Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction [Paperback]

Antonio Loprieno (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0521448492 | ISBN-13: 978-0521448499

The language of Ancient Egypt has been the object of careful investigation since its decipherment in the nineteenth century, but this is the first accessible account that uses the insight of modern linguistics. Antonio Loprieno discusses the hieroglyphic system and its cursive varieties, and the phonology, morphology and syntax of Ancient Egyptian, as well as looking at its genetic ties with other languages of the Near East. This book will be indispensable for both linguists and Egyptologists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Recommended as an essential introductory book to Egyptian language." The Reader's Review

"As one would expect from this expert in Afroasiatic aspect studies, this is an exemplary application of current textlinguistic thinking to an ancient language and it will certainly inform the work of any Semitist....Semitists also have a lot to gain on the subjects of word order and clausal relations. The discussions of TAM and negation functions and grammaticalization rate among the main contributions for linguists not concerned with Afroasiatic languages. Loprieno ends with a very provacative bried reference to an issue close to the life of any field linguist-the relation between writing system and cultural ideology." Andy Warren, Notes on Linguistics

"This book is no doubt a turning point in the study of Egyptian language with potential far reaching impact, and should be consulted by linguists and Egyptologists alike." Mu-Chou Poo, The International Journal of African Historical Studies

"Loprieno's book is therefore most welcome and will serve as an excellent, state-of-the-field account of Ancient Egyptian. As a general linguistic and diachronic account, it bridges the gap between specialist grammars and linguists and others who want an overview of Egyptian. The book will be particularly useful for those who teach later stages of the Egyptian language (demotic and Coptic) to students who have not done prior work in Egyptian. Those who have had some training of are at the beginning stages of learning Egyptian will find the index of passages very helpful." J.G. Manning, Stanford University

Language Notes

Text: English --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521448492
• ISBN-13: 978-0521448499
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *not* to learn hieroglyphs - a serious linguistic book, August 17, 2000

By 

Francesca Jourdan (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction (Hardcover)

This is the first time that the insight of modern linguistics has been applied to the long and careful investigations into the decipherment of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphic system and its different varieties (with its phonology, morphology and syntax) are explained. It is an excellent book but hard to follow if a person has little or no knowledge of linguistics. Otherwise, it is perfect for learning about the language - not for translating hieroglyphs. Lots of examples have been taken from actual Egyptian texts (ie, The Tale of Sinuhe, The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, etc.). As the back cover says, it is "essential reading for linguists and Egyptologists alike."

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book but should be expanded for clarity, October 2, 2008

By 

Branimir Cucek (Zagreb, Croatia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction (Paperback)

Somehow it looks like the Loprieno had a hard time with the publisher or not much time because it looks like the book should be much larger.

Namely, although he praises interlinear translations he admits that the translations have "enough information" (pp. xii-xiii) as they are presented, but it could be much easier to follow the narrative if all the translations could be grammatically parsed or at least italicized in main points.

Indeed, Loprieno sometimes uses parsing (pp147,159), or true interlinear (pp160 ex.(75), (84)), or italicization of key points addressed in texts (pp 198 (ex.(66)) and underline (pp.116) and is very easy to follow on that spots, and it shows a true language professional.

On other places you must break the thoughts and delve into translation and grammar parsing and also there are sometimes long chunks of texts where you could get lost and need to reread. This becomes impediment at times.

Loprieno also admits that he has no room for elaboration of Negation patterns (ch. 5.7) in detail. But if you want to understand it you must get his articles on the subject on Negation (in reference) - those are excellent explanatory material left out which should be included in the introductory book.

On the other side, the grammatical tables are invaluable as they summarize whole chapters and are easy to follow.

Indexes at the end of the book are excellent cross-information, especially index of topics, morphemes and lexemes.

Minding space shortcomings the book is very well organized (considering space allotted), extremely thorough and above all very modern.

For specifics on "tech talk" in linguistics, the most useful book to have with you when reading Loprieno is David Crystal: Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (The Language Library). Without good dictionary like this it is much more difficult to follow the discourse.

Regarding contents:

Ch.1,2 and 3 are nice introductory material and is a summary of all the work done in the phonetics field published in books and periodicals of relevance to Ancient Egyptian.

Ch.4 Is a true morphological summary of Ancient Egyptian and it looks like half the Gardiner ( Egyptian Grammar (Egyptology: Griffith Institute) ) compressed. The verbal morphology ch. 4.6 is a very modern and unexplored field not touched much by classics and very interesting (it also need some time and heavy use of Crystal).

Ch 5,6, and 7 are true anatomical atlas of Ancient Egyptian language and Ch.7 is slightly theoretical as the verbal approach is only recently taking ground.

I suggest NOT to read chapters on Later Egyptian (i.e. 5.11, 6.7, and 7.9) at a first few rereads until you are completely familiar with Middle Egyptian because it is just too much information on a small space.

Such a wide scope of the book on such a small volume is sometimes nauseating even after numerous re-readings. But after some time, resisting the plateau of learning everything would fit and you can even sometimes enjoy such minimalistic writing. After completely familiarizing with contents it can be an excellent study reference and prime source on Ancient Egyptian.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the Egyptian language, December 21, 2006

By 

Isaac FKW - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction (Paperback)

This work is probably the best exposition on the Egyptian language available to the general public currently. The chapter on phonology is highly commendable for the presentation of believable reconstructions of original pronunciations of Egyptian words, including inflections, which one sorely misses in most other works. However, without sound grounding in linguistics, the contents are often difficult to comprehend, especially the sections on grammar. Nevertheless, the book is certainly an indispensable and authoritative reference on this subject matter for every serious student of Egyptology and/or Egyptian language.