Ancient Egyptian and Afroasiatic: Rethinking the Origins, 2023
Understanding the place of Ancient Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family may ask more questions ... more Understanding the place of Ancient Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family may ask more questions than is possible to answer in the actual state of our knowledge. However, it is certainly an achievable goal to clarify the problem in the light of recent progress made both in the field of general historical linguistics and in the analysis of relevant Ancient Egyptian data. My contribution will thus go as follows. In section 1, after briefly summarizing the current controversy about the right way of modeling language family relationships, I will try to assess the relevance of the tree model and of alternative perspectives for the special case of Ancient Egyptian, taking into account problems of scale and applicability in relationship to the Afroasiatic historical context. Section 2 is devoted to the notion of Proto-Egyptian as a contact language as it has been promoted in past studies, showing the relevance of contact in general to the problem of situating Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family, be it as a branch in a tree or according to another model. This methodological discussion leads us to focus in section 3 (nominalizations in the inner Egyptian development of new conjugations), section 4 (Egyptian Old Perfect and Akkadian Stative) and section 5 (similar independent pronouns in Egyptian and Akkadian) on more specific problems raised by the hypothetically closer relationship of Ancient Egyptian and another ancient language belonging to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family-namely, Akkadian. Original results of my ongoing research on the renewal of the Proto-Egyptian verbal system are put in perspective with the question asked. This fresh view on diachronic processes allows to revisit the data in the light of the hypothesis of a special relationship between Semitic and Proto-Egyptian. 6.1. The Tree Controversy and the Ancient Egyptian Case: Clinging to Branches? Asking the question of how Ancient Egyptian departed from the Afroasiatic family falls within a burning debate in historical linguistics. There has been no lack of critics and objections to the tree model of representation for the genetical relationships * Many thanks are due to Victoria Almansa-Villatoro and Silvia Štubňová Nigrelli, the organizers of the workshop held at Brown University in April 2018, for reviving a discussion that is in need of further research and bringing together specialists from various fields in a meeting that was both fertile and welcoming.
This paper proposes a new analysis of non-subject relative constructions involving a participial ... more This paper proposes a new analysis of non-subject relative constructions involving a participial base modifying a head and a participant originally encoded as a possessor. A diachronic analysis explains how these possessive constructions in attributive function serve as a source for TAM values characteristic for verb forms that emerge in this relative function. The reconstructed pathway of change thus represents an original case of verbal morphology grammaticalizing out of syntactic and discursive functions marked within the noun phrase.
The uses of the Akkadian 'Stative' and of the Egyptian 'Pseudoparticiple' are com... more The uses of the Akkadian 'Stative' and of the Egyptian 'Pseudoparticiple' are compared in order to assess the relevance of their historical relationship to a better understanding of the Egyptian form. The a priori assumption that they share a common function is challenged by numerous morphosyntactic, lexical and systemic differences. The importance of Egyptian-internal evolution is emphasized, and superficial similarities are showed to be irrelevant on a structural plane. An explanation of the rise of a Stative Pseudoparticiple in Egyptian, correlative with the change from Verb-Subject predication to Subject-Predicate situational predication, is sketched.
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Inria, 2020
Today, the exact number of living Afroasiatic languages is still disputed, with upwards of 375 la... more Today, the exact number of living Afroasiatic languages is still disputed, with upwards of 375 languages, though the actual number may be less (for a discussion, see Frajzyngier and Shay (2012: 1). The number of speakers is probably around 300,000,000. The languages are spoken in Northern and Central Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Near and Middle East, and Central Asia (Arabic only). Afroasiatic (AA) is the phylum with the longest written record: Over five millennia. Thus, it provides linguists with a wealth of documentation that, among other things, shows the fluidity of some word categories on a long-term scale. Nevertheless, this exceptional time-depth only applies to three of the six Afroasiatic families. Egyptian is attested since approximately 3,000 BC, over a period covering more than four and a half millennia, from ancient Egyptian to Coptic. The latter ceased to be spoken in the fifteenth century AD, but still survives as a liturgical language. For Semitic (98 languages), the first documents date back to the third millennium BC, and were written in Akkadian, a language that used to be spoken in Mesopotamia during the earliest Antiquity between the third and first millennium BC. In North Africa, where Berber (27 languages) is spoken, an old writing system on funerary steles is poorly understood. Its exact relationship with Berber is still difficult to figure out (Galand 2010: 16-17). Documentation increases in the Middle Ages for what is traditionally called "Old Berber", whose affiliation to contemporary Berber is clear (Galand 2010: 18). The three other families, Chadic (202 languages), Cushitic (46 languages) and Omotic (24 languages) have no written tradition, and only started to be significantly described by scholars and missionaries during the nineteenth century, an undertaking which went along with European colonisation and Christianisation of Africa. A handful of these languages started to be written in the twentieth century AD. Somali (Cushitic) is a partial exception. An adapted Arabic script was in use as early as the 13 th century AD for writing Arabic with some Somali words in varied proportions (Lewis 1958: 136). The literature also reports thus far undeciphered ancient scripts (Rigby 1877: 447).
