Now lets start putting things together!

We have looked at some ways of putting words together at Egyptologica's "Lesson 7: linking words together" ; now we are going to learn how to read certain types of sentences.

The first type of sentence we will examine are the Adjectival Sentences.

Adjectival Sentences have subjects and predicates and are therefore complete sentences, but they are non-verbal sentences – and that means that there is no Mdw-Ntr verb written into the sentence.

And now you are thinking: How in the world can you have a sentence without a verb?

Okay, lets step out of the classroom onto the street.  There we will hear folk saying things like “He Bad!” or “She Fine!”  Now, we have been told all of our lives that this is “Bad English” and that may be so.  But if you were in Ancient Kemet, you would be speaking quite properly.
 
 

He Bad      :        Bin = Bad sw = he

She Fine      :        Nfr = Fine sj = she

These are Adjectival Sentences, and one of the most common forms of syntax in Mdw Ntr.  This construction is also found in Arabic and in Russian, and nobody calls them stupid.  And if you think of the logic of the syntax, the verb “is” would add no additional information to the concepts of “He Bad!” or “She Fine!” particularly when taken in context of a conversation. --- Now don’t go “European” on me and say: “but how do I know the tense of this reference?”  If you are standing on a corner, and a woman walks by, and a brother says: “She Fine!” and you do not understand that this means that she is Fine - Right Now! - then maybe you need to take a more eurocentric approach to Mdw-Ntr.

In an Adjectival Sentences the predicate is an adjective – i.e.: “Fine” or “Bad”.

The subject of an Adjectival Sentences is usually a noun, a noun phrase but it can be a pronoun or another adjective.  In the case of using an adjective for the subject as well as an adjective for the predicate, we could wind up with something like: “The dark ones are fine.” [Which actually uses an adjectival phrase for the subject].

We will get to pronouns at a later time, so for now we will practice reading Adjectival Sentences that have nouns for their subjects and adjectival predicates; i.e.:
 

The brother bad      :        bin sn

 

The sister fine      :        nfr sn.t

Now, if you MUST put the verb "is" in your sentences to keep your processed brain from being confused; and you don't know what "is" is, then you could read those sentences as "He is Bad.", "She is Fine.", "The brother is bad." and "The sister is fine."

But this is an Afrocentric Approach to Mdw-Ntr, and I hope that you are able to free your mind from "English Syntax" because this page is not about English.

Do you remember "A Little Egyptian Reading Book?"  we read we read the first four pages of that book earlier.  You may have noticed that there was not a single verb written in those four pages.  If you reexamine page one of that book you will see:

“Who [is] he?” “He [is] Wsir [Osiris.]”  “He [is a] great god.”

 
While the third sentence in this group is an Adjectival Sentence, the first two sentences are called Nominal Sentences.  But they are all Non-verbal Sentences.  The people of Kemet saw no need for verbs in these types of sentences.  For this reason, the sentences above can just as correctly be read:

     “Who he?”
     “He Wsir [Osiris.]”
     “He great god.”

Take a look at page one of “A Little Egyptian Reading Book” again.

Now, take a look at page two of “A Little Egyptian Reading Book.”  There are four sentences on that page, and Stephen Fryer translates the fourth sentence as:

     "Wife she (is) of Osiris."

placing the English words in the same order as they appear in Mdw-Ntr.   But, it is
important to note that he writes the verb as “(is)” because it does not appear in the
Hieroglyphic text.

Take a moment now, and look at both page three and page four of the Book.  On page
three and four of  the book, we see more nominal and adjectival sentences; but also on
page four, we are given a reminder of how to distinguish between an adjectival sentence, where the verb “is” is understood, and an adjectival clause where there is no implied verb.

In the adjectival clause, the noun comes first, while in the adjectival sentence, the adjective comes first.

To help you practice recognizing Adjectival Sentences, I am going to send you to
a  wonderfully magical website.  This new site is entitled Hieroglyphs.Net, and one
of the many things that you can do there is to compose sentences and have them
appear in Hieroglyphs.

The page in Hieroglyphs.Net where you will land list a number of different types
of sentences that you can compose, but for now, only compose Adjectival Sentences
which are found in Section “12. Predicate adjective.”  Play with this site and compose
the different possible sentences.  And when you come back, we will be ready to go to
page 7.

I hope you found those exercises useful and fun.  And if you went through the possible
sentences, you may not wince when you hear someone telling the story “The Emperor’s Clothes” say in Eubonics:

    “The king naked!”

If you’re not too tired, lets move on to Lesson 7 and Adverbial Sentences.

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For more on the ANCIENT NILE VALLEY CIVILIZATION, Go To:  THE Km.T LIBERATION FRONT
 

This site was created and prepared by Oscar H. Blayton (c) 2000-2002

Email me at:  Blayton_Law@sprynet.com
 

 

Last Updated 6/5/02