ṯnj

See also: tnj, .tnj, and .ṯnj

Egyptian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɛni/
  • Conventional anglicization: tjeni

Pronoun

 du 2. enclitic (‘dependent’) pronoun

1. you two (see usage notes)

Usage notes

This form of pronoun is an enclitic that must directly follow the word it modifies. Its meaning depends on its context:

• When it follows a verb, it indicates the object of the verb.
• In the second and third person when it follows an adjective, it forms the subject of an adjectival sentence.
• When it follows a relative adjective, such as ntj, ntt, or jsṯ, it indicates the subject of the relative clause (usually only in the first person singular and third person common).
• When it follows an imperative, it indicates the subject or the object of the verb.
• When it follows a particle like m.k, it indicates the subject of the clause.
• When attached to a preposition, it indicates the object of the preposition.

Inflection

Old Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third 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			∅, .w, .y, .wy	.tj, .t

¹ Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle.

Middle Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third 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
	plural	n	ṯn, tn		sn, st
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ntk, ṯwt2	ntṯ, ntt, ṯwt2	ntf, swt2	nts, swt2
	plural	jnn3	ntṯn, nttn		ntsn
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kw	.tj, .t, .tw3		∅, .w	.tj, .t, .tw3
	plural	.wn, .wjn	.tjwn, .tjwnj		∅, .w, .y
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns3	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	sj, st
	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st

¹ Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle.
² Only in formal texts, especially religious texts.
³ Only in postclassical (Neo-Middle Egyptian) texts.

Late Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kw	.t	.f, .fj	.s, .st, .sw
	plural	.n	.tn, .twn		.w, .sn1
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns1	singular	wj	tw, tj		sw, st
	plural	n, wn	twn		sn, st
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	mntk, mtwk	mntt, mtwy	mntf	mntst, mntjst
	plural	jnn	mnttn		mntw
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings1	singular	.kw, .k	.tj, .tw		∅, .w, .y	.tj, .tw
	plural	.nw	.tn		∅, .w, .y
	unmarked2	∅, .tw
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	st, sw
	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st, sw, swt

¹ Only in formal texts, especially religious texts.
² Later form.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɛni/
  • Conventional anglicization: tjeni

Proper noun

?

1. Thinis [since the Pyramid Texts]

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ṯnj  

ṯnj	tnj

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: Θίνις (Thínis)
  • → Latin: Thinis
    • → English: Thinis
• Coptic: ⲧⲓⲛ (tin)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈcaːnaj/ → /ˈtaːnaj/ → /ˈtaːnə/ → /ˈtoːn/

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

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɛni/
  • Conventional anglicization: tjeni

Adverb

 interrogative

1. where?

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ṯnj  

tnj	tnw	tn

Descendants

• Demotic: tn
  • Akhmimic Coptic: ⲧⲟ (to), ⲧⲱ (tō)
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲑⲱⲛ (thōn)
  • Fayyumic Coptic: ⲧⲱⲛ (tōn), ⲧⲟⲛ (ton)
  • Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲧⲟⲛ (ton), ⲧⲟ (to)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲱⲛ (tōn)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɛni/
  • Conventional anglicization: tjeni

Verb

 3ae inf.

1. (transitive) to lift up, to elevate
2. (transitive) to distinguish (+ r: to distinguish (something) from (something else))
3. (intransitive) to be(come) distinguished or elevated

Inflection

Conjugation of ṯnj (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: ṯn, geminated stem: ṯnn

infinitival forms imperative infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural ṯnt, ṯnj ṯnw, ṯn ṯnt, ṯnwt, ṯnyt ṯn ṯn, ṯny ‘pseudoverbal’ forms stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2 ṯn8, ṯnn8 ḥr ṯnt, ḥr ṯnj m ṯnt, m ṯnj r ṯnt, r ṯnj suffix conjugation aspect / mood active passive contingent aspect / mood active passive perfect ṯn.n ṯnw, ṯn, ṯny consecutive ṯn.jn active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 terminative ṯnt, ṯnyt perfective3 ṯn active + .tj1, .tw2 obligative1 ṯn.ḫr active + .tj1, .tw2 imperfective ṯn, ṯny active + .tj1, .tw2 prospective3 ṯnw, ṯn, ṯny ṯnw, ṯn, ṯny potentialis1 ṯn.kꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 subjunctive ṯn, ṯny active + .tj1, .tw2 verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles active passive active passive perfect ṯn.n active + .tj1, .tw2 — — perfective ṯnw1, ṯny, ṯn active + .tj1, .tw2 ṯn ṯny, ṯn imperfective ṯnn, ṯnny, ṯnnw5 active + .tj1, .tw2 ṯnn, ṯnnj6, ṯnny6 ṯnn, ṯnnw5 prospective ṯnw1, ṯny, ṯn, ṯntj7 — ṯnwtj1 4, ṯntj4, ṯnt4 1 Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. 2 Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. 3 Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. 4 Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. 5 Only in the masculine singular. 6 Only in the masculine. 7 Only in the feminine. 8 Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ṯnj  

tnj

Derived terms

• sṯnj
• tꜣ-ṯnn
• ṯnw
• ṯnṯꜣt

References

• Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 51, 94, 381.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 147