Notes
Infinitives
What we call the infinitive in Egyptian is sometimes best translated by the English infinitive (e.g. “to walk”, “to hear”) but often is better translated by an English gerund (“the walking”, “the hearing”).
The infinitive is a noun. Its form is always either the base stem, or the base stem + t. The table below shows which categories add the -t and which do not, and some exceptions.
The infinitive is always grammatically masculine, even if it has the -t ending.
Subject of infinitives
Since the infinitive is a noun, its subject can be shown:
The subject can be shown by using the preposition jn “by”, with a genitive phrase, or with a suffix pronoun:
- preposition: prt jn zj “the emerging by the man”
- genitive phrase: prt zj “the emerging of the man”
(that is, the emerging that the man “owns” because he is the one who emerged) - suffix pronoun: prt.f “his emerging”
When a genitive phrase is used, it is usually direct, but rarely indirect.
The genitive and pronoun options are usually used with intransitive verbs, because in a transitive verb, these genitive/possessive constructions can be used for the object instead of the subject. But they are sometimes used for transitive verbs anyway.
Object of infinitives
The object can be also shown by a genitive/possession (when there is no expressed subject), or by using jn (if the subject is expressed).
- ḏd mdw “the speaking of words”
- gmt.f jn Swtẖ “Set’s (act of) finding him” (lit. “his finding by Set”)
Or the infinitive can be followed by the subject and then an noun or pronoun object. If a pronoun, this object is the dependent pronoun or a demonstrative:
- Dependent pronoun object: rdjt.f wj m ḥꜣt ẖrdw.f
“his (act of) placing me in front of his children” - Noun object: jrt jst jꜣkb
“Isis’s making mourning” (lit. “the making of Isis of mourning”)
The dependent pronoun st can be used without a subject, if it refers to one or more things, or more than one person, but not just for one person: rdjt st ḥr mrḥt “adding it to oil” (lit. “putting it upon oil”).
Uses of the infinitive
The infinitive can be the subject in a non-verbal sentence: nfr sḏm “to listen is good”.
It can be used as a catenative verb, in a “chain” with other verbs, like in English: mr.j mꜣꜣ sw “I want to see him,” rḫ.s jrt mr “she knows how to make a pyramid”.
If the infinitive is the object of a preposition, a few prepositions have special meanings:
- ḥr “upon”: This can mean “because of”, in a sentence like ḏd.n.j ḥr mꜣ.f wj “I spoke upon his seeing me” = “I spoke because he saw me”. It can also mean “at the moment of” or “in the act of”: gm.n.j sw ḥr mr sj “I found him upon loving her” = “I found him loving her”. (Note that English uses “upon” as well with gerunds: “Upon entering the room, I saw …”)
- m “in”: This can be used for “in the act of” as ḥr can be, but it is less common than ḥr for that purpose. It can also be used more like an adverb: ḏd.f m wḥm “he speaks in repeating” = “he speaks again”.
- r “to”, “in order to”: This expresses a purpose: jj.n.sn r gmt sj “they have come in order to find her” (lit. “they have come towards the finding of her”).
These three prepositions, with infinitives as their objects, will be seen in another construction called the pseudo-verbal construction.
Complementary Infinitives
The complementary infinitive is a reiteration of a verb as an adverb of itself. It is rare in Middle Egyptian and really only in found in older religious texts:
wbn.k wbnt
“you rise, rising” or “Rising, you rise”.
The complementary infinitive is formed by adding -t to the root of 2ae-gem. verbs, and the base stem for most other verbs. The ending in final-weak verbs was originally -wt, which became -yt, but the w/y usually disappear in writing.
rd “grow” → rdt (2-lit.)
wnn “exist” → wnnt (2ae-gem.)
msj “give birth” → mst, msyt (3ae-inf.)
Infinitive forms
| Verb class | Form | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| All verbs with final-weak roots except those 4ae-inf. which can geminate | base stem + t | jr.t (3ae-inf.) “to do, to make” ḥms.t (4ae-inf., non-gem.) “to sit” sḫꜥ.t (cause. 3ae-inf.) “to make appear” |
| caus. 2-lit. | base stem + t | smn.t “to set” |
| All verbs with non-final-weak roots except caus. 2-lit. | base stem | ḏd (2-lit.) “to say” nḥm (3-lit.) “to take away” gmgm (4-lit.) “to crack” sḥtp (caus. 3-lit.) “to make content” |
| Those 4ae-inf. which can geminate | base stem | bꜣg “to be lax” |
Exceptional infinitives
| Verbs | Notes |
|---|---|
| Any verb with an infinitive that adds -t | Sometimes the -t is omitted, like the ending of feminine nouns; most common for caus. 3ae-inf. verbs. |
| 2ae-gem. infinitives when a suffix pronoun is used | The third radical disappears in writing: wnn “to exist”, but wn.f “his existing”. |
| mꜣꜣ “see” | As other 2ae-gem. but the third radical (ꜣ) sometimes disappears even without a suffix pronoun. Or the third radical is sometimes written as n, in which case it is retained, with or without a suffix pronoun. mꜣꜣ, mꜣ, or rarely mꜣn “to see” mꜣ.f or mꜣn.f “his seeing” |
Subject and object of infinitives
| If subject is expressed by … | then object (if expressed) is expressed by … |
|---|---|
| Not expressed | Follows infinitive as suffix pronoun, noun, or st1 |
| Preceded with preposition jn “by” | Same options as above. The jn + subject phrase must follow the object. |
| Noun after infinitive in genitive phrase, or suffix pronoun | Follows subject as noun, demonstrative, or any appropriate dependent pronoun1 |
Complementary infinitive forms
| Verbs | Notes |
|---|---|
| 2ae-gem. verbs | add -t to root |
| other verbs | add -t to base stem |