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ꜥḥꜥ.n sbt.n.f jm.j m nn ḏd.n.j m nf m jb.f ḏd.f n.j (j)n wr n.k ꜥntjw ḫpr.t(j) ⟨m⟩ nb sntr
Then he laughed at me – and at this that I’d said – as being wrong to his mind, saying to me: Are you abundant in myrrh, turned into a lord of incense?
Usage notes
This demonstrative is a pronoun, and so does not directly modify nouns. In Middle Egyptian it becomes used as a demonstrative for plural nouns in place of the old adjectives jpn and jptn. When used in this way, it precedes the noun, with the genitival adjective n(j) in between, e.g. "these feet" is nn n(j) rdw (literally "this of feet").
It forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrative pronoun nf, in which nn is proximal.
1 Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.
1 Used with suffix pronouns. 2 Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.
Alternative forms
Alternative hieroglyphic writings of nn
nn
Etymology 2
Oréal hypothesizes an origin in a contraction of nj(negative particle) + wn(“exists”), following Vergote and rejecting an earlier hypothesis by Osing and Loprieno that would suggest an origin in nj(negative particle) + jn.
Particle
proclitic
(since Middle Egyptian, with a following noun or pronoun)there isno, there are no; introduces an independent negated existential clause
But it happened while I wasn’t with them, and they burned up while I wasn’t in their midst.
(since Middle Egyptian)not; negates a subjunctive main clause with future meaning
(since Middle Egyptian,uncommon)not; negates a nominal sentence
(since Middle Egyptian, used without anything negated following)ornot; contrasts with a preceding clause or phrase
Usage notes
When negating an adverbial or adjectival sentence, this particle stands near the beginning of the negated sentence, before the subject, but it can be preceded by other particles. It is followed by a nominal subject, a demonstrative pronoun, or a dependent pronoun as subject.
When (exceptionally) negating a nominal sentence, this particle either pairs with the particle js like the ordinary negative particle for nominal sentences, nj, or simply stands by itself at the beginning of the sentence.
James P Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 54–55, 194, 414.
Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN
^ Or ‘You aren’t abundant in myrrh …’, if the initial particle is read as negative nj instead of interrogative jn. The expected negative particle for such a clause would be nn, so an interrogative is more plausible. For a detailed discussion see Scalf, Foy (2009) “Is That a Rhetorical Question? Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage 1115) 150 Reconsidered” in Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, volume 136, issue 2, pages 155–159.
^ Oréal, Elsa (2022) “The negative existential cycle in Ancient Egyptian” in Ljuba Veselinova & Arja Hamari (eds.), The Negative Existential Cycle, Berlin: Language Science Press, pages 197–230
^ H. O. Lange and H. Schäfer (1908) Grab- und Denksteine des Mittleren Reichs im Museum von Kairo, volume II, page 149