Ancient Egyptian has a very long attested history, which allows us to follow the
emergence and ev... more Ancient Egyptian has a very long attested history, which allows us to follow the emergence and evolution of several negative patterns. In spite of the inherent obstacles in a dead language’s documentation, my research – focusing on negation in Earlier Egyptian (roughly defined as the language of texts written from 3000 to 1300 BCE) but tracing the relevant forms until Coptic (the last phase of the language, written in the Greek alphabet from the 4th to 14th century CE) – sheds light on a renewal process that appears to belong to the category of the negative existential cycle. This process has long remained misunderstood, but recent progress in the field of linguistic typology regarding linguistic change in the negative domain makes it possible to propose a coherent historical analysis of the data. Starting with a transitional phase (C–A) documented in Old Egyptian, the Egyptian negative existential cycle does not illustrate Croft’s model in an ideal way. However, it offers a concrete case for a better understanding of how structural and functional parameters are intertwined in explaining this type of evolution.
A parallel is drawn between Diodorus I, 92 and tomb scenes from the New Kingdom that show the fun... more A parallel is drawn between Diodorus I, 92 and tomb scenes from the New Kingdom that show the funeral procession lamenting upon the deceased. A detailed commentary sheds light on the close relationship that links elements found in Diodorus’ passage and the words of eulogy addressed to the deceased by the mourning community. The mention of a judgment of the dead taking place at the funeral is thus connected to ritual facts in a more concrete way than what the established link to the Book of the Dead implies. Therefore, Diodorus gives evidence, in accordance with other Egyptian sources, of the judgment of the dead being ritually enacted as part of the burial rites (see Oréal 2008 et 2010)
Various sources, both textual (Hour vigil liturgies, Abydos stelæ, wishes for the hereafter, lite... more Various sources, both textual (Hour vigil liturgies, Abydos stelæ, wishes for the hereafter, literary texts) and iconographical (funeral scenes and their captions) refer to a key moment on the day of burial when the new status acquired by the dead is at stake. The examination of these sources shows that the social community accompanying the procession plays the role of the glorified dead, judges already established in the other world who are in charge of coopting a new member.
Understanding the role played by the «Welcome» formula jj.wj (m ḥtp) in a funerary context, first... more Understanding the role played by the «Welcome» formula jj.wj (m ḥtp) in a funerary context, first during the funeral, then in the cult of the dead, allows a new interpretation of Ptahhotep, maxim 22. In accordance with the well-known maât ideology, generosity towards the familiar circle appears to be conceived of less as a personal quality deserving their affection than as a way of equally redistributing resources. Acting in conformity with it makes one able to claim presence and support from those who are indebted to him at the crucial moment of entering the hereafter, later repeated in the cult of the dead. Expressing their gratitude, in particular by welcoming him, helps him go his way. Monopolizing goods prevents one from this resource, more valuable than material offering.
The mysterious (H)iktôn, proton mágeuma, mentioned by Jamblichus (De Mysteriis VIII, 3) is recogn... more The mysterious (H)iktôn, proton mágeuma, mentioned by Jamblichus (De Mysteriis VIII, 3) is recognized as the only known reference in Greek to Heka, first product of creation and incarnation of creative power itself in Egyptian cosmogonical theories.
