Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Lesson 1 Language and Writing
- Lesson 2 Unliteral Signs
- Lesson 3 Multiliteral Signs
- Lesson 4 Nouns
- Lesson 5 Pronouns
- Lesson 6 Adjectives
- Lesson 7 Adjectival and Nominal Sentences
- Lesson 8 Prepositions and Adverbs
- Lesson 9 Numbers
- Lesson 10 Adverbial Sentences
- Lesson 11 Non-verbal Sentences
- Lesson 12 Verbs
- Lesson 13 The Infinitival Forms
- Lesson 14 The Pseudo-verbal Construction
- Lesson 15 The Imperative and Particles
- Lesson 16 The Stative
- Lesson 17 The sdm.n.f
- Lesson 18 The sdm.f
- Lesson 19 The Other Forms of the Suffix Conjugation
- Lesson 20 Adverb Clauses
- Lesson 21 Noun Clauses
- Lesson 22 Relative Clauses
- Lesson 23 The Active Participle
- Lesson 24 The Passive Participle
- Lesson 25 Emphatic Sentences
- Lesson 26 Middle Egyptian Grammar
- Sign List
- Dictionary
- Text References
- Answers to the Exercises
- Index
Lesson 4 - Nouns
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Lesson 1 Language and Writing
- Lesson 2 Unliteral Signs
- Lesson 3 Multiliteral Signs
- Lesson 4 Nouns
- Lesson 5 Pronouns
- Lesson 6 Adjectives
- Lesson 7 Adjectival and Nominal Sentences
- Lesson 8 Prepositions and Adverbs
- Lesson 9 Numbers
- Lesson 10 Adverbial Sentences
- Lesson 11 Non-verbal Sentences
- Lesson 12 Verbs
- Lesson 13 The Infinitival Forms
- Lesson 14 The Pseudo-verbal Construction
- Lesson 15 The Imperative and Particles
- Lesson 16 The Stative
- Lesson 17 The sdm.n.f
- Lesson 18 The sdm.f
- Lesson 19 The Other Forms of the Suffix Conjugation
- Lesson 20 Adverb Clauses
- Lesson 21 Noun Clauses
- Lesson 22 Relative Clauses
- Lesson 23 The Active Participle
- Lesson 24 The Passive Participle
- Lesson 25 Emphatic Sentences
- Lesson 26 Middle Egyptian Grammar
- Sign List
- Dictionary
- Text References
- Answers to the Exercises
- Index
Summary
4.1 Definitions
Nouns are words that languages use to designate things. The things can be real or imaginary objects (cat, dragon), concepts (happiness, telekinesis) and actions (talking, mindreading), and even words themselves (the word “this”). Nouns that refer to objects can be general enough to apply to many different things (country, goddess) or specific enough to refer to only one thing (Egypt, Isis); the latter are called “proper nouns” and in English are regularly capitalized.
4.2 Parts of nouns
The English nouns member, members, membership, and non-member all have in common the word member. This word is called the “root” of these five nouns. The noun member itself consists only of the root; the others are formed by adding things to this root: the ending s for the plural, the ending ship to give the meaning “group of members” or “quality of being a member,” and the prefix non to indicate the opposite of member.
Egyptian nouns are built up in the same way, of roots and additions. Some consist only of the root, while others have one or more prefixes, endings, or suffixes. In this lesson we will learn about noun roots and the endings used to indicate gender and number.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Middle EgyptianAn Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, pp. 43 - 58Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014