Participles and relative forms make relative clauses out of verbs. When the clause has no suitable verb, for example "the man who is in the house", Egyptian uses a little adjective, ntj, made from the genitive n the way the nisbes of Nisbe Adjectives are made.
Key idea
ntj "who, which" introduces a relative clause and agrees with the noun it describes: ntj (masculine), ntt (feminine), ntjw (plural). z ntj m pr "the man who is in the house"; zꜣt ntt m njwt "the daughter who is in the town". Its negative is jwtj "who … not": z jwtj zꜣ=f "a man who has no son".
Why it works
ntj is a nisbe adjective: "the one belonging to …". Like every adjective it takes the gender and number of its noun. What follows it is a full clause, often an adverbial phrase (m pr) but also a whole sentence with its own subject: zꜣt ntt jt=s m pr "the daughter whose father is in the house", literally "the daughter who her father (is) in the house".
| Noun | ntj | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| masculine: z | ntj | jwtj |
| feminine: zꜣt | ntt | jwtt |
| plural: rmṯ, nṯrw | ntjw | jwtjw |
Worked example: Make it agree
Write "the gods who are in the sky".
- nṯrw "the gods" is plural: ntjw.
- Then the phrase m pt "in the sky".
Answer: nṯrw ntjw m pt
Worked example: A clause with its own subject
Which form of ntj goes in zꜣt … jt=s m pr "the daughter whose father is in the house"?
- ntj agrees with the noun it describes, zꜣt, which is feminine.
- The subject of the clause, jt=s "her father", is masculine, but that does not matter.
Answer: ntt: zꜣt ntt jt=s m pr.
Worked example: The negative
Translate rmṯ jwtjw pr=sn.
- jwtjw: the plural of jwtj "who … not".
- pr=sn "their house".
Answer: "People who have no house."
ntt also stands alone as a neuter, "that which", and after some prepositions it introduces a clause: ḥr-ntt "because". Those uses come up in reading; for now, learn the three forms and the rule of agreement.
Common mistake
Making ntj agree with the subject of its own clause. In zꜣt ntt jt=s m pr, students choose ntj because jt "father" is masculine. But ntj is an adjective describing zꜣt. Check: look to the left of ntj; the noun there sets its form.
ntj is used mostly after nouns that are definite ("the man"). After an indefinite noun ("a man") Egyptian often uses no ntj at all; see Clauses After Indefinite Nouns.