DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1167#0055
vocalization of final atonic -r is frequent: nfr "good" [nefe] besides [nefej] or f'nefer].
If I am right in interpreting certain Egyptological written records from the 19th century
as reflecting the scholarly pronunciation of that time, intrasyllabic consonant clusters
did occur in the pronunciation (cf. transcriptions like senth for snd "to be afraid", today
spoken ['senetj]). I propose that scholars like Kurt Sethe might have begun to avoid clus-
ters in their pronunciation because they assumed a cluster restriction rule for Egyptian
itself (BS=,§ 4.3).
e is not normally added at the beginning or at the end of a word. An exception is posed by
words consisting of a single consonant, e.g. n "of ['?en], r "to" ['?er] ~ ['?eg], z "person"
[ze] ~ fse].
e-insertion is even found where it is not needed to split up consonant clusters. For
example, jmnw "Amun (divine name)" is typically pronounced [7i:menu:] rather than
[*'?i:mnu:] in Gottingen and probably at most other places.
2.6.5.5 The r°le of morphology
The morphemic structure of an Egyptian utterance influences its scholarly pronunciation
(cf. Kammerzell 1995: XLI). For example, a glottal stop can be inserted at certain mor-
pheme boundaries (e.g. noun or verb + suffix pronoun, verb + past-tense suffix .n), but not
at certain others (e.g. noun + feminine gender suffix .t, noun + plural suffix .w). Word ac-
cent is phonologically relevant and mainly serves to indicate morphological distinctions.
For example, some speakers realize sdm-fas [sed3em'?ef] if it means "he may hear", but
as ['sed3em?efj if it means "to hear him". For a detailed discussion see Peust (1996).
2.6.5.6 Exceptions
Some frequent words have irregular pronunciations which cannot be explained by rules
like the above mentioned. At least some of these cases seem to be relics of more archaic
habits of pronunciation. Examples:
• cnh "to live" is usually pronounced ['?anx] ~ ['?ang] instead of expected [*'?a:nex]
~ [*7a:nec].4<>
• At some universities, including Gottingen, certain pronouns are spoken with initial
e. An example is Ml (relative pronoun) ['?enti:]. I have, however, heard the expected
['neti:] elsewhere.
• The verb rdj "to give" used to be transcribed rdj which, at least in Gottingen, was
pronounced [7erdi:] ~ ['?egdi:]. Along with the modern transcription, this irregular
pronunciation has become obsolete: ['red3i:], not [*'?erd3i:].
39 Brugsch (1867-1882: IV, 1256). See there also for numerous additional examples of
this kind.
40 This archaic pronunciation of 'nh was probably conserved due to its presence in
weE-known names such as Tut-ankh-amun.
55
If I am right in interpreting certain Egyptological written records from the 19th century
as reflecting the scholarly pronunciation of that time, intrasyllabic consonant clusters
did occur in the pronunciation (cf. transcriptions like senth for snd "to be afraid", today
spoken ['senetj]). I propose that scholars like Kurt Sethe might have begun to avoid clus-
ters in their pronunciation because they assumed a cluster restriction rule for Egyptian
itself (BS=,§ 4.3).
e is not normally added at the beginning or at the end of a word. An exception is posed by
words consisting of a single consonant, e.g. n "of ['?en], r "to" ['?er] ~ ['?eg], z "person"
[ze] ~ fse].
e-insertion is even found where it is not needed to split up consonant clusters. For
example, jmnw "Amun (divine name)" is typically pronounced [7i:menu:] rather than
[*'?i:mnu:] in Gottingen and probably at most other places.
2.6.5.5 The r°le of morphology
The morphemic structure of an Egyptian utterance influences its scholarly pronunciation
(cf. Kammerzell 1995: XLI). For example, a glottal stop can be inserted at certain mor-
pheme boundaries (e.g. noun or verb + suffix pronoun, verb + past-tense suffix .n), but not
at certain others (e.g. noun + feminine gender suffix .t, noun + plural suffix .w). Word ac-
cent is phonologically relevant and mainly serves to indicate morphological distinctions.
For example, some speakers realize sdm-fas [sed3em'?ef] if it means "he may hear", but
as ['sed3em?efj if it means "to hear him". For a detailed discussion see Peust (1996).
2.6.5.6 Exceptions
Some frequent words have irregular pronunciations which cannot be explained by rules
like the above mentioned. At least some of these cases seem to be relics of more archaic
habits of pronunciation. Examples:
• cnh "to live" is usually pronounced ['?anx] ~ ['?ang] instead of expected [*'?a:nex]
~ [*7a:nec].4<>
• At some universities, including Gottingen, certain pronouns are spoken with initial
e. An example is Ml (relative pronoun) ['?enti:]. I have, however, heard the expected
['neti:] elsewhere.
• The verb rdj "to give" used to be transcribed rdj which, at least in Gottingen, was
pronounced [7erdi:] ~ ['?egdi:]. Along with the modern transcription, this irregular
pronunciation has become obsolete: ['red3i:], not [*'?erd3i:].
39 Brugsch (1867-1882: IV, 1256). See there also for numerous additional examples of
this kind.
40 This archaic pronunciation of 'nh was probably conserved due to its presence in
weE-known names such as Tut-ankh-amun.
55