in TLA, a verb we label as “3-lit” will be “3-rad”, and a verb we label “2ae-gem” will be “IIae-gem”.

Table of verb classes

The following table shows all the verb classes. It describes the patterns of radicals in each, and shows whether verbs of that class can form a geminated stem.

Note that whether a geminated stem is formed is not the only difference in how the verb classes behave, as we shall soon learn.

Class and ExampleNotesCan form geminated stem?
2-lit.
(biliteral)

ḏd “say”		Pattern AB. If the second radical is j, the verb is sometimes considered to be in a separate class “2ae-inf.”, but except for gemination, those usually behave much like other 2-lit.Yes
(except for “2ae-inf.” verbs)
2ae-gem.
(second geminate)

tmm “close, finish”		Pattern ABB. The base stem may be written “AB” or “ABB” depending on the (unknown) vowels; the geminated stem will only be written “ABB”.Yes
3-lit.
(triliteral)

sḏm “hear”		Pattern ABC. Rarely end in j or w; most three-radical verbs ending in those are 3ae-inf. below.Yes
(unless 3rd is weak)
3ae-inf.
(third weak)

šnj “encircle”		Patterns ABj, ABw. A few three-radical verbs ending in j or w behave like other three-radical verbs and are classed as 3-lit.Yes
(with some exceptions)
3ae-gem.
(third geminate)

špss “be noble, ennoble”		Pattern ABCC. These have geminated roots, but they do not form geminated stems.No
4-lit.

hbhb “knead”		Patterns ABCD, ABAB, or AjAj. Those with pattern “AjAj” are usually written “AAj“.1No
4ae-inf.
(fourth weak)

wdfj “be late, delay”		Pattern ABCj. Most of these cannot geminate, but those that can also behave slightly differently in other ways too; it’s almost like two different classes.A few yes;
most no
5-lit.

Ꜣḫfḫf “blaze, be fiery” (of the eyes)		Patterns ABCBC, ABjBj. All of these are reduplicated from three-radical verbs. They mostly convey a more intense or prolonged version of the three-radical verb: nhm “yell”, nhmhm “yell very forcefully”.No
caus. 2-lit.

sḏd “cause to be said, recount”		Pattern sAB. Causatives of biliterals.No
caus. 2ae-gem.

sgnn “cause to be soft, soften”		Pattern sABB. Causatives of second geminates. Like those, their final radical may or may not appear in a given instance, depending on the unknown vowels.No
caus. 3-lit.

smnḫ “cause to be effective”		Pattern sABC. Causatives of triliterals.No
caus. 3ae-inf.

sḏwj “slander”		Patterns sABj, sABw. Causatives of third weaks.A few yes;
most no
caus. 4-lit.

smnmn “cause to quake”		Pattern sABAB. Causatives of 4-lits. Only “ABAB” 4-lit verbs form causatives; none of “ABCD” do.No
caus. 4ae-inf.

smꜢwj “renew”		Pattern sABCj. Causatives of fourth weaks.No
caus. 5-lit.

snšmšm “sharpen”		Pattern sABCBC. Causatives of 5-lits.No

Summary: Verb classes

Vocabulary

  • 𓇋𓌳𓄪𓐰𓐍 jmꜣḫ “(be) revered, honored”
  • 𓏶𓅓𓏭𓏏𓅱 jmjtw “among, between”, var. 𓇋𓏶𓅱𓍘𓇋 jm.wtj
    • 𓏶𓅓𓏏𓅱𓈖𓐰𓏭 jmjtw-nj (adv.) “between/among (them)”
  • 𓇋𓈖 jn “by (an agent)” (for use with passive verbs)
  • 𓇋𓆛𓐰𓈖𓃀𓊅 jnb “wall, fence, enclosure”
  • 𓋹𓈖𓐰𓐍 ꜥnḫ “live”
  • 𓊢𓂝𓐰𓂻 ꜥḥꜥ “stand up, (be) present, steadfast”
  • 𓄲𓐰𓂋𓂻 pẖr “go around”, “turn around”
  • 𓅓𓅓 mm(j) var. 𓅔, 𓅔𓂟 “among (them), amid”
  • 𓄟𓋴 ms.j “give birth (to)”
  • 𓂋𓐰𓎡𓇳 rk “era, time, age”
  • 𓇉𓄿 ḥꜣ “behind, around”
  • 𓄂𓐰𓏏𓐱𓏤 ḥꜣ.t “front, forepart”
  • 𓍛𓏤𓅆 ḥm “incarnation, Majesty”
  • 𓎛𓈖𓐰𓂝𓐰𓏥 ḥnꜥw (adv.) “together (with)”
  • 𓁷𓐰𓂋𓅱𓐰𓈐 ḥr.w “apart”
    • 𓁷𓐰𓂋𓅱𓈐𓐰𓂋 ḥr.w-r “apart from”
  • 𓆣𓐰𓂋 ḫpr “to come into being; to become; to occur; to evolve”
  • 𓐍𓐱𓏏𓐰𓆑 ḫft “opposite, before, facing, according to”
    • 𓐍𓐱𓏏𓐰𓆑𓅱 ḫftw (adv.) “accordingly”
  • 𓏃𓈖𓐰𓏏 ḫnt “before (in order), ahead of”
  • 𓐍𓐰𓂋 ḫr “near, in the presence of”
  • 𓆱𓐰𓐍𓐱𓏏𓂻 ḫt “throughout”
  • 𓋴𓋾𓈎𓄿𓏜 sḥqꜣ “cause to rule”
  • 𓋴𓇥𓐰𓂋𓁀 sḏr “lie down, spend the night, sleep”
  • 𓁶𓐰𓏤 tp “above, atop”
  • 𓌥𓃀𓏜 ḏbꜣ “replace”
  • 𓇥𓐰𓂋 ḏr “since”

Exercises

(forthcoming)

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