The obscure expression « absolute black » (τελείω μελανί), which occurs in three different source... more The obscure expression « absolute black » (τελείω μελανί), which occurs in three different sources (Κόρη Κόσμου, 32, P.G.M. VII, 492 and Michigan University Ms. 136), has given rise to many tentative interpretations, remaining incomplete. To explain it, one has to consider a word-play between the Greek and the Egyptian languages. It has already been demonstrated that the teachings of Hermes include elements of egyptian origin, especially certain conceptions and representations in the Corpus hermeticum, which can be put in relation with some egyptian mythological and religious schemes. The particular interest of the fact presented here resides in its being more concretely textual, a characteristic giving evidence for a case of elaborate linguistic contact between Greek and Egyptian in the milieu where birth and growth of hermetism take place.
Nature, intensity and result of the linguistic interference between the Greek and Egyptian langua... more Nature, intensity and result of the linguistic interference between the Greek and Egyptian languages in late Antiquity is a controversial theme, still open to debate. This contribution simply aims at providing a sound linguistic background taking into account most recent developments in the field of contact linguistics. Some theoretical tools like the distinction between borrowing and pragmatic code-switching could in fact turn out to be of particular relevance to the interpretation of the apparently numerous Greek borrowings in Coptic, and the comparison with other historical situations of contact recently or newly investigated has much to offer to anyone interested in the case of Coptic. The process involves a critical overview of positions held by some specialists whom ideological bias about cultural hierarchy has led to a peculiar understanding of linguistic change and its motivations.
In Earlier Egyptian, verb forms whose translation involve some sort of modality include the sDm(w... more In Earlier Egyptian, verb forms whose translation involve some sort of modality include the sDm(w)-f, often called “prospective,” and the “emphatic” mrr-f form. Both have been recognized to have nominal features, although their syntactic and discursive function remains a much discussed topic. this contribution proposes to reconstruct paths of change that explain the emergence of these forms out of former participant/event nominalizations marked for definiteness vs. indefiniteness. Exploring this hypothesis sheds light not only on what is inherently marked by the forms themselves, but also on the role of particular uses within distinct source constructions in elaborating their respective semantics.
On Forms and Functions: Studies in Ancient Egyptian Grammar, Dec 2014
This paper proposes a new analysis of various morphological features characterizing different for... more This paper proposes a new analysis of various morphological features characterizing different forms of the participle in Earlier Egyptian: graphemic endings and gemination. In both cases, the proposed explanation is based on the idea that participles may show nominal rather than verbal morphology. Syntactic and functional parameters are identified that may explain the hitherto neglected distribution of <w> and <j> endings, and gemination is shown to be better understood in relationship with discur- sive and referential properties of the participle itself that can be regarded as involving a form of definiteness marking rather than TAM values.
in E. Grossman, S. Polis & J. Winand (éds), Lexical Semantics in Ancient Egyptian (Lingua Aegyptia – Studia Monographica 9) , 2012
The diachrony of Ancient Egyptian allows us to study the emergence of a few discourse markers. Tw... more The diachrony of Ancient Egyptian allows us to study the emergence of a few discourse markers. Two case studies show an evolution that traditional grammaticalization approaches would term counter- directional. They also illustrate the role played by formal analogy together with pragmatic inference in shaping specific outcomes of change. A model for describing the semantics of discourse markers is proposed, which can account for their polysemy in terms of an underspecified lexical core meaning and contextual parameters. Their characteristic function is seen as relating a discourse segment with some point of reference. The variation of the latter, especially its explicit or implicit character, results in different uses that are typical for such markers. The impact of the proposed approach on a grammaticalization analysis of discourse markers is briefly evaluated.
