Ancient Egyptian: One approach

I recently proposed in my comments section that Ancient Egyptian should be approached through transliteration the way Westerners approach Japanese with pinyin. The following "lesson" isn't very good, and reminds me disturbingly of the dialog sections from the old FSI courses. That said, it's hopefully better than spending 20 pages on determinatives before you get your first sentence of Ancient Egyptian.

This text is drawn from page 157 of Budge's Book of the Dead in the Barnes and Noble edition. I have more or less trusted Budge's transliteration, but have changed how some unusual sounds are transliterated, adopting the standard for computer transliteration of Egyptian from Alan Miller's Middle Egyptian. Doubtless there are errors, and all due apologies are offered. However, no one really knows what Ancient Egyptian really sounded like; this will hopefully at least afford a less tedious approach to making the language one's own as what language truly is: the production of sounds in the right order to effect communication.

First, I offer the text, so that the reader will have a look at how foreign in might appear at first. Then I break it down to words that combine into phrases that combine into sentences. I have not so far found an Egyptian text containing the phrases, "Hi, how the hell are you?" Consequently, the text won't tell you how to strike up a conversation, should you run into a pharaoh. However, if you've always wanted to proclaim yourself a shining being that dwells in the light (and maybe effect it through mystical incantation!) this is your lucky day.


Here's the text:

nuk pu nuk xu imii xu qemam xeperu em neter heu - nuk ue em ennu en xu imu xu qemam en tem Desef xeperu em unbu maatef...

(sound "x" as in Scottish loch)


Here's the breakdown of the first part:

nuk : I am
pu : this
nuk pu : I am truly (this I am)

xu : a shining being
nuk pu nuk xu : I am truly a shining being

imii : dweller
xu : light (homophone of xu, a shining being)
imii xu : a dweller in light

qemam : created
xeperu : come into existence

em : from
neter : god
heu : limbs
em neter heu : from the god's limbs

qemam xeperu em neter heu: created and come into existence from the god's limbs


Here's that first part again:

nuk pu: nuk xu, imii xu, qemam xeperu em neter heu.
I am this: I am a shining being, a dweller in light, created and come into existence from the god's limbs.


Here's the breakdown of the second part:

ue : one
ennu : those
nuk ue em ennu : I am one from those

en xu : (among) shining beings
imu: (who) dwell
en xu imu xu : among those who dwell in light

tem : Tmu (a god)
Desef : himself (pronounce "D" as "dj")
qemam en tem Desef : created by Tmu himself

unbu : eyelashes
maat : eye
maatef : his eye
xeperu em unbu maatef : come into existence from eyelashes of his eye


Here's that second part again:

nuk ue em ennu en xu imu xu, qemam en tem Desef, xeperu em unbu maatef.
I am one from those shining beings who dwell in light, created by Tmu himself, come into existence from the eyelashes of his eye.


Here's your text again, with a small glossary at the bottom:

nuk pu: nuk xu, imii xu, qemam xeperu em neter heu.
nuk ue em ennu en xu imu xu, qemam en tem Desef, xeperu em unbu maatef.

nuk: I am - pu: this - imii: dweller - imu: who dwell - qemam: created - xeperu: come into existence - em: from - neter: god - heu: limb - ue: one - ennu: those - en: (particle) - tem: Tmu - Desef: himself - unbu: eyelashes - maat: eye


And here's your text, one last time, so you can read and see how much you remember:

nuk pu: nuk xu, imii xu, qemam xeperu em neter heu. nuk ue em ennu en xu imu xu, qemam en tem Desef, xeperu em unbu maatef.


Note to serious Egyptologists: This little presentation is doubtless riddled with errors major and minor. It is not meant as scholarship, but as an example of what non-scholars might like to see. When people find out I did graduate work in French, they always want to know how to say "Hi," "Bye" and "I love you." It's only later, if ever, that they take an interest in how Hugo's approach to grand-scale narrative hindered his ability to effectively practice politics in either literary or political circles. So if this seems trifling, I feel your pain. That said, I'd love to see an Ancient Egyptian primer that offered good guesses at "Hi," "Bye" and "I love you," with a minimum of footnoting and a maximum of encouragement that Egyptian is fun, exciting and worth learning more about, even if it means moving on to mustier tomes down the road.

Ancient Egyptian anyone?

The Aspiring Polyglot is wondering why Ancient Egyptian isn't among the must-haves that language collectors feel a need to have studied at least a little. She notes:

They may tackle Ancient Greek, Latin or Sanskrit but few dare to touch hieroglyphs, even if they have an affinity for character-based languages such as Chinese or Japanese.

I think the big problem is that in a lot of ways, Ancient Egyptian is closer to Indo-European, or at least proto-Latin, than Latin in terms of a) the quality of study materials and b) the amount of concrete knowledge we have to go on. While too many texts for Latin, Sanskrit, etc, aren't very good and are directed to specialists or, at least, the overly educated, language-wise, there are some good texts for ordinary people out there. Other than the Dover texts of Wallis Budge stuff, there isn't a lot of popularizing stuff out there for Egyptian. And Budge isn't exactly the best language teacher that history has brought us.

