R.O. Faulkner gives the following:
TABLE 1
| record | meaning | EngJSM | source | JS-ID (glyphs) |
| (npd: nepedj) | "slaughter" | slaughter | Faulkner Concise [130:22] | <water stool cobra-J bow: flat dagger> |
He also gives the similar:
TABLE 2
(npdt: nepedjet)
|
"sharp knife"
|
xxx
|
Faulkner Concise [130:23]
|
<water stool cobra-J bun dagger>
|
The difference is between npd and npdt. These I have respelt as ‘nepedj’ and ‘nepedjet’ for my own convenience, and for any other hieroglyph novices like myself.
Hitherto I have taken the suffix -et to be a relative, and so the meaning xxx in the second instance would be ‘what is slaughter’, based on the first example. And a ‘sharp knife’ would be appropriate for that concept.
nḥḥ: (neHeHe): ‘eternity’
Consider another example: nḥḥ. In one instance, Faulkner provides nḥḥ analysed in the Nedj Nedj hierolex database as follows:
That is to say, Faulkner’s example includes an initial /n/, rendered by the water sign
Numerous sources give ḥḥ (without the initial n-) for the same idea:
TABLE 3
(ḥeḥ: HeHe)
|
"100,000 years"
|
100 000 years
|
EAWB [132:11.2]
|
<rope sun rope>
|
(ḥḥ: HeHe)
|
"Million"
|
million
|
Nureldin [215:10.3]
|
<ropex2 heeler: arms-up>
|
But sometimes the transcription given by the sources for essentially the same <rope sun rope>
sequence is slightly different:
TABLE 4
(nḥḥ: neHeHe)
|
"eternal repetition"
|
cyclical time
|
Allen [461.1:24.1]
|
<rope sun rope>
|
(nḥḥ: neHeHe)
|
"(for) eternity"
|
cyclical time
|
Col/Man [155.2:14.2]
|
<rope sun rope>
|
(nḥḥ: neHeHe)
|
"eternity"
|
eternity
|
Faulkner Concise [176:15]
|
<rope sun rope>
|
(nḥḥ: neHeHe)
|
"eternity"
|
cyclical time
|
Gardiner [575.1:18.2]
|
<rope sun rope>
|
The difference is between /ḥḥ/ and /nḥḥ/: respelt by me for convenience as HeHe and neHeHe. There is no water or other ‘n’ glyph yet authorities insert an initial n-.
So, in the group of examples in Table 4, where do the scholars get the introduced initial n- from? It certainly is not there in the glyphs for the word.
Irregularities
Of course, sometimes there are irregularities in AE words, as for example in ‘father’:
father
(it: it)
|
"father"
|
father
|
Col/Man [152.2:21.2]
|
<bun viper>
|
(ỉt(ỉ): it)
|
"father"
|
father
|
Faulkner Concise [298:14]
|
<bun viper SQUATTER>
|
(it: it)
|
"father"
|
father
|
Gardiner [612.2:8.1]
|
<bun viper SQUATTER>
|
(jtj: iti)
|
"father"
|
father
|
Allen [455.1:15.3]
|
<bun viper SQUATTER>
|
where the glyphs indicate tf but the word ‘father’ is essentially agreed by all to be it.
beer
Similarly there is an anomaly in the case of ‘beer’:
TABLE 6
(ḥnḳt: Heneqet)
|
"beer"
|
beer
|
Gardiner [582.1:1.1]
|
<rope slope bun jar>
|
(ḥnḳt: Heneqet)
|
"beer"
|
beer
|
Kamrin [253.2:33]
|
<rope slope bun jar>
|
(ḥ(n)ḳt: Heneqet)
|
"beer"
|
beer
|
Col/Man [76:14]
|
<rope slope bun jar PLURAL>
|
There is no glyph for ‘n’ in ḥnḳt as the database shows:
Prepositional prefix en
What if, however, some words beginning with n-, rendered in my transcriptions by ne-, were in fact ‘en’, like the multi-meaninged preposition ‘en’ in the next table.
TABLE 7
(n: en)
|
"to"
|
to
|
Gardiner [571.2:11.12]
|
<arms: out>
|
(n: en)
|
"to"
|
to
|
Faulkner Concise [124:8]
|
<water>
|
Gardiner gives additional meanings for preposition ‘en’:
for, belonging to, through, in (of time)
and Faulkner does likewise:
for (in dative); to person; in sun, dew, period of time; because; belongs to;
Perhaps some of the AE (Ancient Egyptian) words beginning with n- were compound words, the first syllable being the preposition ‘en’, representing, say, ‘for’.
