Egyptian

Pronoun

Suffix pronoun: third person plural

1. they, them, their (see usage notes)

Usage notes

This form began to replace the old third person plural pronoun, .sn, from c.1400 BC. By Late Egyptian it was the standard form.

There is a variant hieroglyphic writing:

.w

This form of pronoun attaches directly to the preceding word, and means different things depending on what it is attached to.

• When attached to a noun, it indicates the possessor of the noun
• When attached to a verb of the suffix conjugation (subjunctive, perfective, imperfective, passive, prospective, perfect, sḏm.jn.f,sḏm.ḫr.f, sḏm.k3.f, or sḏmt.f), it indicates the subject of the verb
• When attached to an infinitive verb (especially of an intransative verb) whose subject is not otherwise expressed, it indicates the subject of the verb.
• When attached to a transative infinitive verb whose subject is otherwise expressed or omitted, it indicates the object of the verb.
• In the third person, when attached to a prospective participle, it indicates gender and number agreement.
• When attached to a particle like jw, or a parenthetic like ḫr, it indicates the subject of the clause.
• When attached to a preposition, it indicates the object of the preposition
• When it follows a relative adjective, such as ntj, ntt, and jsṯ, it indicates the subject of the relative clause (Except in the first person singular and third person neuter)

Inflection

Suffix pronouns inflect for gender and number (but the dual forms were archaic and are mostly found in religious texts). See individual pages for variant writings.

References

Allen, Middle Egyptian