pꜣj

Egyptian

Etymology

Compare with Classical Syriac ܦܪܚ (peraḥ).

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /pɑi/
  • Conventional anglicization: pai

Verb

 3ae inf.

1. (intransitive) to fly

Inflection

Conjugation of pꜣj (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: pꜣ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
pꜣt, pꜣj	pꜣw, pꜣ	pꜣt, pꜣwt, pꜣyt	pꜣ	pꜣ, pꜣy

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective2		periphrastic prospective2
pꜣ8	ḥr pꜣt, ḥr pꜣj	m pꜣt, m pꜣj	r pꜣt, r pꜣj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
		aspect / mood	active
perfect	pꜣ.n	consecutive	pꜣ.jn
terminative	pꜣt, pꜣyt
perfective3	pꜣ	obligative1	pꜣ.ḫr
imperfective	pꜣ, pꜣy
prospective3	pꜣw, pꜣ, pꜣy	potentialis1	pꜣ.kꜣ
subjunctive	pꜣ, pꜣy

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
	active	active	passive
perfect	pꜣ.n	—	—
perfective	pꜣw1, pꜣy, pꜣ	pꜣ	pꜣy, pꜣ
imperfective	pꜣ, pꜣy, pꜣw5	pꜣ, pꜣj6, pꜣy6	pꜣ, pꜣw5
prospective	pꜣw1, pꜣy, pꜣ, pꜣtj7	pꜣwtj1 4, pꜣtj4, pꜣt4
Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine. Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.

Synonyms

• ꜥpj
• ꜥẖj

Determiner

 m sg demonstrative determiner

1. (Late Egyptian) this, that

Usage notes

This demonstrative was primarily a determiner but could also be used alone, as a pronoun. When used as a determiner it precedes the noun it describes.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns1	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn, jtn	*jpnj	*jptnj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	*jptfj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, py, p	tj, tw, jtw	jpwj	*jptwj	jpw	jptw	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
number	singular		plural1
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’; vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles

	masculine	feminine	plural		adverb
pronoun	pꜣw				dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners (used with suffix pronouns)	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ1
indefinite articles	wꜥ1		nhꜣy1
Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Descendants

• Coptic: ⲡⲁⲓ̈ (paï), ⲡⲉ (pe)

References

• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 53