Pre-Late Egyptian Reconstruction/Templatic Class I: The i-Type Vocalizations

= i-Type Infinitives =

It is believed the i-Type vocalization originated as an adjective-verbal marker in the earlier phases of the language. G. Fecht and C. Peust note the three verbs (as shown in the below table) are those originally containing the i-Type with stress on the final syllable and equate to Templatic Class I: Form 4.

Original i-Type Form
ⲘⲔⲀϨSAB, ⲘⲔⲈϨF - (infinitive/noun) be painful [ⲘⲞⲨⲔϨSA - (infinitive) offlict, oppress] ⲘⲢⲞϢS / ⲘⲢⲀϢS - be red/yellow [ⲘⲎⲢϢSBF / ⲘⲈⲢϢSF - (adj.) red/ruddy]
 * Some more examples of possible original i-Type vocalizations:

Modified i-Type Forms
It appears that this vocalization was also adopted to other infinitival forms which consisted of roots with a with final -j/y, causing either an umlaut, emphasis spreading, or vowel harmony due to the proximity of some kind of semi-vocalic glide represented by the Egyptian hieroglyphic letter j.

The infinitival/nominal vocalization may have always been constructed using the a-Type Form 1, there is indirect evidence in the pronominal and qualitative forms of ultimae weak verbs which no longer utilized < j > and instead either replaced it with /t/ or simply inherited the /a/ vowel. Those vocalizations consisting of an i-Type vocalization seem to be largely predictable from the third consonant the verb had in Egyptian, though exceptions remain. The following paradigms equate to Templatic Class I: Form 3:

ⲢⲒⲔⲈ / rqj - tending ⲠⲒⲤⲈ / psj - cooking ⲞⲨⲈⲒⲤⲈ / wsj - sawing ϩⲒⲤⲈ / h sj - tormenting ⲘⲒⲤⲈ / msj/msy - bringing forth, bear [ma/ičPAA - child, small boy, msPyr - child ... ⲘⲀⲤ/ⲘⲈⲤ - (noun) young (mostly of animal), ⲘⲀⲤⲈ / ⲘⲈⲤⲈ - young animal especially calf, ⲘⲈⲤⲒⲰ / ⲘⲈⲤⲈⲒOⲨ- nurse] ⲢⲒⲘⲈ / rmy - weep [ⲢⲘⲈⲒⲎ, ⲢⲘⲈⲒⲈ- tear ~ rmyt ... ⲢⲘⲈⲒⲞⲞⲨⲈ - tears]
 * List of Egyptian ultimae-j/y roots in Coptic:

ⲔⲰⲦⲈ - turning / qd(y) - go round ϤⲰⲦⲈ - wiping away / ft(t) - obliterate; fdjPyr/MEg-remove [fVtˌPAA - pull out, take out] ⲚⲞⲨϪ(Ⲉ) - throwing / n d r ⲘOⲤⲦⲈ - hating/ ms d jMEg - only shows a slightly different vocalization in its nominal forms: ⲘⲈⲤⲦⲈ, ⲘⲈⲤⲦⲎ, ⲘⲈⲤⲦOⲨ, whereas its pronominal and construct forms follow the a-Type.
 * But there are a handful of Egyptian ultimae -j verbs in Coptic which show the a-vocalization - it is possible these verbs did not have originally have < j >, the verb simply ended in a vowel from a consonant that was not pronounced at the end of the verb :


 * Some time between the Middle Kingdom and the Late Kingdom (in the 2nd Intermediate Period), the sound of ɜ conflated with the sound of j and thus the contamination of the ultimae j/y weak root i-Type vocalization began to be used for ultimae ɜ roots Also notice how these patterns follow 'Form 4':


 * Examples of ultimae ɜ roots where the consonant ɜ fell out of pronunciation (or a change from ɜ = j) and shows the possible original a-vocalization - it is possible that these verbs lost their < ɜ > attribute at an early stage (probably before the 2nd Intermediate Period, in effect because of the loss of < ɜ > the vowels were not affected:

ḫǎɜ - placing [ⲔⲰSA 2F, ⲔⲰⲈA 2 , ⲔⲞⲨAA 2F ] [ḫɜmMEg - possess, hold (vocalic |ɜ|]), kamPAA - hold, grasp] bǎlaɜ - loosing [ⲂⲰⲖ, blɜDem] darāɜ - become strong, firm, victorious [ϪⲢⲞ, ϪⲰⲰⲢⲈ (infinitive) - strength/be strong ~ d rDem] sǎmaɜ - uniting [ⲤⲰⲘ - subduing; pressing; pounding] pǎḫaɜ - tearing [ⲠⲰϨ] tǎkaɜ - lighting [ⲦⲰⲔ] pǎgaɜ - breaking [ⲠⲰϬⲈ] dǎgaɜ - planting [ⲦⲰϬⲈ ]

Note: ⲔⲒⲘ - moving ~ qmɜMEg, qmMEg, shows some peculiarities in Coptic as not only has the consonant ɜ fallen away but the letter -t emerges from nowhere once a pronominal suffix is attached: ⲔⲈⲘⲦ = (Construct form ⲔⲈⲘⲦ - is identical in spelling) This may not only be a perfect example of ɜ = j => i-vocalization but also how here the verb is treated exactly as if it was ultimae-j. So, we have a qǎmaɜMEg construction and a qǐm(it)LEg renovated construction.