Ancient Egyptian and Afroasiatic: Rethinking the Origins, 2023
Understanding the place of Ancient Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family may ask more questions ... more Understanding the place of Ancient Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family may ask more questions than is possible to answer in the actual state of our knowledge. However, it is certainly an achievable goal to clarify the problem in the light of recent progress made both in the field of general historical linguistics and in the analysis of relevant Ancient Egyptian data. My contribution will thus go as follows. In section 1, after briefly summarizing the current controversy about the right way of modeling language family relationships, I will try to assess the relevance of the tree model and of alternative perspectives for the special case of Ancient Egyptian, taking into account problems of scale and applicability in relationship to the Afroasiatic historical context. Section 2 is devoted to the notion of Proto-Egyptian as a contact language as it has been promoted in past studies, showing the relevance of contact in general to the problem of situating Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family, be it as a branch in a tree or according to another model. This methodological discussion leads us to focus in section 3 (nominalizations in the inner Egyptian development of new conjugations), section 4 (Egyptian Old Perfect and Akkadian Stative) and section 5 (similar independent pronouns in Egyptian and Akkadian) on more specific problems raised by the hypothetically closer relationship of Ancient Egyptian and another ancient language belonging to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family-namely, Akkadian. Original results of my ongoing research on the renewal of the Proto-Egyptian verbal system are put in perspective with the question asked. This fresh view on diachronic processes allows to revisit the data in the light of the hypothesis of a special relationship between Semitic and Proto-Egyptian. 6.1. The Tree Controversy and the Ancient Egyptian Case: Clinging to Branches? Asking the question of how Ancient Egyptian departed from the Afroasiatic family falls within a burning debate in historical linguistics. There has been no lack of critics and objections to the tree model of representation for the genetical relationships * Many thanks are due to Victoria Almansa-Villatoro and Silvia Štubňová Nigrelli, the organizers of the workshop held at Brown University in April 2018, for reviving a discussion that is in need of further research and bringing together specialists from various fields in a meeting that was both fertile and welcoming.
This paper proposes a new analysis of non-subject relative constructions involving a participial ... more This paper proposes a new analysis of non-subject relative constructions involving a participial base modifying a head and a participant originally encoded as a possessor. A diachronic analysis explains how these possessive constructions in attributive function serve as a source for TAM values characteristic for verb forms that emerge in this relative function. The reconstructed pathway of change thus represents an original case of verbal morphology grammaticalizing out of syntactic and discursive functions marked within the noun phrase.
The uses of the Akkadian 'Stative' and of the Egyptian 'Pseudoparticiple' are com... more The uses of the Akkadian 'Stative' and of the Egyptian 'Pseudoparticiple' are compared in order to assess the relevance of their historical relationship to a better understanding of the Egyptian form. The a priori assumption that they share a common function is challenged by numerous morphosyntactic, lexical and systemic differences. The importance of Egyptian-internal evolution is emphasized, and superficial similarities are showed to be irrelevant on a structural plane. An explanation of the rise of a Stative Pseudoparticiple in Egyptian, correlative with the change from Verb-Subject predication to Subject-Predicate situational predication, is sketched.
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Inria, 2020
Today, the exact number of living Afroasiatic languages is still disputed, with upwards of 375 la... more Today, the exact number of living Afroasiatic languages is still disputed, with upwards of 375 languages, though the actual number may be less (for a discussion, see Frajzyngier and Shay (2012: 1). The number of speakers is probably around 300,000,000. The languages are spoken in Northern and Central Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Near and Middle East, and Central Asia (Arabic only). Afroasiatic (AA) is the phylum with the longest written record: Over five millennia. Thus, it provides linguists with a wealth of documentation that, among other things, shows the fluidity of some word categories on a long-term scale. Nevertheless, this exceptional time-depth only applies to three of the six Afroasiatic families. Egyptian is attested since approximately 3,000 BC, over a period covering more than four and a half millennia, from ancient Egyptian to Coptic. The latter ceased to be spoken in the fifteenth century AD, but still survives as a liturgical language. For Semitic (98 languages), the first documents date back to the third millennium BC, and were written in Akkadian, a language that used to be spoken in Mesopotamia during the earliest Antiquity between the third and first millennium BC. In North Africa, where Berber (27 languages) is spoken, an old writing system on funerary steles is poorly understood. Its exact relationship with Berber is still difficult to figure out (Galand 2010: 16-17). Documentation increases in the Middle Ages for what is traditionally called "Old Berber", whose affiliation to contemporary Berber is clear (Galand 2010: 18). The three other families, Chadic (202 languages), Cushitic (46 languages) and Omotic (24 languages) have no written tradition, and only started to be significantly described by scholars and missionaries during the nineteenth century, an undertaking which went along with European colonisation and Christianisation of Africa. A handful of these languages started to be written in the twentieth century AD. Somali (Cushitic) is a partial exception. An adapted Arabic script was in use as early as the 13 th century AD for writing Arabic with some Somali words in varied proportions (Lewis 1958: 136). The literature also reports thus far undeciphered ancient scripts (Rigby 1877: 447).