I have said before that these languages ought be taught as living languages. In a case like Indo-European or Ancient Egyptian, it would be nice to find a few scholars confident enough to spend less time on asterisks and footnotes and more time laying out how they think of the language in their own mind, so that we could learn, say, the Collier or Kamrin dialect, as a starting point for thinking in the language. In recent years, we have seen Aramaic and Latin in the Passion of the Christ. And Ancient Egyptian has appeared in Stargate and the Mummy. Notes Penelope Wilson, in Hieroglyphics: a very short introduction:

[Stargate and the Mummy] are genuine attempts to create something in a dead tongue for modern ears, and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs may turn out not to record such a dead language after all. Perhaps, then, we really will be able to think in Ancient Egyptian and begin to create a clear image of the past. But will it be in our image or in theirs.

Wilson's quote is interesting because it gives hope to us language enthusiasts that another object of study may appear that we can truly enjoy. But it probably terrifies at least some of the scholars, whose aim is to preserve Ancient Egyptian well enough to do their best at getting the Ancient Egyptian understanding, and who would view our hobby as a bit trifling compared to the decoding of an ancient civilization.

In Collier, if I recall correctly, the idea of speaking the words in some way, any way, that helps is encouraged. In Janice Kamrin's Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, it's emphasized before one even meets the alphabet that you won't be learning to speak Ancient Egyptian. Which brings the question: When Kamrin reads a hieroglyphic text, does she read by English understanding, by a conceiving of roots or by mumbling her version of what Egyptian sounded like? I suspect it's the last of these, and I wish she'd share so that at the conclusion of her book her readers would know there's at least one person they could chat with.

Chinese 101 and Conversational Latin

I got Chinese 101 (from the travel linguist) in the mail today. Basically, it's a 3-part DVD: in part 1, they give you each word at normal pace, and slowly, with an opportunity to repeat; in part 2, they give you the word; in part 3 you have to come up with it yourself. As language learning systems go, it's neither the best nor the most sophisticated. But it's inexpensive ($19.99) and has one great feature: its brevity. This program teaches a little over 100 words and phrases. And unlike, say, Instant Chinese (by Boye de la Mente), with 100 categories, this is really around 100 words and phrases. That is, if you really want to learn just a few words of Chinese for basic communication, they're here, picked out and demonstrated. You even get a little sheet listing them. If you want to learn more Chinese words, there's an accompanying CD-ROM that they call SpeakMore Chinese, but which is really just a re-packaging of the Before You Know It program (found at byki.com). Bottom line: If you want to become proficient in a language, this is not your program. But if you want a few words - total, or to get started - this isn't a bad deal.

Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency. This is a fairly reputable publication from Bolchazy-Carducci, your premier source for Latin and Slovak (their blog is linked at left). I'd love to do a review, but I haven't gotten the book, just a mailing with a special offer for the paperback with audio. For those checking out my language goals, Latin isn't a priority right now. (Neither is Chinese, but I feel guilty about how much I've lost.) However, I'll track down the paperback in due course. After all, I've whined more than once about the need for resources that teach Latin as a language to use and enjoy, not just translate, and if this may be it.

Latin dying?

I'd thought it already dead, but Omniglot reports that the Papal Latinist, Father Reginald Foster, fears that it is dying. Notes the Omniglot, while Latin is still taught in Italian schools, the methodology leaves something to be desired. He would like it to be taught like any living language.

Hear, hear!

Her waes Eadward gehalgod to cinge...

One of the frustrating things about learning dead languages is that there isn't good material to, well, bring them alive. There is no Pimsleur Latin, no Michel Thomas Sanskrit. There is a Talk-Now Latin, but it doesn't really get you talking Latin now. Which is a shame. Virgil and Homer would be a lot more exciting if you could listen with the ear of an ancient, forgetting about scansion and declensions and just letting the story pulse in your mind.

While I have yet to run across any books that really get you jabbering in ancient languages, there are three nice books for engaging the past, and I thought I'd make mention.

The first of these is Assimil's Le Latin sans peine. This book does do some simple Latin conversation and by the time you're done you're reading both serious ancient texts and some relatively lighter fare. I hope one day to find the time to go through it properly and maybe finish by actually speaking Latin.

The second is Teach Yourself Beginners' Latin. In this book, you read about the adventures of Paulus and Lucia as they uncover a sinister plot involving the local monastery. The bits with the donkey are funny, and when you're done, you can work through basic Latin prose and have deciphered some short but more complicated passages. If you want to have fun learning a little Latin, this is a great book.

Our third entry is a new Teach Yourself book, TY Old English. I hope that its author will get the chance to write a Beginners' Old English on the TY Beg. Latin, though I'm doubtful. Still, this book allows you to engage Old English. It offers multiple approaches to thinking about and getting things out of Old English texts. It offers cultural context that is sorely needed for such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. And, most delightfully, it is attuned to getting you to learn to work with Old English. Older books on Anglo-Saxon and Old English tend to be dreary grammars for philologists to leaf through and go a-ha when they notice a footnote to Table 7 that reminds them of an unusual vowel mutation is a certain vocabulary item in Old Norse. Other and more recent introductions seem geared to helping you through a key text or two but without getting a feel for Old English. The sense I get from this book is that, like TY Beg. Latin, when you're done, you won't actually know the language, but you will have fun learning what you do learn and will have a better sense about it than those who have picked their way through Beowulf with notes.

While it would be nice to one day see Pimsleur programs for Latin, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, Old Norse and more, enabling one to hit the textbooks with a little higher comfort level for the old tonuges, these three books make a nice start for communicating with the ancients on their terms.