The Function of Final w in Nouns and Adjectives in the Autography of Selected Late Egyptian Texts
Late Egyptian texts are often characterized by the presence of a w at the end of words that does not seem to have any etymological justification. This w has often been interpreted as a “space filler”, i.e. a sign without any real function used by the scribe to fill spaces in the text. In the present...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2017
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| In: |
Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde
Year: 2017, Volume: 144, Issue: 2, Pages: 188-207 |
| Further subjects: | B
Late Egyptian
B Vocalization B Space fillers B Coptic |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Late Egyptian texts are often characterized by the presence of a w at the end of words that does not seem to have any etymological justification. This w has often been interpreted as a “space filler”, i.e. a sign without any real function used by the scribe to fill spaces in the text. In the present article I question this hypothesis, and I suggest instead that these w were used to supply some information about the vocalization of the word, as sort of very primitive matres lectionis . Starting from the analysis of nouns and adjectives from a corpus of selected Late Egyptian texts, my study shows that there is a correlation between the presence or absence of the w in late Egyptian words and the vocalization in the corresponding Coptic reflexes. Possible further research and some considerations about the larger implications of this system are presented in the conclusions. |
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| ISSN: | 2196-713X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/zaes-2017-0012 |