Ancient Egyptian has a very long attested history, which allows us to follow the
emergence and ev... more Ancient Egyptian has a very long attested history, which allows us to follow the emergence and evolution of several negative patterns. In spite of the inherent obstacles in a dead language’s documentation, my research – focusing on negation in Earlier Egyptian (roughly defined as the language of texts written from 3000 to 1300 BCE) but tracing the relevant forms until Coptic (the last phase of the language, written in the Greek alphabet from the 4th to 14th century CE) – sheds light on a renewal process that appears to belong to the category of the negative existential cycle. This process has long remained misunderstood, but recent progress in the field of linguistic typology regarding linguistic change in the negative domain makes it possible to propose a coherent historical analysis of the data. Starting with a transitional phase (C–A) documented in Old Egyptian, the Egyptian negative existential cycle does not illustrate Croft’s model in an ideal way. However, it offers a concrete case for a better understanding of how structural and functional parameters are intertwined in explaining this type of evolution.
A parallel is drawn between Diodorus I, 92 and tomb scenes from the New Kingdom that show the fun... more A parallel is drawn between Diodorus I, 92 and tomb scenes from the New Kingdom that show the funeral procession lamenting upon the deceased. A detailed commentary sheds light on the close relationship that links elements found in Diodorus’ passage and the words of eulogy addressed to the deceased by the mourning community. The mention of a judgment of the dead taking place at the funeral is thus connected to ritual facts in a more concrete way than what the established link to the Book of the Dead implies. Therefore, Diodorus gives evidence, in accordance with other Egyptian sources, of the judgment of the dead being ritually enacted as part of the burial rites (see Oréal 2008 et 2010)
Various sources, both textual (Hour vigil liturgies, Abydos stelæ, wishes for the hereafter, lite... more Various sources, both textual (Hour vigil liturgies, Abydos stelæ, wishes for the hereafter, literary texts) and iconographical (funeral scenes and their captions) refer to a key moment on the day of burial when the new status acquired by the dead is at stake. The examination of these sources shows that the social community accompanying the procession plays the role of the glorified dead, judges already established in the other world who are in charge of coopting a new member.
Understanding the role played by the «Welcome» formula jj.wj (m ḥtp) in a funerary context, first... more Understanding the role played by the «Welcome» formula jj.wj (m ḥtp) in a funerary context, first during the funeral, then in the cult of the dead, allows a new interpretation of Ptahhotep, maxim 22. In accordance with the well-known maât ideology, generosity towards the familiar circle appears to be conceived of less as a personal quality deserving their affection than as a way of equally redistributing resources. Acting in conformity with it makes one able to claim presence and support from those who are indebted to him at the crucial moment of entering the hereafter, later repeated in the cult of the dead. Expressing their gratitude, in particular by welcoming him, helps him go his way. Monopolizing goods prevents one from this resource, more valuable than material offering.
The mysterious (H)iktôn, proton mágeuma, mentioned by Jamblichus (De Mysteriis VIII, 3) is recogn... more The mysterious (H)iktôn, proton mágeuma, mentioned by Jamblichus (De Mysteriis VIII, 3) is recognized as the only known reference in Greek to Heka, first product of creation and incarnation of creative power itself in Egyptian cosmogonical theories.
The obscure expression « absolute black » (τελείω μελανί), which occurs in three different source... more The obscure expression « absolute black » (τελείω μελανί), which occurs in three different sources (Κόρη Κόσμου, 32, P.G.M. VII, 492 and Michigan University Ms. 136), has given rise to many tentative interpretations, remaining incomplete. To explain it, one has to consider a word-play between the Greek and the Egyptian languages. It has already been demonstrated that the teachings of Hermes include elements of egyptian origin, especially certain conceptions and representations in the Corpus hermeticum, which can be put in relation with some egyptian mythological and religious schemes. The particular interest of the fact presented here resides in its being more concretely textual, a characteristic giving evidence for a case of elaborate linguistic contact between Greek and Egyptian in the milieu where birth and growth of hermetism take place.
