Gundacker, Roman (2021)
Indirekte und direkte Evidenz für das Dreisilbengesetz. Überlegungen zur ägyptischen Sprachgeschichte unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Namen Nofretete und Nefertari sowie einer ungewöhnlichen Schreibung des Toponyms Memphis
Lingua Aegyptia. Journal of Egyptian Language Studies, Bd. 29, S. 61-148

Publication date: 15.12.2021

Lengths of the embargo period: 12 months

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37011/lingaeg.29.04

Abstract

“Indirect and Direct Evidence for the ‘Dreisilbengesetz’. Reflections on the History of the Ancient Egyptian Language with Particular Attention to the Names Nefertiti and Nefertari as well as a Peculiar Spelling of the Toponym Memphis” The greater part of the Egyptian language’s history down to the Coptic era is marked by a strict syllable structure and stress law, which only allowed for word stress on the penultimate or last syllable of any given word (“Zweisilbengesetz”). However, masculine and feminine nouns, singular and plural forms, base nouns and nisbe adjectives arranged in pairs have traditionally served as key witnesses for the reconstruction of an earlier stage of the Egyptian language, which was characterised by the ability to form words with word stress on any of the three last syllables (“Dreisilbengesetz”). A set of peculiar compound nouns (“Ältere Komposita”), which, when revocalised, display word stress on the antepenultimate syllable, is often regarded as evidence in favour of the “Dreisilbengesetz”, but, to date, there is a want of definitive proof therefor. In this article, the morphology of the personal names nfr.t-jrj.t “Nefertari” and nfr.t-jjj.tj “Nefertiti” is analysed with the result that they comprised the adjective *nắfĭrăt, which here, under peculiar circumstances, evolved to *năft-, but else to *nắfră(t). A hitherto largely unrecognised attestation of the “Älteres Kompositum” mn-nfr “Memphis”, which looks as if it contained the noun mnw “monument”, is identified as a sportive writing in order to indicate an actual pronunciation *mĭ́năfă(r). Either of these discoveries strongly supports the existence of the “Dreisilbengesetz” during the Old Kingdom, but further discussion reveals that, though this fits the elite idiom of the Memphite region, some parts of Upper Egypt had already advanced towards the “Zweisilbengesetz”. With this to start, the syllable structure rules during the time of the “Dreisilbengesetz” and processes of vowel elision as well as further prerequisites for the transition to the “Zweisilbengesetz” are investigated.

Project

Challenging Time(s)´ – A New Approach to Written Sources for Ancient Egyptian Chronology ( CT)

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 757951 and is hosted at the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The results published are solely within the author’s responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Research Council or the European Commission who must not be held responsible for either contents or their further use.

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