Other Pronouns

• Demonstrative pronouns
• Archaic demonstratives
• Vocative demonstratives
• Later possessive (“possessed”) pronouns
• Interrogative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns

There are four series of demonstrative pronouns in Middle Egyptian, distinguished by their endings:

• The n series is typical for Middle Egyptian and can mean “this/these” or “that/those” by context.
• The w series are older and more formal in Middle Egyptian.
• The ꜣ series is more colloquial (and in later Egyptian, they develop into definite articles).
• The f series, when they are used, are often used to contrast with the other three series, in which case the f series are more distant “that/those”, while the other pronoun then means “this/these”: 𓊃𓏏𓁐𓏏𓈖𓊃𓀀𓏤𓊪𓆑 zt tn, zj pf “this woman, that man”.

The “neutral” demonstratives (beginning with n-) are used for duals or plurals of either gender, and are often used without nouns, in sentences like 𓆓𓂧𓈖𓆑𓇒 ḏd.n.f nn “He said this.“

When used to modify nouns, the singular demonstratives (p– and t-) follow their nouns: 𓂧𓏏𓏤𓏏𓈖 ḏrt tn “this hand”, but the neutral ones come before the nouns and require the indirect genitive n: 𓇒𓈖𓈖𓊹𓊹𓊹 nn n nṯr.w “these/those gods”, 𓇒𓈖𓈖𓅐𓅱𓏏𓁐𓏪 nn n mjw.wt “these/those mothers”. In this case, the indirect genitive marker is always n, because the demonstrative itself is effectively a masculine singular: “these gods” is literally “this-thing of gods”.

In a direct genitive phrase, the demonstrative usually must come after both words, but with an indirect genitive, it can come after the first one: 𓊹𓉗𓏏𓉐𓏏𓈖 ḥwt-nṯr tn “this temple” (lit. “this enclosure-of-god”), but 𓅭𓏤𓊪𓈖𓈖𓅃𓀭 zꜣ pn n ḥrw “this son of Horus”.

Archaic plural demonstratives

The neutral n- demonstratives were originally only used by themselves, without a noun. Plural nouns used a different set (𓇋𓊪𓈖 jpn, 𓇋𓊪𓏏𓈖 jptn; 𓇋𓊪‌𓅱 jpw, 𓇋𓊪𓏏𓅱 jptw). In Middle Egyptian, these were archaic/religious, but still used. Like the p- and t- demonstratives, they follow their nouns as modifiers, rather than using the genitive construction.

Vocative demonstratives

The normal demonstratives, and the w pair of the archaic ones, can have the sense of invocation:

𓉔‌𓄿𓈖𓐍𓏏𓊪‌𓅱 hꜣ nḫt pw “Oh, Nakht!”
(literally “Oh, this Nakht!”)
𓊹𓂋𓏲𓏏𓆗𓏥𓇋𓊪𓏏𓅱 nṯrwt jptw “O goddesses!”
(literally “These goddesses!”)

Later possessive (“possessed”) pronouns

By the end of the Middle Kingdom, only the -ꜣ demonstratives were still used in speaking. As that series turned into the definite article, they became the root for a set of possessive pronouns, formed with the suffix pronouns going on the demonstrative instead of the possessed noun. The demonstrative sometimes has the ending 𓇌 y in these forms.

The gender and number distinctions remained the same as when they were pure demonstratives. Note that the plural/neutral form still uses the indirect genitive n between the possessed pronoun and the noun, as when it was a pure demonstrative.

𓅮𓄿𓋴‌𓈖𓏥𓇋‌𓏏𓆑‌𓀀 pꜣ.sn jtj “their father” (instead of jtj.sn)
𓏏‌𓄿𓆑‌𓎟𓏏‌𓁐 tꜣ.f nbt “his mistress” (instead of nbt.f)
𓈖𓄿𓈖𓇓‌𓏏𓈖 nꜣ.n n nswt “our king” (instead of nswt.n)

Interrogative pronouns

Middle Egyptian has several interrogative pronouns, each with its own usage.

• 𓂟𓅓 or 𓅖 mj “who(m), what”
  This turns a statement into a question by taking a place that a dependent pronoun could take:
  mrj.s tw “she loves you”
  mrj.s mj “she loves whom?”
• 𓊪𓏏𓂋𓆵𓀁 ptr or 𓊪𓏏𓏭𓆵𓀁, 𓊪𓏏𓆵𓀁 ptj “who, what”
  This takes the place of the independent pronouns:
  jnk jtj.f “I am his father”
  ptr jtj.f “who is his father?”
• 𓇋𓐍𓏛 jḫ “what”
  This is used sometimes where a dependent pronoun could be, instead of mj, if the question is about things rather than persons (humans or gods):
  mrj.f ḫt “he wants something”
  mrj.f jḫ “he wants what?”
• 𓇋𓍱𓊃𓀁 jšst “what”
  More common form of jḫ. Like jḫ this is used only about things and not persons, but it can be used at the start of a sentence as well, to match the independent pronouns as well as the dependent ones.
• 𓊄𓇌, 𓊄𓏭𓏛 , or 𓊄 zy/zj, “which (one)”, can be used by itself or with a noun; if used with a noun, it goes first: zy nṯrt “which goddess?”