 * Should also be noted that the following group of verbs are frequently used in Egyptian and all follow an irregular set of rules governed by changing the vowel a ~ i as well as ɜ ~ j and shows abridged versions:

dījt (original: radǎjat or dǎjat ~ dājt) - giving [†copt TIcopt †EIs. copt TEIs. copt] t ījt (original: ja t ǎjat or t ǎjat ~ t ājt) - taking [†Icopt ϪIs.a.a.f. copt ϪEIcopt ϪIEI/ϪEs. copt ϬIb. copt] ḫījt (original: ḫǎɜat ~ ḫǎjat ~ ḫājt) - measuring [ϢIcopt, ϢⲈIS] fījt (original: fǎɜat ~ fǎjat ~fājt) - carrying [ϤIs.a.a.b.f. copt ϤEIs. copt BIa.2 copt ϤAIb. copt] ḥījt (original: ḥǎwat ~ ḥǎjat ~ ḥājt) - beating/threshing [ϩIcopt]

= a>i Vowel Replacement in Coptic Nouns = Original short stressed |i| and |u| merged into short |e| in all dialects and then in Bohairic/Sahiric Coptic it merged into |Ⲁ| unless followed by a glottal stop; second millennium BC. Here's some examples which possibly were perfective active participles in the ancient language and assimilated into nouns in Coptic:

zǐ [CⲀcopt] - man ꜥǐḫ [ⲀϢcopt] - originally brazier; later furnace, oven sǐd [CⲀⲦ, CⲈⲦA.A 2.B., CⲎⲦS.S fB. ] - tail sǐf [CⲀϤS.B., CⲎϤS A , CⲈϤA.F. ] - yesterday qǐs [KⲀCcopt / KⲈⲈC] - bone lǐs [λΑCcopt] - tongue rǐn [PⲀNcopt] - name rǐm(at) [PⲀMⲈcopt] - fish (by Coptic was also used for talapia) qǐm(aɜ) [ϬⲀMS. ] - bull hǐp [ϩⲀΠS.B.O., ϩⲈΠA.A 2F. - judgement, inquest] - law, right, justice rǐd [PⲀⲦS.B., PⲀⲦS aA2A.F.O. ] - foot h ǐ h [ⳊⲀⳊ b. copt] - neck ḥǐs [ϩⲀCcopt] - dung (of animals) tǐp [ⲦⲀΠcopt] - horn kǐp [ϬⲀΠcopt] - sole of foot; foot nǐw [NⲀYcopt] - time (by Demotic/Pre-Coptic also meant hour) šǐw [ϢⲀYcopt - trunk, stump, piece] - piece, remainder hǐy [ϩⲀIcopt] - husband bǐɜ [BⲀIcopt] - originally a type of bird which took on the meaning soul; soon came to mean also a night-raven or screech-owl in Demotic and Coptic

bǐḥsat [BAϩCEcopt] - heifer, (fem) form of bḥs - calf

nǐpraj [NⲀΠPEcopt] - grain; seed nǐ d ḥat [NⲀϪϩEcopt] - tooth rǐhdat [PⲀϩⲦEcopt] - cauldron

sǐ d at [CⲀⲦEcopt] - fire


 * Dubious vowel formations... It is not quite known if there was an original [i] in the spelling of the below words.. These words may have been loan-words thus utilizing | ⲀCopt ] following the typical usage of Coptic A irregular rules in Coptic orthography:

βαριςgreek - boat BⲀⲖcopt - eye

= Peculiarities = These groups of verbs follow orthographic rules in Coptic: nǐw(iꜢ) - seeing [ⲚⲀⲨS.B., ⲚⲈⲨA 2F. , ⲚOA.A 2, ⲚⲰS a  ] ϪAKcopt - clapping (no Middle Egyptian equivalent) rāšaw - rejoicing [PAϢEcopt] - ršwME ršydem šāfat - swelling [ϢAϤEcopt, ϢEϤE, ϢHϤE, ϢIϤE] ḫāꜥ(at) - rising (of sun) [ϢAcopt, ϢAIEa. coptic, ϢE(E)If. coptic] - Note: it appears like the entire ending vanished.

= Notes =

There are two types of i-Type verbs:


 * The original adjectival verb which must have originally followed the typical Afro-Asiatic CaCiC adjectival pattern then as the language progressed they eventually began to pattern themselves CiCiC due to relocation of stress. It's unclear (at least to me), why most Afro-Asiatic adjectives from the mother proto-language did not conform to this pattern in Coptic, as this paradigm only seemed to affect some verbal forms as shown in Coptic.


 * A modified version only used with verbs that officially ended in < j > or a vowel.
 * If a verb ended in a vowel due to a reduction of /a vowel/ + /a (weak) consonant/ it most likely continued to use the a-Type vocalization but there are a small number of verbs which eventually conformed and were treated as if they were an i-Type due to the renovated modification in the latest stages of the language.

In modern day Egyptian Arabic there is a distribution of a-types and i-types. The Western Delta prefers the a-type with certain Arabic roots, whereas the i-type is common in the eastern and central parts: šarab, faham, rakab, sama’, etc., versus širib, fihim, rikib, simi'.

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