With reading under way, we turn to grammar. Every Egyptian noun is either masculine or feminine. You can usually tell which from the ending, and you will need to, because adjectives, pronouns and the word for “of” all agree with the noun. Word signs from Logograms and the Stroke appear in the examples.
Key idea
| Masculine | Feminine | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| zꜣ | son | zꜣt | daughter |
| sn | brother | snt | sister |
| nb | lord | nbt | lady |
| nṯr | god | nṯrt | goddess |
| ḥqꜣ | ruler | ḥqꜣt | ruler (a woman) |
| bꜣk | servant | bꜣkt | maidservant |
Grammatical gender
Gender in grammar is a class, not always a matter of sex. A house (pr), a land (tꜣ) and a heart (jb) are masculine; the sky (pt), a town (njwt), a foreign land (ḫꜣst) and truth (mꜣꜥt) are feminine. Abstract ideas are very often feminine. When you learn a noun, learn its gender with it; the ending is your best guide.
The feminine t was weak in speech. By the time of Coptic it had usually disappeared from the end of words: snt “sister” became ⲥⲱⲛⲉ (sōne). In Middle Egyptian writing, though, it is regularly written, so it is a dependable sign of a feminine noun.
Why it works
Common mistake
Worked example: Which gender?
- It ends in -t.
- It is listed as a feminine noun.
Answer: feminine
Worked example: Make it feminine
- Add the feminine ending -t.
Answer: snt
Worked example: A trap
- A father is male, and the word is grammatically masculine.
- Its t belongs to the root.
Answer: No: masculine