DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1167#0105
3.6.4.3 Devoicing to <h>
Egyptian 111 was occasionally devoiced to /h/ and then retained in Coptic as 2- This
development is found primarily in Bohairic, but is by no means regular. The following list
contains all the examples I am aware of:
• i">.w, plural of l'i "ass" > sCOOtf, be<ieV~eeV, the base form seems to have been
(i[\qs'jVw¥)»7.
• 'b "horn" > ^n~$>Cl)n-20)6 (OS" note in § 3.6.2)
• pnc "to turn" > sn0X0Ne, tymi
• msc (masSV) "to walk" > (*'mashV) > sAOOUje, bJM)UJI, *J\Wie. This verb appears
as msh in Napatan Egyptian (cf. Wb II, 147,1 and Peust 1999).
• From the verb n'i "to be merciful" there is a Coptic derivation SN&HT, bN<\HT ~
N&<>HT "merciful"1"8
• nq'.t "pains at birth" > sNdAK6, bN&K2l, aN€K(2)£
• h'q "to shave" > ^ClXOKe, b3(0K~2>a)K2
• hf "fist" > ^(I^H (from *20>42 with metathesis)1"*)
• snc "to repulse" > HIjaXuNe, bUJON2- (status pronominalis)
• gl' "to swathe" (since Demotic) > seOXuhe, bAC0^~aa)^2
• dqc "to prick" (since Demotic) > ssaXl)Ke, bA(WK2
These cases have to be distinguished from writings of superfluous 2 in certain early
Coptic texts which do not reflect a former <c> (K§° § 3.5.3).
3.6.4.4 Interchange with sonorants
There seem to be a few examples of a variation <S ~ <i>> at the beginning of a word,
which in phonetic terms would indicate a variation /d/ ~ /r/. An example is the word for
"cattle". While in most writings the word onset is not clearly indicated phonetically,
there are phonetic renderings as both 'w.t (rarely in the Old and New Kingdoms, cf. Lesko
1982-1990: I, 71) and iiw.t (frequently in the New Kingdom). On this phenomenon see
further Sethe (1899-1902: I, §148), Czermak (1981/34: ii7f., i35f.), Vercote (1948: 65^),
and Westendorf (1962: § 31.7).
An exceptional sound change <r> > <S is attested in msdr "ear" (since Old Kingdom).
This word is attested in a by-form msd' from the New Kingdom on. msd' must also be the
107 Osing (1976a: 438, 756) suggests (jV'S.wVw) — which in our notation would be
(iVVWwwV) - adding a fictive -w to the consonantal frame. On this solution cf.
Schenkel (1979: 383). For possible Afroasiatic cognates of the ass-word see Vercote
(1969: 88) and Behrens (1984/85: 175) both of whom transcribe the Egyptian as cj>.
108 Bohairic N&2HT is rare; the development 2 < ' is proposed by Vycichl (1983: 23o).
Another possibility is that the form was influenced by the noun '■grlT "heart" (thus
Osing 1976a: note i362 on p. 865).
109 See Osing (1976a: note 547 on p. 597) and Vycichl (1983: 32o).
105
Egyptian 111 was occasionally devoiced to /h/ and then retained in Coptic as 2- This
development is found primarily in Bohairic, but is by no means regular. The following list
contains all the examples I am aware of:
• i">.w, plural of l'i "ass" > sCOOtf, be<ieV~eeV, the base form seems to have been
(i[\qs'jVw¥)»7.
• 'b "horn" > ^n~$>Cl)n-20)6 (OS" note in § 3.6.2)
• pnc "to turn" > sn0X0Ne, tymi
• msc (masSV) "to walk" > (*'mashV) > sAOOUje, bJM)UJI, *J\Wie. This verb appears
as msh in Napatan Egyptian (cf. Wb II, 147,1 and Peust 1999).
• From the verb n'i "to be merciful" there is a Coptic derivation SN&HT, bN<\HT ~
N&<>HT "merciful"1"8
• nq'.t "pains at birth" > sNdAK6, bN&K2l, aN€K(2)£
• h'q "to shave" > ^ClXOKe, b3(0K~2>a)K2
• hf "fist" > ^(I^H (from *20>42 with metathesis)1"*)
• snc "to repulse" > HIjaXuNe, bUJON2- (status pronominalis)
• gl' "to swathe" (since Demotic) > seOXuhe, bAC0^~aa)^2
• dqc "to prick" (since Demotic) > ssaXl)Ke, bA(WK2
These cases have to be distinguished from writings of superfluous 2 in certain early
Coptic texts which do not reflect a former <c> (K§° § 3.5.3).
3.6.4.4 Interchange with sonorants
There seem to be a few examples of a variation <S ~ <i>> at the beginning of a word,
which in phonetic terms would indicate a variation /d/ ~ /r/. An example is the word for
"cattle". While in most writings the word onset is not clearly indicated phonetically,
there are phonetic renderings as both 'w.t (rarely in the Old and New Kingdoms, cf. Lesko
1982-1990: I, 71) and iiw.t (frequently in the New Kingdom). On this phenomenon see
further Sethe (1899-1902: I, §148), Czermak (1981/34: ii7f., i35f.), Vercote (1948: 65^),
and Westendorf (1962: § 31.7).
An exceptional sound change <r> > <S is attested in msdr "ear" (since Old Kingdom).
This word is attested in a by-form msd' from the New Kingdom on. msd' must also be the
107 Osing (1976a: 438, 756) suggests (jV'S.wVw) — which in our notation would be
(iVVWwwV) - adding a fictive -w to the consonantal frame. On this solution cf.
Schenkel (1979: 383). For possible Afroasiatic cognates of the ass-word see Vercote
(1969: 88) and Behrens (1984/85: 175) both of whom transcribe the Egyptian as cj>.
108 Bohairic N&2HT is rare; the development 2 < ' is proposed by Vycichl (1983: 23o).
Another possibility is that the form was influenced by the noun '■grlT "heart" (thus
Osing 1976a: note i362 on p. 865).
109 See Osing (1976a: note 547 on p. 597) and Vycichl (1983: 32o).
105