Nature, intensity and result of the linguistic interference between the Greek and Egyptian langua... more Nature, intensity and result of the linguistic interference between the Greek and Egyptian languages in late Antiquity is a controversial theme, still open to debate. This contribution simply aims at providing a sound linguistic background taking into account most recent developments in the field of contact linguistics. Some theoretical tools like the distinction between borrowing and pragmatic code-switching could in fact turn out to be of particular relevance to the interpretation of the apparently numerous Greek borrowings in Coptic, and the comparison with other historical situations of contact recently or newly investigated has much to offer to anyone interested in the case of Coptic. The process involves a critical overview of positions held by some specialists whom ideological bias about cultural hierarchy has led to a peculiar understanding of linguistic change and its motivations.
In Earlier Egyptian, verb forms whose translation involve some sort of modality include the sDm(w... more In Earlier Egyptian, verb forms whose translation involve some sort of modality include the sDm(w)-f, often called “prospective,” and the “emphatic” mrr-f form. Both have been recognized to have nominal features, although their syntactic and discursive function remains a much discussed topic. this contribution proposes to reconstruct paths of change that explain the emergence of these forms out of former participant/event nominalizations marked for definiteness vs. indefiniteness. Exploring this hypothesis sheds light not only on what is inherently marked by the forms themselves, but also on the role of particular uses within distinct source constructions in elaborating their respective semantics.
On Forms and Functions: Studies in Ancient Egyptian Grammar, Dec 2014
This paper proposes a new analysis of various morphological features characterizing different for... more This paper proposes a new analysis of various morphological features characterizing different forms of the participle in Earlier Egyptian: graphemic endings and gemination. In both cases, the proposed explanation is based on the idea that participles may show nominal rather than verbal morphology. Syntactic and functional parameters are identified that may explain the hitherto neglected distribution of <w> and <j> endings, and gemination is shown to be better understood in relationship with discur- sive and referential properties of the participle itself that can be regarded as involving a form of definiteness marking rather than TAM values.
in E. Grossman, S. Polis & J. Winand (éds), Lexical Semantics in Ancient Egyptian (Lingua Aegyptia – Studia Monographica 9) , 2012
The diachrony of Ancient Egyptian allows us to study the emergence of a few discourse markers. Tw... more The diachrony of Ancient Egyptian allows us to study the emergence of a few discourse markers. Two case studies show an evolution that traditional grammaticalization approaches would term counter- directional. They also illustrate the role played by formal analogy together with pragmatic inference in shaping specific outcomes of change. A model for describing the semantics of discourse markers is proposed, which can account for their polysemy in terms of an underspecified lexical core meaning and contextual parameters. Their characteristic function is seen as relating a discourse segment with some point of reference. The variation of the latter, especially its explicit or implicit character, results in different uses that are typical for such markers. The impact of the proposed approach on a grammaticalization analysis of discourse markers is briefly evaluated.
Au principe des recherches dont ce livre expose les résultats se trouve l’idée que l’on peut atte... more Au principe des recherches dont ce livre expose les résultats se trouve l’idée que l’on peut atteindre un grain relativement plus fin, dans l’analyse historique des sources en ancien égyptien, que celui auquel on s’était un moment arrêté. Il s’agit ici avant tout de grammaire historique, dans une démarche qui présente quelques points communs avec le travail archéologique. C’est en effet avant tout de traces que l’on s’occupera, en s’efforçant de reconstituer les événements qui expliquent leur disposition. On sait bien en effet que le changement linguistique ne procède pas par substitution instantanée d’un usage par un autre. L’émergence de formes nouvelles s’accompagne souvent longtemps de la persistance des formes anciennes avec lesquelles elles entrent en compétition. Ce feuilletage, que les théoriciens de la grammaticalisation appellent layering, se manifeste en synchronie sous la forme d’une variabilité intrinsèque à toute langue. Il peut devenir opaque, par exemple lorsque la langue analysée est peu documentée, et partant, rende plus difficile pour le linguiste la distinction entre l’ancien et le nouveau, la forme marginalisée mais autrefois centrale et la construction en voie de grammaticalisation qui peut-être ne participera jamais pleinement du système. Dans la mesure où elle schématise une évolution sans en restituer l’épaisseur diachronique, notre étude du renouvellement des tiroirs verbaux du parfait en ancien égyptien doit donner l’impression d’une espèce de révolution permanente. Certes, la véritable durée des phases dont on a pu préciser les contours est en réalité plus proche du temps long de l’histoire sociale que de l’événementiel rapide des conflits de palais. Toutefois, d’un point de vue typologique, il demeure que le pôle du parfait représente, de manière générale, un lieu où les tiroirs verbaux ne font que passer, pour reprendre la formulation de Lindsted 20002. Ce que l’on peut reconstituer de l’histoire du Parfait ancien et du Parfait récent en ancien égyptien, et de leur transit par une valeur de parfait, illustre de manière frappante de quelle manière cette valeur sert de pivot au renouvellement des formes liées à l’expression d’événements passés.
