The dissertation consists of two different studies regarding the Old Egyptian relational adjectives also called nisbes. The first one deals with the so called reciprocal or reverse nisbes in which the underlying semantic relation between the nisbe and its base word is said to be reversed. The second part deals with the quality of the Old Egyptian nisbe ending.

Research

The dissertation consists of two different studies regarding the Old Egyptian relational adjectives also called nisbes. The first one deals with the so called reciprocal or reverse nisbes in which the underlying semantic relation between the nisbe and its base word is said to be reversed. This part demonstrates that not only are the prevalent theories inadequate at explaining the semantic differences between regular and reverse nisbes but also that on a morphological level Old Egyptian, like its Semitic cousins, does not possess reverse nisbes, neither nominal nor prepositional ones. While the difference between regular and reverse prepositional nisbe constructions mirrors the difference between a proper and an improper annexation as they are found in many Semitic languages, reverse nominal nisbes simply result from synecdochic use of regular nisbes.

The second part deals with the quality of the Old Egyptian nisbe ending, more specifically with the question whether the Old Egyptian nisbe ending contains a consonantal element -y as generally assumed or whether it is purely vocalic -ī as others suggested. By recording, cataloging and analyzing close to all nisbe occurrences to be found in the Old Egyptian Pyramid Texts, an approximately 3200 occurrences strong data set is amassed that can only be explained consistently if we assume a purely vocalic nisbe ending to be already present in Old Egyptian.