DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1167#0129
One rule is apparent, though, namely that <r> is always reflected as Coptic A in a word
which also contains <>>.l37 Examples:
• Sri (WiV) "bandage" (since NK) > klA
• iSrw (riV>VrwV) (a kind of grass) (since OK), also written i'nr in Late Egyptian >
•>&M, Old Coptic Ml "fenugreek"*38
• Urr.t "grape" (since OK) > seXOOAe
• hhrw (h VTtarwV) "ichneumon" (since MK) > bUJ&euA1^
• "sSrw ('saSVrwV) "bundle" (since MK) > H^O\
• l>rw (tVj'ruwV) a toponym (since NK), zi-lu-u in New Kingdom time cuneiform tran-
scription > HX&H (Gardiner 1947: II, 202*; Fecht 1958: 118)
• d'r.t (dV>'rVtV) "scorpion" (since OK), also written dnryt in Late Egyptian > h&KH
This is most easily explained as a compatibility restriction (on this topic KIP § 4.11)
against <>> IrJ and <r> IrJ within a word, while <>> IrJ and <r> /l/ can co-occur.
There seem to be two exceptions to this rule:
• Sir ('jasrV) "to roast" > (flpuj (with metathesis). Perhaps -r is a secondary develop-
ment here, BSr" § 3.i3.5.
• dSr.t (d[V]'3VrtV) "fruit of the carob-tree" > sAieipe, bAlipi ~ AIMipi^o, but cf.
also the unidentified plant name sS(€fA6 (Crum 1989: 766).
3.11.4 Developments in Later Egyptian
IrJ (<>>) merged with <j> 1)1 by the New Kingdom (Kg* §3.14.2.1). From this time on, the
sign <l> was employed very inconsistently and became interchangeable with <j> in many
words.
If IrJ and /l/ are indeed distinct phonemes in Earlier Egyptian, as I suggest above, we
must accept the fact that they were not distinguished in writing. The script of the Late
Kingdom still had only one grapheme <r> for expressing both hi and /l/ in native words,
whereas in the specialized sub-system of writing which was employed for borrowed words
("group writing", Kg" §5.4.2) a distinct grapheme ®<=>o 0 1. which can be transliterated
<nr>, served to express HI. This grapheme was applied to native words only occasionally
(cf. d'r.t "scorpion" above). Curiously, <nr> is never found word-initially. Besides, III
occasionally seems to be written as (m.M1
i37 This rule is already stated by Osing (1976a: note 755 on p. 676-678): "(...) ist in einer
agypt. Konsonantenfolge ->r- das r auch sonst recht haufig in 1 iibergegangen" and
similarly by Satzinger (1994a: 197). I have no examples of <r> preceding <l>.
i38 Osing (1976a: note io63 on p. 814), the Old Coptic form from Osing (1998: I, 106, v).
139 Perhaps borrowed as 711111 "cat" into Hebrew, cf. Vycichl (1983: 258).
140 For meaning and etymology cf. Aufrere (1983).
141 Cf. dnm "furrow", Dynasty 21, from Semitic yTtlm, > Coptic sTAOA~TNOA, h6\®*.
Hoch (1994: no. 564).
129
which also contains <>>.l37 Examples:
• Sri (WiV) "bandage" (since NK) > klA
• iSrw (riV>VrwV) (a kind of grass) (since OK), also written i'nr in Late Egyptian >
•>&M, Old Coptic Ml "fenugreek"*38
• Urr.t "grape" (since OK) > seXOOAe
• hhrw (h VTtarwV) "ichneumon" (since MK) > bUJ&euA1^
• "sSrw ('saSVrwV) "bundle" (since MK) > H^O\
• l>rw (tVj'ruwV) a toponym (since NK), zi-lu-u in New Kingdom time cuneiform tran-
scription > HX&H (Gardiner 1947: II, 202*; Fecht 1958: 118)
• d'r.t (dV>'rVtV) "scorpion" (since OK), also written dnryt in Late Egyptian > h&KH
This is most easily explained as a compatibility restriction (on this topic KIP § 4.11)
against <>> IrJ and <r> IrJ within a word, while <>> IrJ and <r> /l/ can co-occur.
There seem to be two exceptions to this rule:
• Sir ('jasrV) "to roast" > (flpuj (with metathesis). Perhaps -r is a secondary develop-
ment here, BSr" § 3.i3.5.
• dSr.t (d[V]'3VrtV) "fruit of the carob-tree" > sAieipe, bAlipi ~ AIMipi^o, but cf.
also the unidentified plant name sS(€fA6 (Crum 1989: 766).
3.11.4 Developments in Later Egyptian
IrJ (<>>) merged with <j> 1)1 by the New Kingdom (Kg* §3.14.2.1). From this time on, the
sign <l> was employed very inconsistently and became interchangeable with <j> in many
words.
If IrJ and /l/ are indeed distinct phonemes in Earlier Egyptian, as I suggest above, we
must accept the fact that they were not distinguished in writing. The script of the Late
Kingdom still had only one grapheme <r> for expressing both hi and /l/ in native words,
whereas in the specialized sub-system of writing which was employed for borrowed words
("group writing", Kg" §5.4.2) a distinct grapheme ®<=>o 0 1. which can be transliterated
<nr>, served to express HI. This grapheme was applied to native words only occasionally
(cf. d'r.t "scorpion" above). Curiously, <nr> is never found word-initially. Besides, III
occasionally seems to be written as (m.M1
i37 This rule is already stated by Osing (1976a: note 755 on p. 676-678): "(...) ist in einer
agypt. Konsonantenfolge ->r- das r auch sonst recht haufig in 1 iibergegangen" and
similarly by Satzinger (1994a: 197). I have no examples of <r> preceding <l>.
i38 Osing (1976a: note io63 on p. 814), the Old Coptic form from Osing (1998: I, 106, v).
139 Perhaps borrowed as 711111 "cat" into Hebrew, cf. Vycichl (1983: 258).
140 For meaning and etymology cf. Aufrere (1983).
141 Cf. dnm "furrow", Dynasty 21, from Semitic yTtlm, > Coptic sTAOA~TNOA, h6\®*.
Hoch (1994: no. 564).
129