Applying the prepositional prefix idea
Consider again the words first presented in this article:
Applying the prepositional prefix idea
Consider again the words first presented in this article:
TABLE 8
standard JS transcription
|
revised prepositional prefix JS transcription
|
nepedj
|
en-pedj
|
nepedjet
|
en-pedj-et
|
neHeHe
|
en-HeHe
|
We know what HeHe means: ‘eternity’ or some form of very long time. So en-HeHe would mean ‘for a very long time’, or equivalent.
This raises the question as to whether pedj means anything, and a database check soon reveals:
TABLE 9
(pd: pedj)
|
"stretch"
|
stretch
|
Faulkner Concise [97:1]
|
<stool cobra-J bow: flat>
|
(pd: pedj)
|
"stretch"
|
stretch
|
Gardiner [625.2:25.2]
|
<stool hand bow: flat>
|
(pd: pedj)
|
"measure"
|
measure
|
Faulkner Concise [97:7]
|
<stool hand bow: flat ring PLURAL>
|
If pedj means ‘stretch’, what about pedjet?
TABLE 10
(pdt: pedjet)
|
"bow"
|
bow
|
Kamrin [251.2:36]
|
<bow>
|
(pdt: pedjet)
|
"bow"
|
bow
|
Faulkner Concise [97:2.1]
|
<bow bun STROKE>
|
(pdt: pedjet)
|
"bow"
|
bow
|
Gardiner [566.1:23.32]
|
<bow bun STROKE>
|
(pdt: pedjet)
|
"bowmen"
|
bow people
|
EAWB [206:6.1]
|
<bow bun stroke SQUATTER PLURAL>
|
(pdt: pedjet)
|
"bow"
|
bow
|
Faulkner Concise [97:2.23]
|
<bow: flat bun>
|
(pdt: pedjet)
|
"bow"
|
bow
|
Allen [458.2:26.1]
|
<bow: flat bun STROKE>
|
The database reveals pedjet means ‘bow’.
What is a key aspect of a bow such as is used to shoot arrows if not ‘stretch’?
Accordingly the suffix -et is most likely a relative — making a reinterpretation of the first example in Table 10:
Accordingly the suffix -et is most likely a relative — making a reinterpretation of the first example in Table 10:
TABLE 11
(pdt: pedj-et)
|
"bow"
|
stretch what is [bow]
|
Kamrin [251.2:36]
|
<bow>
|
pedjet now is revealed possibly to mean in essence: ‘stretch-what is’ (that is, what is being stretched).
If the root of the word is pedj meaning ‘stretch’, this gives:
TABLE 12
pedj-et
|
what is stretch
|
bow
|
en-pedj-et
|
for / stretch / what is
|
slaughter
|
It is not too much of a leap to imagine that in AE ‘slaughter’ could be the consequence of deliberate stretching (as of a bow — complete of course with arrow).
Looking for other examples
If this speculative idea of the prefix n- indicating ‘for’ in this manner is to hold any water, more examples need to be uncovered.
An enquiry by means of the database yielded the following:
TABLE 13
TABLE 13
The same table, with the empty narrow suffix columns, as well as source and glyph columns on the right, omitted is:
TABLE 14
AE
|
pfx1
|
pfx2
|
stem
|
dfx1
|
meaning
|
EngJSM
|
Eng extras
|
EngJSAdj
|
npri
|
en
|
per
|
i
|
grain
|
emerge
|
for entity
|
[grain]
|
|
npri
|
en
|
per
|
i
|
grain
|
grain
|
for entity
|
[grain]
|
|
nḳdd
|
en
|
qeded
|
sleep
|
sleep
|
for
|
|||
nḳmt
|
en
|
qemet
|
affliction
|
disaster
|
for
|
[affliction]
|
||
nspw
|
en
|
sep
|
u
|
wounds
|
medicine
|
for
|
[wound]
|
|
nspw
|
en
|
sep
|
u
|
wounds
|
examine / happen / survive
|
for
|
[wound]
|
|
nsrt
|
en
|
seret
|
royal serpent
|
thorn
|
for entity
|
[snake royal]
|
||
nsrt
|
en
|
seret
|
royal serpent
|
thorn
|
for entity
|
[snake royal]
|
||
nsrt
|
en
|
seret
|
royal serpent
|
thorn
|
for entity
|
[snake royal]
|
||
nftft
|
en
|
fet fet
|
leap
|
jump
|
for
|
|||
nftft
|
en
|
fet fet
|
leap
|
jump
|
for
|
|||
nftft
|
en
|
fet fet
|
leap
|
jump
|
for
|
|||
snktkt
|
se
|
en
|
ket ket
|
gossip
|
sneak
|
make for
|
[gossip]
|
From a database with over 20 000 entries, these thirteen examples featuring only seven different word stems are not a dramatic, conclusive, outcome. But there is enough in what has been uncovered to suggest possible validity of the hypothesis that the n- first syllable in some words might denote a prepositional prefix conveying the sense of ‘for’ or similar.
