Verb Classes – shawnomancy

Introduction

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

The following table shows the classes of verbs, with examples of them, and notes on whether they can have geminated stems. (Note that the “-gem” classes are verbs where the root has geminated consonants; the question is do they form a stem that is even further geminated from that.)

Gemination of geminated roots

In hieroglyphs, if two instances of a consonant happen together with no vowel between them, they were only written as one copy of the consonant.

One result of this is: the base stem of a geminated verb, with radicals “ABB”, might be written “AB”, because that particular form had the doubled consonants together; for example tm could stand for *tamma).

But If the verb is written “ABB” and is of a class that can form a geminated stem, that could be a form of either the base stem or the geminated one. It would be the base stem if the doubled consonants had a vowel between them: *tamam would written tmm. But it would be the geminated stem, if two of the three consonants were together: *tamamma would also be written tmm.

Notes on the classes

Here are some further explanatory notes to go with the table below.

2-lit., 2ae-inf.: Except for not geminating, 2ae-inf. verbs mostly behave like 2-lit. verbs, and so 2ae-inf. is not always considered a separate class.

3-lit., 3ae-inf.: Some three-radical verbs ending in j or w are 3-lit. (“strong”), but most of them are 3ae-inf. The w ones are mostly 3-lit.; the j ones are mostly 3ae-inf. 3-lit. ending in a weak consonant do not geminate, but most 3ae-inf. do.

4-lit.: Most look like reduplicated biliterals (“ABAB”), but some do not (“ABCD”). Some of the reduplicated ones have j for both the second and fourth radicals, and they are usually written with the second one omitted: “AAj“.

4ae-inf.: There are two subcategories: those which form geminated stems, and a those which do not, and those subcategories can behave differently from each other.

5-lit.: All of them are reduplicated from 3-lit. or 3ae-inf. roots (“ABCBC”, “ABjBj“). In meaning, most are an intensified or extended version of the corresponding triliteral.

caus. 3ae-inf.: A few of these can form geminated stems; they are the only causative class which can do so.

caus. 4-lit.: These are only known to come from reduplicated 4-lit. verbs, not from non-reduplicated ones, so there are none with pattern “sABCD”.

Summary of verb classes

Class	Meaning	Can form geminated stem?	Example
2-lit. (biliteral)	Two radicals (“AB”). If the second is j, it is sometimes considered a separate class (see 2ae-inf. below).	Yes (unless 2nd is weak)	ḏd “say”
2ae-inf. (second weak)	Two radicals; second one is j (“Aj“). Sometimes classed as 2-lit.	No	kj “cry out”
2ae-gem. (second geminated)	Three radicals, second and third identical (“ABB”). This may be written “AB” (only the base stem) or “ABB” (base or geminated stem).	Yes	tmm “close”
3-lit. (triliteral)	Three different radicals (“ABC”). Rarely end in w or more rarely j; most three-radical verbs with those are 3ae-inf. below.	Yes (unless 3rd is weak)	sḏm “hear”
3ae-inf. (third weak)	Three different radicals, last one j (or rarely w), though some such verbs are 3-lit. above.	Yes (with some exceptions)	šnj “encircle”
3ae-gem. (third geminated)	Four radicals; the third is the same as the fourth (“ABCC”).	No	špss “be noble, ennoble”
4-lit. (quadriliteral)	Four radicals; the third and fourth differ. Those with pattern “AjAj” are usually written “AAj“.	No	hbhb “knead”
4ae-inf. (fourth weak)	Four different radicals, last one j.	Some yes, more often no	wdfj “be late, delay”
5-lit. (quinquiliteral)	Five radicals.	No	ꜣḫfḫf “blaze, be fiery” (of the eyes)
caus. 2-lit.	Causatives of biliterals.	No	sḏd “cause to be said, recount”
caus. 2ae-gem.	Causatives of second geminates. Like those, their final radical may or may not appear in a given instance.	No	sgnn “cause to be soft, soften”
caus. 3-lit.	Causatives of triliterals.	No	smnḫ “cause to be effective”
caus. 3ae-inf.	Causatives of third weaks.	Yes (rarely)	sḏwj “slander”
caus. 4-lit.	Causatives of quadriliterals, all with pattern “sABAB”.	No	smnmn “cause to quake”
caus. 4ae-inf.	Causatives of fourth weaks.	No	smꜣwj “renew”
caus. 5-lit.	Causatives of quinquiliterals.	No	snšmšm “sharpen”