"Particles, those “small words" for which polyfunctionality is characteristic, are usually neglec... more "Particles, those “small words" for which polyfunctionality is characteristic, are usually neglected in grammars and dictionaries. This book is an attempt to address this lacuna by offering both a linguistic analysis and a philological description of particles in Ancient Egyptian. It presents a theoretical and methodological framework for their analysis, using tools taken from enunciative linguistics and text-linguistics, showing how the speakers’ viewpoint and rhetorical goals, as well as text genre, take part in elaborating the contextual meaning of particles. It also demonstrates that particles are not superfluous; rather, they are essential to discourse coherence. Its reading of Egyptian texts of various types thus results in a picture of the language as it was actually used, giving full attention to its communicative dimension. This provides us with more a lively and consistent understanding of Ancient Egyptian.
"
‘Second tenses’ in Ancient Egyptian are verbal paradigms whose function has long been recognized ... more ‘Second tenses’ in Ancient Egyptian are verbal paradigms whose function has long been recognized to be at the intersection of aspect and discourse, following H. J. Polotsky’s (1944) essential findings. They can be roughly defined as backgrounding verb-forms whose informational content is left out of focus when the speaker wants some adjunct to be the more salient part of the utterance. There seems to be some consensus among specialists about the basic function of these forms in the later phase of Egyptian language (Coptic). As for Earlier Egyptian, their precise function in structuring discourse for the Imperfective Second Tense (egyptological mrr-f) and even their very existence for the Perfective Second Tense, (egyptological sDm.n-f) is still debated. Much of the discussion focuses on different views regarding what is formally marked by such forms and what is pragmatically inferred by the hearer in discourse interaction.
My paper will aim at reassessing the relevance of the Second Tense approach for the Perfective, mainly thanks to a refined analysis of diachronic data. Earlier Egyptian corpus is often considered as a homogeneous whole, while a fresh study of various types of documents shows that grammatical changes can in fact be observed. Thus, I will first give a synthetic description of the historical paths explaining the morphogenesis of perfective grams in Old Egyptian and their evolution in a later phase of the language. Against this background, we can gain a better understanding of how the Perfective Second Tense came to play a role in marking information structure after having emerged as a mere perfective. These Ancient Egyptian facts may also be of interest to typologists in that they illustrate how verbal forms can mark information structure in a way that seems to be relatively more common in African languages than in other parts of the worlds.
The presence of Greek particles in Coptic texts has often been noticed and commented upon as if b... more The presence of Greek particles in Coptic texts has often been noticed and commented upon as if borrowing this part of speech was an exceptional fact. As such, it has been taken as a phenomenon illustrating structural influence from Greek unto Coptic. This needs further qualification. I will first try to sum up some results of contact linguistics concerning code-switching and borrowing of discourse markers and conjunctions in modern bilingual settings, that may help us to look at the Coptic facts in a different way. It has been showed in particular that a ‘filling-the-gap’ explanation could not account for this kind of core-borrowing in a satisfactory way.
Some studies suggest that the relatively easy borrowing of particles and discourse markers is related to their essential function as markers of universal discourse roles. Thus, the pragmatic parameter plays an important role in their use, a property which they precisely appear to share with code-switching itself. Leaving aside any ambition of giving a general overview of relevant facts in Coptic literature, I will then try to assess the relevance of a pragmatically oriented explanation for some uses of Greek particles in a restricted corpus : the Kellis letters. This very small-scale study will focus on causal/explanative markers such as gar and ep(e)idê as opposed to Coptic forms je and etbe je. Finally, I drew some tentative conclusions and ask some questions, aiming mainly at assessing what the use of Greek particles in Coptic texts may or may not tell us about the nature of Greek-Coptic interference, in particular about which variety of the donor language is concerned, and which criteria may be used to decide whether the use of a given particle belongs to a more or less widely « spoken » sociolect or remains an essentially « literary » fact, with all usual cautions about the problematic categorizing of such gradual phenomenon.