nsrt (neseret): royal serpent
Take, for example, the seventh item in the table: nsrt (neseret). Faulkner recorded this as meaning ‘royal serpent’.
In the table below, the first row shows the standard rendering of this word, while the second shows the new prepositional prefix analysis of it.
TABLE 15
record
|
meaning
|
EngJS
|
source
|
ID-JS (glyphs)
|
(nsrt: neseret)
|
"royal serpent"
|
snake royal
|
Faulkner Concise [139:19.22]
|
<water cloth mouth bun basin: cobra>
|
(nsrt: en-seret)
|
"royal serpent"
|
thorn for entity [snake royal]
|
Faulkner Concise [139:19.22]
|
<water cloth mouth bun basin: cobra>
|
The new translation is is ‘thorn-for entity’. The snake is the entity in question, and the ‘thorn’ is a view of a snake’s biting potential, like a ‘thorn’, or a needle.
npri (neperi): grain
Take another example: npri (neperi), recorded by Faulkner as ‘grain’.
TABLE 16
(npri: neperi)
|
"grain"
|
grain
|
Faulkner Concise [130:19.24]
|
<water stool mouth reed CROUCH>
|
(npri: en-per-i)
|
"grain"
|
emerge for entity [grain]
|
Faulkner Concise [130:19.24]
|
<water stool mouth reed CROUCH>
|
In the revised analysis in the second row, the translation becomes ‘emerge-for entity’. Well, grain (the entity) ‘emerges’ from the ground after the Nile flooding each year.
nspw (nesepu): wounds
Another pari of examples: nspw (nesepu) recorded by Faulkner as ‘wounds’. Well, the stem ‘sep’ has various translations including ‘medicine’, ‘examine’, ‘happen’ and ‘survive’ among others:
TABLE 17
(nspw: nesep-u)
|
"wounds"
|
wound
|
Faulkner Concise [139:17.2]
|
<water bolt stool quail dagger PLURAL>
|
(nspw: en-sep-u)
|
"wounds"
|
medicine for [wound]
|
Faulkner Concise [139:17.2]
|
<water bolt stool quail dagger PLURAL>
|
(nspw: nesep-u)
|
"wounds"
|
wound
|
Faulkner Concise [139:17.1]
|
<water tongue bolt stool quail dagger PLURAL>
|
(nspw: en-sep-u)
|
"wounds"
|
examine / happen / survive for [wound]
|
Faulkner Concise [139:17.1]
|
<water tongue bolt stool quail dagger PLURAL>
|
The second and fourth rows of Table 17 show the new prepositional prefix analysis. The revised meanings are ‘medicine-for’, and ‘examine-for’, ‘happen-for’ and ‘survive-for’. All could be considered aspects of the concept ‘wound’.
The other examples
TABLE 18
(qdd: qeded)
|
"sleep"
|
sleep
|
Allen [469.2:18]
|
<stilt handx2 eye>
|
(qemtu - k: qemet-u-k)
|
"disasters"
|
disaster thee-of
|
EAWB [100:8.13]
|
<ibis owl: line-U bun quail SQUATTER: limp sparrow PLURAL>
|
(ftft: fet fet)
|
"leap"
|
jump
|
Gardiner [566.2:18]
|
<viper bun viper bun legs>
|
(ktkt: ket ket)
|
"sneak"
|
Allen [470.1:9]
|
<cup bun cup bun SQUATTERMOUTH>
|
The addition of the prepositional /n/ prefix to the remaining examples, using the stems in Table 14, continue what appears to be a direct connection in meaning between the words with and without the prefix.
Jeremy Steele
Tuesday 30 April 2013
===================
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