Egypt Exploration Society

A Grammatical Exercise of an Egyptian Schoolboy Author(s): Nathaniel Reich Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 10, No. 3/4 (Oct., 1924), pp. 285-288 Published by: Egypt Exploration Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3853930 Accessed: 19/09/2009 10:37
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285

A GRAMMATICAL EXERCISE OF AN EGYPTIAN SCHOOLBOY

BY DR. NATHANIEL REICH
SOMEyears ago Professor F. L1. Griffith had the goodness to offer me some of his excellent collection of ostraca for publication. He presented the whole collection to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I want to thank Professor Griffith for his kindness in giving me the opportunity to publish the following piece of the collection. It is Ptolemaic in date and is a grammatical exercise of an ancient Egyptian schoolboy and therefore of particular interest. The ostracon is 14 cm. long and 10 cm. broad, and the writing consists of two columns. The column A on the right side conjugates the verb p-e-z-f which is preserved in the Coptic so-called "nominal verb " ncesq " quoth he," "says" in regard to an action perfecturn like "inquit" (cf. STERN,Kopt. Grammn., ? 311). It goes back to the Late Egypt. jkq c.. PI .dd-f or, as more usually written,
x
'

dd.tn pi dd-f= "(that is) what he said," which is the younger equivalent of the old (SETHE,Nominalsatz im Aeg. und Kopt., ? 40). The column B on the left side conjugates the same verb in the form p-e.z-w n-f nezxanaq "they said to him," "one said to him" or also "they called him (by the name of)." The order of the conjugation in the singular is that to which we are used: 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person (masc. and fern.), but the plural has in both columns the order 3rd, 1st and 2nd person. I believe that this order is due merely to the accident that the boy made the mistake in the column A and was, therefore, forced to keep the same order in the column B for the corresponding forms. By the same accident the pupil omitted, probably, in the singular the 2nd person of the feminine in the column A and omitted it for the reason given above in the column B too. The forms for these omitted lines would be something like this in Demotic writing:

<^

Hierogl. transcription: " k

or

A. Column
T

Phonetic transcription: p-e.z-t, Copt.: nse saidst." ns j/ "^ L 1f

= "thou (woman)

1 k

',

I_f1

gi&I
Column B.

transcr.: Hierogl. [ S2,C

n9

nQ

s=

or6, l

ft

(-AS

*clkw

Phonetic transcription: p-e.z-w n-t, Copt.: ne'sva ne = "they said to thee (woman)," "one said to thee (woman)" or "they called thee (woman, by the name of...)."

Such paradigms are already known to us. One has been published by Brugsch (Demotische Paradigmata, Zeitschr. f. dg. Spr., 16/1 ff.), the other by Hess (Zum demotischen Lexicon, Zeitschr.f. dg. Spr., 28/1).

286

NATHANIEL

REICH

The followingfacsimileis my own,madeby tracingfromthe originalsome years ago.

Column B.

A GRAMMATICAL EXERCISE OF AN EGYPTIAN SCHOOLBOY 287

The text reads as follows: A. COLUMN Hieroglyphic transcription. Singular. 1st person 2nd person, masc. 3rd person, masc. 3rd person, fern. Plural. 3rd person 1st person 2nd person Phonetic -transcription. Singular. 1st person 2nd person, masc. 3rd person, masc. 3rd person, fern. Plural. 3rd person 1st person 2nd person p-e.z-y p-e.z-k p-e.z-f p-e.z-s p-e-z-w p-e.z-n [p]-e.z-tn

Coptic. Singular. 1st person 2nd person, masc. 3rd person, masc. 3rd person, fern. Plural. 3rd person 1st person 2nd person

ne[sxnf
[cwtTi fule"U17n

Translation. Singular. 1st person I said 2nd person, masc. thou (man) saidst 3rd person, masc. he said 3rd person, fern. she said Plural. 3rd person they said 1st person we said 2nd person you said

288

NATHANIEL REICH

COLUMN B. Hieroglyphic transcription. Singular. 1st person 2nd person, masc. 3rd person, masc. 3rd person, fern. Plural. 3rd person 1st person 2nd person Phonetic transcription. Singular. 1st person p-e.z-w n-y 2nd person, masc. p-e-z-w n-k 3rd person, masc. p-e.z-w n-f 3rd person, fern. p-e.z-w n-s Plural. 3rd person p-e.z-w n-w 1st person p-e.z-w n-n 2nd person p-e.z-w n-tn
AAAA&AA

ILaurY
/VWW~

8kl^6, "I,-'.1
auq' l~9~6~

ANVVV%

1r
it5

/W. .A

AI~

/vvvvN /NVV\

lit

Coptic. Singular. 1st person UCIMT n,l 2nd person, mase. 3rd person, mase. ncuesv na& 3rd person, fern. nezx T nasn Plural. 3rd person ne-x^v n^n 1st person neC'sx Wn^^T ncTn iiHfi 2nd person Translation.

Singular. 1st person 2nd person, masc. 3rd person, masc. 3rd person, fern. Plural. 3rd person 1st person 2nd person

they they they they

said said said said

to to to to

me (or: one said to me) thee (man) him her

they said to them they said to us they said to you