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Middle Egyptian grammar, one lesson at a time.

Middle Egyptian is the classical form of the language, used in literature and on monuments for much of ancient Egyptian history. These lessons build its grammar in order, each one using what the earlier ones taught. They follow Sir Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar, with James P. Allen's Middle Egyptian as a second authority, and every hieroglyphic example is a word from those grammars, rendered with JSesh.

The course assumes you can read the single-consonant signs. If they are new to you, start with the beginner path. New lessons are added as they are written and checked; 24 are published so far.

  1. 1Brothers, sisters and pairs: how Egyptian marks gender and numberEvery Egyptian noun is masculine or feminine, and singular, plural or dual. A small loaf sign and a few strokes carry most of that information, and once you can spot them you can tell a brother from a sister, and a sister from a pair of sisters.
  2. 2Every house or lord of the house: where Egyptian puts its adjectivesAn Egyptian adjective always comes after its noun and takes its gender and number. That one rule is enough to tell "every house" from "lord of the house", which are written with the same two signs in opposite order.
  3. 3My house, his house, their house: the Egyptian suffix pronounsEgyptian says "his house" by adding a single sign to the word for house. Eight of these suffix pronouns cover I, you, he, she, we and they, and they are the most common pronouns in the language.
  4. 4The king of Egypt: two ways to say "of" in EgyptianEgyptian can say "of" by putting two nouns side by side, or by joining them with a small word that agrees with the first noun. Here is how the direct and indirect genitive work, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  5. 5Why the god comes first: honorific transposition in hieroglyphsIn words like "priest" and "temple" the sign for "god" is written first, though it was spoken last. Here is how honorific transposition works, and how to read it, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  6. 6Horus of the horizon: how Egyptian makes adjectives with -yAdd -y to an Egyptian noun or preposition and you get an adjective: "town" becomes "local", "horizon" becomes "of the horizon". Here is how the nisbe works, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  7. 7This place, that day: demonstratives in EgyptianEgyptian has four sets of words for "this" and "that", built from three letters: p for masculine, t for feminine, n for plural. Here is how pn, pf, pw and pꜣ work, and why some come after the noun and others before it.
  8. 8The sun is in the sky: Egyptian sentences without a verbEgyptian has no word for "is". It still says where things are, what they are like and who they are, in sentences with no verb at all. Here are the three kinds, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  9. 9There is nothing: saying "not" in Egyptian with n and nnEgyptian says "not" with one word written two ways, n and nn. Here is how nn denies that something exists, how it negates a sentence without a verb, and where n takes over, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  10. 10Within this isle: Egyptian prepositionsEgyptian relates one thing to another with prepositions, just as English does: m "in", r "to", n "for", ḥr "upon", ḥnꜥ "with". Here is how they work, how they take suffix pronouns, and how longer ones are built, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  11. 11He is good: the Egyptian dependent pronounsEgyptian has a second set of pronouns, the dependent pronouns wi, ṯw, ṯn, sw, sy, n, ṯn, sn and st. Here are the forms and their three main jobs: the object of a verb, the subject after a particle such as mk "behold", and the subject in nfr sw, "he is good".
  12. 12I am your father: the Egyptian independent pronounsThe third and last set of Egyptian personal pronouns: ink "I", ntk, ntṯ, ntf, nts, inn, ntṯn and ntsn. Here is how they are built, how they make sentences such as "I am your father", and why they carry emphasis, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  13. 13The scribe sends you: word order in an Egyptian verbal sentenceIn an Egyptian sentence with a verb, the verb comes first. Here is the normal order of verb, subject, object and the rest, why small pronouns jump ahead of nouns, and how the word for "to" fits in, with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  14. 14The five great names: reading a pharaoh's royal titularyAn Egyptian king had five official names, each with its own title. Here is how to read them, from the Horus name to the two cartouches, using the full titulary of Sesostris I as Gardiner prints it, with Allen's account alongside.
  15. 15I belong to Rēꜥ: "my", "mine" and "have" in EgyptianEgyptian has no verb "to have" and none for "to belong". Here is how it says "my", "mine" and "have" instead: the possessive pꜣy·i, the preposition n, the n(y) sentence "I belong to Rēꜥ", ntk nbw "gold belongs to you" and n·i-im sw "it belongs to me", with examples from Gardiner and Allen.
  16. 16Year 2, third month of inundation: how to read an Egyptian dateEgyptian dates count the years of the reigning king, then give the month, the season and the day. Here is how to read one, from the regnal year to the king's cartouche, with Gardiner's examples and Allen's account alongside.
  17. 17The god heard the voice: the Egyptian past with sḏm·n·fAdd one n to the verb and Egyptian talks about the past. Here is how the sḏm·n·f form is built, where its subject and object go, what Gardiner and Allen each say it means, and why n sḏm·n·f does not mean "he had not heard".
  18. 18Behold, you have come: the Egyptian stativeEgyptian has a verb form for a state rather than an action: "you have come", "I have been sent", "I was alone". Here are its own set of endings, what it means with different kinds of verb, and its main uses, from Gardiner's old perfective and Allen's stative.
  19. 19The army is going forth: the Egyptian pseudo-verbal constructionPut a verb after ḥr, "upon", and an Egyptian sentence says what someone is doing. Here is the pseudo-verbal construction with ḥr, m and r plus the infinitive, how it relates to the stative, and where Gardiner and Allen part company.
  20. 20Do not fear: the Egyptian imperativeTo give an order, Egyptian uses the bare verb: sḏm, "hear!", in, "bring!". Here is how the imperative is written, the irregular imi, "give!", and mi, "come!", where its pronouns go, and how m turns it into "do not".
  21. 21The place where the gods are: Egyptian relative clauses with nty and iwtyEgyptian has no word for "who" or "which". It uses an adjective, nty, and repeats a pronoun inside the clause instead. Here is how nty and its negative partner iwty turn whole sentences into descriptions, from Gardiner and Allen.
  22. 22Loved and to love: the Egyptian verb classesSome Egyptian verbs write a letter twice in one form and leave a letter out in another. Here is how Gardiner and Allen sort verbs into classes by their consonants, why some double and others drop their weak letter, and the irregular verbs "give", "come" and "bring".
  23. 23A hearing son: the Egyptian participlesEgyptian turns its verbs into adjectives: "a hearing son", "the wrongs done to him", "his beloved son". Here is how the participles agree with their nouns, stand alone as nouns, and use a doubled letter to tell Gardiner's imperfective from his perfective.
  24. 24One to whom judges listen: Egyptian relative formsA participle describes the person who does the action. A relative form brings in someone else as subject: "one to whom judges listen", "the road on which it came". Here is how Egyptian builds them, the three forms Gardiner and Allen name, and the pronoun that points back.

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