This paper proposes a new analysis of non-subject relative constructions involving a participial ... more This paper proposes a new analysis of non-subject relative constructions involving a participial base modifying a head and a participant originally encoded as a possessor. A diachronic analysis explains how these possessive constructions in attributive function serve as a source for TAM values characteristic for verb forms that emerge in this relative function. The reconstructed pathway of change thus represents an original case of verbal morphology grammaticalizing out of syntactic and discursive functions marked within the noun phrase.
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Papers by Elsa Oréal
emergence and evolution of several negative patterns. In spite of the inherent obstacles in a dead language’s documentation, my research – focusing on negation
in Earlier Egyptian (roughly defined as the language of texts written from 3000
to 1300 BCE) but tracing the relevant forms until Coptic (the last phase of the language, written in the Greek alphabet from the 4th to 14th century CE) – sheds light
on a renewal process that appears to belong to the category of the negative existential cycle. This process has long remained misunderstood, but recent progress in
the field of linguistic typology regarding linguistic change in the negative domain
makes it possible to propose a coherent historical analysis of the data. Starting
with a transitional phase (C–A) documented in Old Egyptian, the Egyptian negative existential cycle does not illustrate Croft’s model in an ideal way. However, it
offers a concrete case for a better understanding of how structural and functional
parameters are intertwined in explaining this type of evolution.
emergence and evolution of several negative patterns. In spite of the inherent obstacles in a dead language’s documentation, my research – focusing on negation
in Earlier Egyptian (roughly defined as the language of texts written from 3000
to 1300 BCE) but tracing the relevant forms until Coptic (the last phase of the language, written in the Greek alphabet from the 4th to 14th century CE) – sheds light
on a renewal process that appears to belong to the category of the negative existential cycle. This process has long remained misunderstood, but recent progress in
the field of linguistic typology regarding linguistic change in the negative domain
makes it possible to propose a coherent historical analysis of the data. Starting
with a transitional phase (C–A) documented in Old Egyptian, the Egyptian negative existential cycle does not illustrate Croft’s model in an ideal way. However, it
offers a concrete case for a better understanding of how structural and functional
parameters are intertwined in explaining this type of evolution.
"
My paper will aim at reassessing the relevance of the Second Tense approach for the Perfective, mainly thanks to a refined analysis of diachronic data. Earlier Egyptian corpus is often considered as a homogeneous whole, while a fresh study of various types of documents shows that grammatical changes can in fact be observed. Thus, I will first give a synthetic description of the historical paths explaining the morphogenesis of perfective grams in Old Egyptian and their evolution in a later phase of the language. Against this background, we can gain a better understanding of how the Perfective Second Tense came to play a role in marking information structure after having emerged as a mere perfective. These Ancient Egyptian facts may also be of interest to typologists in that they illustrate how verbal forms can mark information structure in a way that seems to be relatively more common in African languages than in other parts of the worlds.
Some studies suggest that the relatively easy borrowing of particles and discourse markers is related to their essential function as markers of universal discourse roles. Thus, the pragmatic parameter plays an important role in their use, a property which they precisely appear to share with code-switching itself. Leaving aside any ambition of giving a general overview of relevant facts in Coptic literature, I will then try to assess the relevance of a pragmatically oriented explanation for some uses of Greek particles in a restricted corpus : the Kellis letters. This very small-scale study will focus on causal/explanative markers such as gar and ep(e)idê as opposed to Coptic forms je and etbe je. Finally, I drew some tentative conclusions and ask some questions, aiming mainly at assessing what the use of Greek particles in Coptic texts may or may not tell us about the nature of Greek-Coptic interference, in particular about which variety of the donor language is concerned, and which criteria may be used to decide whether the use of a given particle belongs to a more or less widely « spoken » sociolect or remains an essentially « literary » fact, with all usual cautions about the problematic categorizing of such gradual phenomenon.