Adjectival and nominal sentences I

Adjectival & nominal sentences

Adjectival sentences (non verbal)

-Ascribes a quality to something

Nominal sentences (two types)

-Expresses a relationship between two nouns (X is a/an Y)

Three-part (Tripartite)

Two-part (Bipartite)

-pw functions as a link between two nouns (or noun-equivalents)

subject usually a pronoun

1st person: subject takes the form of an INDEPENDENT PRONOUN standing in the beginning of a sentence

If the sentence identifies something as something the order of constituents is SUBJECT - PREDICATE

If the sentence qualifies something as something the order of constituents is PREDICATE - SUBJECT

-pw follows the the predicate and must come second

The predicate of a nominal sentence is a noun

3rd person: "-pw" serves as a general expression for masc. and fem. sg. and pl. subjects

2nd person: subject takes the form of an INDEPENDENT PRONOUN standing in the beginning of a sentence

Nominal sentences are strictly NON-VERBAL constructions

Negation of nominal sentences

n... is

is

2nd position clitic (must come 2nd) follows the first full word of the sentence

n Hs -is rn=k rA rn=k

=

"shit is not your name; Ra is your name"

irw=k -pw n irw=i -is -pw

=

"it is your form. My form it is not"

The basic construction of an adjectival sentence is adjective predicate followed by the subject

if the subject of adjectival sentence is a personal pronoun, the dependent pronouns are used

Ha -sw im=i

=

"he is joyous in me"

The word order reflects the function of the adjective. In an adjectival sentence the adjective is the predicate: it tells what the subject 'is'. It therefore precedes the subject and does not agree with it

A common feature of the adjectival sentence is the second position element -wy often spelled just w(y), which gives the sentence an exclamative force 'OH how good (etc.) is...'

nfr -w(y) -Tw aHa.t(i) m-min Hr dwA.t

=

"how happy you are when you stand today, O Horus of the Netherworld"

The adjectival sentence may be preceded by an initial particle

Never used as adjuncts on their own

Adjectival sentences profiles teh qualilty expressed as

timeless' and 'eternal', withouth any suggestion that it might be somehow transatory or that it might change

Not negated. instead the adjective would be 'verbalized' and the familiar negations n-sDm=f for past, n SDm-n=f for present and nn sDm=f would be used

mk nfr sDm n rmT

=

"Look, listening is good for people"