tw.k

Egyptian

Etymology

Loprieno suggests an origin from tj (“while”) +‎ ṯw (second-person masculine 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) +‎ .k (second-person masculine suffix pronoun) with subsequent reanalysis.^[2] Regardless of origin, later reinterpreted as an element tw + the suffix pronoun .k.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tuːʔɛk/
  • Conventional anglicization: tu.ek

Pronoun

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

1. 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

	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
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle.

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

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

Late Egyptian personal pronouns

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.

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