Spatial Prepositions in Hieroglyphic Ancient Egyptian

The semantic space of simple spatial prepositions in Hieroglyphic Egyptian: Language differs in respect to the linguistic devices used by the prepositions to encode simple static spatial relations. Many languages use prepositions for that purpose. Also, languages divide the cognitive space of possible spatial relations into different subspaces.

German differentiates, for example, between ‘Der Stift liegt auf dem Tisch’ and ‘Das Bild hängt an der Wand’. English, on the other hand, uses the same preposition in both cases: ‘The pen is on the table’ and ‘The picture is on the wall’. It is possible to visualize and compare the subdivisions that different languages make in the semantic space of simple spatial relations by using a fixed set of pictures that show various simple spatial configurations.

A Topoi project of research area "Presentation and Representation" (C) investigates the corresponding subdivisions in the semantic space of simple spatial prepositions in Hieroglyphic Ancient Egyptian and seven more modern languages into which hieroglyphic texts are often translated. This will lead to a better understanding of the subtle differences in meaning when translating these prepositions, and will therefore open up further perspectives on in how far concepts of space and linguistic structures are related.

 

Fig.: Semantic space of simple spatial prepositions in Hieroglyphic Egyptian

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