Learning Egyptian Hieroglyphs - Lesson 3 (Part III)
Meaning of the sdjmf Form
Details of this topic will be discussed later, but it should be noted that the sdjmf form excludes the meaning of hardly any English tense or mood (see the previous lesson, Dependence, Tense and Mood.) Because it is a past tense, it is replaced by another form, the sdjmnf form, which will be described later.
At the moment, render the f form as the English present tense. Here are three common uses of the form:
1. It is often used without any introductory particle in rendering the equivalent of and English clause of purpose:
habk ssh, djdf schrk 'Thou sendest the scribe that he may say thy plan'
2. It may be used to express a wish:
habk ssh 'Mayest thou send the scribe/Send thou the scribe'
3. Preceeded by the particle ykh the fundamental meaning of which seems to be 'then' or 'therefore', it expresses a consequence:
ych djd sr 'Then the official will say...'
ych djdk n sak 'Then shalt thou say to thy son...'
Vocabulary
maa |
see |
|
dja |
cross, ferry across |
|
rsh |
rejoice, be glad |
|
hab |
send |
|
sa |
son |
|
sat |
daughter |
|
(var ) |
yt1 |
father |
bak |
man-servant |
|
bakt |
maid-servant |
|
(var ) |
wat |
road, way, side |
cha |
office, hall |
|
kat |
construction, work, device |
|
thaty |
vizier |
|
`a |
donkey, ass |
|
sshta |
secret |
|
ytrw |
river |
|
msh |
crocodile |
|
r |
mouth, utterance |
|
hr |
face, sight |
|
hr |
upon, concerning, because of; before suffixes written |
|
m |
in, with (of instrument), from as; before suffixes |
1 The f in this word has been shown to be a determinative with some symbolic meaning, so it is not written or said as if it were an alphabetic sign.
Exercises
Try to translate the following in hieroglyphs, with transliteration sounds:
The crocodile is in the river
The moon rejoices when the sun is in his horizon
Then (ych) shall thy name be heard by the vizier
This scribe is in his office by day (and) by night
The donkey goes down to the city upon another road
The scribe sends this boat that we may cross in it
He rejoices because of thy utterance
This land is in joy when thou art in the sky
He fares down to this city, his daughter with him