DOI article:
Gardiner, Alan H.; Litt, D.: A hitherto unnoticed negative in Middle Egyptian
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12747#0091
[3] A HITHERTO UNNOTICED NEGATIVE IN MIDDLE EGYPTIAN. 81
(5) Pap. Boulak XVIII = Mariette, Vol. II, PI. XIX, Entry no. 6; \ \ ^ §
^ ~- *j n [.- r mr:î^■ ^ rt-pS^pas« ^ ^&e
£/te people of the House [of Nursejs to whom there had not been delivercd anylhing
yesterday-n. Here ?i/r pu; précèdes the passive of the sdmf Form. M sf, at the end, is
Mr. Griffith's conjecture [Zeitschrift 29, 109), and is certain, though damaged, as
M. Golénischeff lias shown me in front of the original.
The négative meaning oînfrpw is, I trust, no longer in doubt. On closer inspection
it will he observed that the expression has a comprehensive character in ail five cases
— te no remédies n, ce no offerer of candies n, «nothing saidn, ce no (means of) making
goodw, «nothing givem?. This character agrées well with the etymological sensé ttit
is faim, ait is good», for Egyptian has a number of expressions where ccfairnessn
appears as an aspect of nullily, of zéro. It seems quite easy to discern a sort of satis-
facloriness about zéro, this being the point where mathematical and other troubles
cease. Closely allied too is the meaning of (rendu, which nfr has in the expressions
pr-nfrw rcend-chambem, nfryt r ccending at^T. In particular, the négative nfr pw
falls into line with the négative nfr n. Evidently both are predicates of (a) a noun
or (i) a sentence that follows. Nfr pw présents the construction adjeclive -\-pw-\- noun-
subject of which Sethe has quoted some examples (Nominalsalz, 8 12&); indeed
among the examples quoted by him are nos. i and h of the présent article. As for
nfr n, we can now see more clearly that this is the well-known construction of
adjectival predicate -j- dalive, e.g. ^ _2_ t^Tec it is bénéficiai to men, i. c. xlam benefted-n.
I hope to prove elsewhere that this construction is that chosen when the quality indi-
cated by the adjective is an ce accidents rather than a ttpropertyu, to express the fact
in logical ternis; the différence is easily detected in comparing hait ist mir, j'ai froid,
with ich bin hait, je suis froid, îhe first chill being due to the chances of the weather
and the second to tempérament. If now we examine the cases of nfr n, we shah1 see
that it may usually be translated along thèse lines; so in ^-^t^^^,—J^ «j/
there does not chance to be anylhing in your hands-n, lit. «if not-being occurs to there-
shall-be-in-your-handsii. At ail events, so far as the évidence for nfr n lies complète
beforc me, it in every instance refers to some action or course of action, in other
words to something which is rather an accident than a property (2). Without going
(,) See Journ. Eg. Arch., IV, ii3, n. h.
m Good material for nfr n will be found in fhe Old Kingdom decrees publislied by M. Weili, where the
absence of a numbering of tbe lines makes the giving of exact références difficult. Without discussion of the
individual cases, it seems necessary to make two observations. (1) Tbe variant | does not occur before
the Middle Kingdom (Cairo stela aooo3) and should doublless be regarded as an équivalent of nfr ■
(=n), assisted of course by the négative meaning. (2) R nfr n (Urfc. I, 102), which used to be regarded
simply as a variant of nfr n (Sethe, Verbum, II, S 139), should doubtless be taken as trso that not.....» ;
possibiy nfr is here to be regarded as a noun, not an adjective, cf. the kindred expressions n i/cr n, n 'H n
(ibid. S 151, k).
Recueil, t. XL. — Troisième série, t. VIII. 11
(5) Pap. Boulak XVIII = Mariette, Vol. II, PI. XIX, Entry no. 6; \ \ ^ §
^ ~- *j n [.- r mr:î^■ ^ rt-pS^pas« ^ ^&e
£/te people of the House [of Nursejs to whom there had not been delivercd anylhing
yesterday-n. Here ?i/r pu; précèdes the passive of the sdmf Form. M sf, at the end, is
Mr. Griffith's conjecture [Zeitschrift 29, 109), and is certain, though damaged, as
M. Golénischeff lias shown me in front of the original.
The négative meaning oînfrpw is, I trust, no longer in doubt. On closer inspection
it will he observed that the expression has a comprehensive character in ail five cases
— te no remédies n, ce no offerer of candies n, «nothing saidn, ce no (means of) making
goodw, «nothing givem?. This character agrées well with the etymological sensé ttit
is faim, ait is good», for Egyptian has a number of expressions where ccfairnessn
appears as an aspect of nullily, of zéro. It seems quite easy to discern a sort of satis-
facloriness about zéro, this being the point where mathematical and other troubles
cease. Closely allied too is the meaning of (rendu, which nfr has in the expressions
pr-nfrw rcend-chambem, nfryt r ccending at^T. In particular, the négative nfr pw
falls into line with the négative nfr n. Evidently both are predicates of (a) a noun
or (i) a sentence that follows. Nfr pw présents the construction adjeclive -\-pw-\- noun-
subject of which Sethe has quoted some examples (Nominalsalz, 8 12&); indeed
among the examples quoted by him are nos. i and h of the présent article. As for
nfr n, we can now see more clearly that this is the well-known construction of
adjectival predicate -j- dalive, e.g. ^ _2_ t^Tec it is bénéficiai to men, i. c. xlam benefted-n.
I hope to prove elsewhere that this construction is that chosen when the quality indi-
cated by the adjective is an ce accidents rather than a ttpropertyu, to express the fact
in logical ternis; the différence is easily detected in comparing hait ist mir, j'ai froid,
with ich bin hait, je suis froid, îhe first chill being due to the chances of the weather
and the second to tempérament. If now we examine the cases of nfr n, we shah1 see
that it may usually be translated along thèse lines; so in ^-^t^^^,—J^ «j/
there does not chance to be anylhing in your hands-n, lit. «if not-being occurs to there-
shall-be-in-your-handsii. At ail events, so far as the évidence for nfr n lies complète
beforc me, it in every instance refers to some action or course of action, in other
words to something which is rather an accident than a property (2). Without going
(,) See Journ. Eg. Arch., IV, ii3, n. h.
m Good material for nfr n will be found in fhe Old Kingdom decrees publislied by M. Weili, where the
absence of a numbering of tbe lines makes the giving of exact références difficult. Without discussion of the
individual cases, it seems necessary to make two observations. (1) Tbe variant | does not occur before
the Middle Kingdom (Cairo stela aooo3) and should doublless be regarded as an équivalent of nfr ■
(=n), assisted of course by the négative meaning. (2) R nfr n (Urfc. I, 102), which used to be regarded
simply as a variant of nfr n (Sethe, Verbum, II, S 139), should doubtless be taken as trso that not.....» ;
possibiy nfr is here to be regarded as a noun, not an adjective, cf. the kindred expressions n i/cr n, n 'H n
(ibid. S 151, k).
Recueil, t. XL. — Troisième série, t. VIII. 11