Personal Pronouns

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Notes

Middle Egyptian had the following types of personal pronouns:

Egyptian also has demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, discussed on the Other Pronouns page.

Note about Dual forms

Of all the types of pronouns in Middle Egyptian, the only ones with well-attested dual forms seem to be the suffix pronouns, and that only in formal texts, especially religious ones. For all other uses or types of pronouns, the plural form covers the dual as well.

Suffix Pronouns

Suffix pronouns are attached to other words and cannot stand alone. Their uses include:

  • Subject of a verbal sentence
  • Possessive adjective for a noun
  • Object of a preposition
  • The subject in an adverbial sentence introduced by 𓇋𓅱 jw or similar particles

Dependent Pronouns

Dependent pronouns are separate words, but “depend” on some other word in the sentence and cannot stand at the beginning; instead, they attach to the word before them (and its suffix pronoun if it has one). Their uses, and the words they depend on in each, include:

  • Direct object of a verb, which may be reflexive; depends from the verb
  • Subject of an adverbial sentence; depends from a suitable sentence particle
  • Subject of an adjectival sentence; depends from the adjective (in second and third person only)

Independent Pronouns

Independent pronouns do not depend on other words in a sentence and can function as a predicate unto themselves. Their uses include:

  • Subject in a sentence with a nominal predicate
  • Subject in a sentence with an adjectival predicate (first person only, and uses nominal predicate syntax)
  • Subject of an infinitive, when expressed as an agent

Subject Pronouns

These pronouns begin to appear in Dynasty 17, so while they are used in texts thereafter, they will not be found in texts of the Middle Kingdom. They are used as the subject in certain kinds of sentences, including ones with adverbial predicates. They stand at the beginning of the sentence and cannot follow particles.

Table of Suffix Pronouns

Person Singular Plural Dual
1st π“€€, 𓇋 1 .j π“ˆ–π“₯ .n π“ˆ–π“­ .nj
2nd masc. π“Ž‘ .k π“π“ˆ–π“₯, π“Ώπ“ˆ–π“₯ .tn, .αΉ―n π“π“ˆ–π“­, π“Ώπ“ˆ–π“­ .tnj, .αΉ―nj
2nd fem. 𓏏, 𓍿 .αΉ―, .t
3rd masc. 𓆑 .f π“‹΄β€Œπ“ˆ–π“₯ or π“Šƒπ“ˆ–π“₯ .sn π“‹΄β€Œπ“ˆ–π“­ or π“Šƒπ“ˆ–π“­ .snj
3rd fem. π“‹΄, π“Šƒ .s
1. The written form of this pronoun can vary if the speaker is a king π“€°, a god π“€­, a deceased person π“€», or a woman or goddess 𓁐.

Table of Dependent Pronouns

Person Singular Plural
1st π“…±β€Œπ“€€, π“²β€Œπ“€€ wj π“ˆ–π“₯ n
2nd masc. π“Ώβ€Œπ“…±, 𓏏𓅱 αΉ―w π“π“ˆ–π“₯, π“Ώπ“ˆ–π“₯ tn, αΉ―n
2nd fem. π“Ώπ“ˆ–, π“π“ˆ– αΉ―n, tn
3rd masc. 𓇓𓅱, 𓇓𓏲 sw π“‹΄β€Œπ“ˆ–π“₯ or π“Šƒπ“ˆ–π“₯ sn
3rd fem. 𓋴𓏭, π“Šƒπ“­ sj
3rd comm.1 π“‹΄β€Œπ“, π“Šƒπ“ st
1. The 3rd person “common” dependent pronoun is not usually used for nouns that sw/sj could refer to (a single human or god); it used for nouns that are not persons, or for plurals. It is unfortunately not a properly epicene pronoun for people. When a plural, it sometimes is written with the plural strokes.

Table of Independent Pronouns

Person Singular Plural
1st π“Œπ“Ž‘β€Œπ“€€ jnk π“‡‹π“€π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“₯ jnn
2nd masc. π“ˆ–π“π“Ž‘ ntk π“ˆ–π“β€Œπ“π“ˆ–π“₯, π“ˆ–π“β€Œπ“Ώπ“ˆ–π“₯ ntαΉ―n, nttn
2nd fem. π“ˆ–π“π“Ώ or π“ˆ–π“π“ ntαΉ― or ntt
3rd masc. π“ˆ–π“π“†‘ ntf π“ˆ–π“β€Œπ“‹΄β€Œπ“ˆ–π“₯, π“ˆ–π“β€Œπ“Šƒπ“ˆ–π“₯ ntsn
3rd fem. π“ˆ–π“π“‹΄, π“ˆ–π“π“Šƒ nts

Table of Subject Pronouns1

Person Singular Plural
1st 𓏏𓅱𓀀 tw.j π“π“…±π“ˆ–π“₯ tw.n
2nd masc. π“π“²π“Ž‘ tw.k π“π“…±β€Œπ“π“ˆ–π“₯ tw.tn
2nd fem. 𓏏𓅱𓁐 tw(.t)
3rd masc. 𓇓𓏲, 𓇓𓅱 sw π“‹΄β€Œπ“, π“‹΄β€Œπ“π“₯ st
3rd fem. 𓋴𓏭 sj
1. Only seen from Dynasty 17 onwards.

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