tw.t

Egyptian

Etymology

Loprieno suggests an origin from tj (“while”) +‎ ṯn (second-person feminine dependent pronoun), with tj from earlier (j)sṯ, from Old Egyptian (j)sk.^[1] Stauder argues against this hypothesis and instead proposes a development from ntt (complementizer) +‎ .t (second-person feminine suffix pronoun) with subsequent reanalysis.^[2] Regardless of origin, later reinterpreted as an element tw + the suffix pronoun .t.

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tuːʔɛt/
- Conventional anglicization: tu.et

Pronoun

f sg 2. proclitic (‘subject form’) pronoun

you [since the 17th Dynasty]

Usage notes

This form of pronoun is a proclitic that must stand at the beginning of a sentence (generally adverbial) and cannot come after any particles. It always indicates the subject of the sentence.

Inflection

Old Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
	number	first person	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kj¹	.ṯ, .ṯn	.f, .fj¹	.s, .sj¹
	dual	.nj	.ṯnj		.snj
	plural	.n	.ṯn		.sn

enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	singular	w, wj, wy	kw, k, ṯw, ṯ	ṯm, ṯn	sw, s	s
	dual	—	ṯnj		snj
	plural	n	ṯn		sn

stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ṯwt	ṯmt	swt	stt
	dual	—	—		ntsnj
	plural	—	ntṯn		ntsn, jntsn

stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kj, .k	.tj, .t		∅, .j	.tj, .t
	dual	—	.tjwn		.wy, .wj	.ty
	plural	.wn, .nw	.tjwn		∅, .w, .y, .wy	.tj, .t
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle.

Middle Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
	number	first person	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kj¹	.ṯ, .t	.f, .fj¹	.s, .sj¹
	dual²	.nj	.ṯnj, .tnj		.snj
	plural	.n	.ṯn, .tn		.sn, .w³

enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	singular	wj, w	ṯw, tw	ṯn, tn	sw, st	sj, s, st
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	plural	n	ṯn, tn		sn, st

stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ntk, ṯwt²	ntṯ, ntt, ṯwt²	ntf, swt²	nts, swt²
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	plural	jnn³	ntṯn, nttn		ntsn

stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kw	.tj, .t, .tw³		∅, .w	.tj, .t, .tw³
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	plural	.wn, .wjn	.tjwn, .tjwnj		∅, .w, .y

proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns³	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	sj, st
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns³	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle. Only in formal texts, especially religious texts. Only in postclassical (Neo-Middle Egyptian) texts.

Late Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
	number	first person	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kw	.t	.f, .fj	.s, .st, .sw
suffix pronouns	plural	.n	.tn, .twn		.w, .sn¹

enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns¹	singular	wj	tw, tj		sw, st
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns¹	plural	n, wn	twn		sn, st

stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	mntk, mtwk	mntt, mtwy	mntf	mntst, mntjst
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	plural	jnn	mnttn		mntw

stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings¹	singular	.kw, .k	.tj, .tw		∅, .w, .y	.tj, .tw
	plural	.nw	.tn		∅, .w, .y
	unmarked (later)	∅, .tw

proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	st, sw
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st, sw, swt
Only in formal texts, especially religious texts.

References

James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 116.

^ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN
^ Stauder, Andréas (2016) “L’origine du pronom sujet néo-égyptien (twꞽ, twk, sw, etc.)” in Revue d’ Egyptologie, volume 67, pages 141–155

[1] Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN

[2] Stauder, Andréas (2016) “L’origine du pronom sujet néo-égyptien (twꞽ, twk, sw, etc.)” in Revue d’ Egyptologie, volume 67, pages 141–155

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