Research Catalog

Title

Conjunction, contiguity, contingency : on relationships between events in the Egyptian and Coptic verbal systems / Leo Depuydt.

Author

Depuydt, Leo.

Publication

New York : Oxford University Press, ©1993.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xviii, 281 pages; 22 cm

Summary

"Language is in large part about the description of events occurring in the world around us. Relationships of different sorts between those events can be expressed by specific verb forms - or by syntactic constructions involving specific verb forms. The present study examines this facet of the Egyptian and Coptic verbal systems in isolation, singling out three types of relationships between events and the linguistic means by which they are expressed." "This book comprises three chapters on the grammar of hieroglyphic Egyptian and its linear descendant, Coptic, covering more than 3000 years of language history. The initial chapter studies the verb form called "conjunctive," asserting that the function of the conjunctive is to "con-join" a chain of two or more events into a single - though compound - notion. The second chapter shows how a certain syntactic construction can be used to refer to events that are contiguous - that is, events that succeed one another rapidly in time. The final chapter examines verb forms that refer to events whose occurrence is contingent on the occurrence of other events implied or explicitly mentioned in the context. The three grammatical phenomena are respectively labeled conjunction, contiguity, and contingency." "The first work in which the expression of relationships between events is studied in isolation as an important characteristic of the Egyptian and Coptic verbal systems, this study constitutes a significant advancement in our understanding of the ancient language of Egypt. It will be of interest to scholars in the fields of Egyptology, Coptology, and the Ancient Near East, as well as linguists, Byzantinists, and classicists."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Egyptian language > Verb
• Coptic language > Verb
• 18.78 Afro-Asiatic languages: other
• Coptic language > Verb
• Egyptian language > Verb
• Koptisch
• Verb
• Ägyptisch
• Egyptisch
• Koptisch
• Werkwoorden
• Ägyptisch

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Preface: On Relationships between Events -- I. Conjunction -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Conjunctive as "Con-joiner" -- 3. The Conjunctive Following Second Tenses -- 4. The Conjunctive Following the Negative Imperative of gmj "find" and nau "see" -- 5. Coptic nci in the Conjunctive Chain -- 6. Negations in the Conjunctive Chain -- A. The Two Levels of the Conjunctive Chain -- B. Negation on the Level of the Compound Action -- C. Types of Negations -- D.A Comparison of Types I.c and II.a -- E.A Comparison of Types I.d and II.b -- F.A Comparison of Types I.d and II.a -- G. Types of Negation: Examples -- 7. Semantic Types of Conjunctive Chains -- 8. The Promissive Future and the Conjunctive in Coptic -- A. Introduction -- B. The Function of the Conjugation Base tare -- C. The Promissive Future and the Conjunctive: A Comparison of Their Functions -- 9. Translating the Conjunctive -- A. Omission of Elements -- B. An Etymological Translation -- 10. Relationship of the Conjunctive with What Precedes -- 11. Conjunction beyond the Conjunctive -- A. Equivalents of the Conjunctive in Egyptian and Other Languages -- B. The Middle Egyptian Predecessor of the Conjunctive -- C.A Con-joining Construction in Nominal Phrases -- 12. Concluding Remarks -- 13. A Bibliography of the Conjunctive -- II. Contiguity -- 1. Introduction: The Notion of "Contiguity" -- 2. Contiguity in Sinuhe B 200 -- 3. Contrastive Emphasis and Contiguity -- 4. Translating Contiguous Events -- 5. Morphological and Syntactic Criteria -- 6. Events Prone to Contracting a Relationship of Contiguity -- A. Transitions from Night to Day -- B. Transitions from Day to Night -- C. Another Transition from One Period of Time to Another -- D. Expressions Referring to the End Point of a Motion -- 7. Expressions of Contiguity in the Story of Sinuhe -- 8. [superscript c]h[superscript c].n sdm.n=f -- 9. Excursus: jwj "come" and jnj "bring" -- 10. Simultaneity as an Expression of Contiguity -- 11. An Expression of Contiguity Dating to the New Kingdom -- III. Contingency -- 1. Sdm.hr=f/hr=f sdm=f as Contingent Aorist -- A. From Egyptian hr to Coptic sa -- B. sdm.hr=f and jw=f sdm=f in Middle Egyptian -- C. Examples of sdm.hr=f with Implied Conditions -- D. Contingent and General Aorist in the Papyrus Ebers -- E. Neutralization between sdm.hr=f and jw=f sdm=f -- F. Condition and Result -- G. The Aorist after Middle Egyptian -- H. General and Specific Contingency -- 2. Sdm.k3=f/k3(=f) sdm=f as Contingent Future -- A. Sdm.k3=f/k3=f sdm=f in Conditional Sentences -- B. Examples of sdm.k3=f with Implied Conditions -- C. K3(=f) sdm=f in the Letters of the Kahun Archive -- D. Contrary-to-fact Conditions -- E. The Particle k3 -- F. Neutralization between Contingent and General Future -- G. The Contingent Future in Coptic -- 3. Sdm.jn=f as Contingent Past -- 4. Conclusion -- A. The Contingent Tenses of Middle Egyptian -- B. Translating the Contingent Tenses -- C. The Conditionnel in French and Other Parallels to the Contingent Tenses outside Egyptian -- D. Contingency and Contrast -- Index of Passages Cited -- 1. Old Egyptian and Middle Egyptian -- 2. Late Egyptian -- 3. Demotic -- 4. Coptic -- a. Bohairic -- b. Lycopolitan -- c. Middle Egyptian -- d. Sahidic.

ISBN

• 0195080920
• 9780195080926

LCCN

92029818

OCLC

• ocm26541523
• 26541523
• SCSB-9618526

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library