tꜣ

See also: ṯꜣ and Appendix:Variations of "t"

Egyptian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /taʀ/ → /taʀ/ → /taʔ/ → /taʔ/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /taʀ/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /taʀ/
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /taʔ/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /taʔ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɑ/
  • Conventional anglicization: ta

Noun

 m

1. land, realm, country
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 146–148:

     dj.j jn.t(w) n.k ḥꜥw ꜣtp.w ẖr špssw nb n(j) kmt mj jrrt n nṯr mrr r(m)ṯ m tꜣ wꜣ nj rḫ sw r(m)ṯ

     I will have them bring you a fleet laden with every finery of Egypt, like what is done for a god beloved by people in a faraway land people don’t know.

   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) line 2.8:

     ꜥḥꜥ.n sꜥḥꜥ ḥm n(j) nswt-bjtj snfr-w(j) m nswt mnḫ m tꜣ pn r ḏr.f

     Then the majesty of the Dual King Sneferu was raised up as splendid king in this entire land.

   • c. 1550 BCE – 1295 BCE, Great Hymn to Osiris (Stela of Amenmose, Louvre C 286) lines 11–12:

     tꜣ pn m-ꜥ.f mw.f ṯꜣw.f sm(w).f mnmnt.f nbt pꜣyt nbt ḫnnt nbt ḏdfwt.f ꜥwt.f ḫꜣst smꜣꜥ.w n zꜣ nwt tꜣwj hr.w ḥr.s

     This land is in his hand — its water and its wind, its plants and all its cattle, all that flies and all that lands, its creeping creatures and its quadrupeds of the desert, were given to the son of Nut, and the Two Lands (Egypt) are pleased with it.

2. (by extension) the collective people of a land or country
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 143–144:

     dwꜣ.tw-nṯr n.k m nwt ḫft ḥr qnbt tꜣ r ḏr.f

     They will thank the god for you in the city in front of the council and the entire land.

3. ground
   • c. 1550 BCE – 1295 BCE, Great Hymn to Osiris (Stela of Amenmose, Louvre C 286) line 19:

     jp n.f tꜣ r ẖrt.f pt tꜣ ẖr st ḥr.f

     The land was accounted as his possession, and the sky and the land were under his care.

4. dry land, ground not covered by water
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 3–5:

     šzp ḫrpw ḥw mjnt ḥꜣtt rḏj.t(j) ḥr tꜣ

     The mallet has been taken, the mooring post has been struck, and the prow rope is set on land.

   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 32–34:

     ḏꜥ pr(.w) jw.n m wꜣḏ-wr tp ꜥ sꜣḥ.n tꜣ

     A stormwind emerged while we were at sea, before we could set foot on land.

Inflection

Declension of tꜣ (masculine)

singular	tꜣ
dual	tꜣwj
plural	tꜣw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of tꜣ  

tꜣ

Derived terms

• mḥ-tꜣ
• nb-tꜣwj
• nbt-tꜣ
• ḥḏ tꜣ
• ḫꜣ-tꜣ
• zꜣ-tꜣ
• zmꜣ tꜣ
• sn-tꜣ
• tꜣwj
• tꜣ-wr
• tꜣ-mrj
• tꜣ-mḥw
• tꜣ-nṯr
• tꜣ-šꜣsw-yhwꜣ
• tꜣ-tmw
• tꜣ-ṯnn
• tꜣ-ḏsr
• ḏꜣj tꜣ

 

Descendants

• Demotic: tꜣ
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲑⲟ (tho)
  • Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲧⲟ (to)
  • Old Coptic: ⲧⲟ (to), ⲑⲟ (tho), ⲧⲱ (tō), ⲑⲱ (thō)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲟ (to)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /tiʀ/ → /tiʀ/ → /tə/ → /tə/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /tiʀ/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /tiʀ/
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /tə/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /tə/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɑ/
  • Conventional anglicization: ta

Determiner

 f sg anaphoric demonstrative determiner

1. (Old and Late Egyptian) O (vocative reference)
2. (Middle Egyptian) the aforementioned, the said
3. (Late Egyptian) the definite article; the
4. (Late Egyptian, with following noun) she of, this of, that of

Usage notes

This demonstrative was originally a determiner but could later be used alone, like a pronoun. When used as a determiner it precedes the noun it describes.

In Middle Egyptian, this pronoun was possibly somewhat colloquial; in Late Egyptian its force had weakened to that of a definite article.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns1	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn, jtn	*jpnj	*jptnj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	*jptfj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, py, p	tj, tw, jtw	jpwj	*jptwj	jpw	jptw	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
number	singular		plural1
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’; vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles

	masculine	feminine	plural		adverb
pronoun	pꜣw				dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners (used with suffix pronouns)	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ1
indefinite articles	wꜥ1		nhꜣy1
Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Descendants

• Demotic: tꜣ
  • Coptic: ⲧ- (t-) (Sahidic, Fayyumic, Akhmimic, Lycopolitan), ⲧⲉ- (te-) (Sahidic, Fayyumic, Lycopolitan), ϯ- (ti-) (Bohairic, Fayyumic)

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 54–56.
• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 53
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
• Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN