Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction
By Antonio Loprieno
source from www.booko.org
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Pages: 340
Publication Date: 1995-10-27
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0521448492
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780521448499
Binding: Paperback
Product Description: Source from: http://www.ziwu.org/bbs Ziwu Acedemic Forum
http://ifile.it/2xn59ly/ancegylinint.rar
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.
Summary: Excellent book but should be expanded for clarity
Rating: 5
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. source from www.booko.org
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. booko.org my favourite website
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. booko.org my favourite website
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. www.booko.org
Indexes at the end of the book are excellent cross-information, especially index of topics, morphemes and lexemes. welcome to booko.org
Minding space shortcomings the book is very well organized (considering space allotted), extremely thorough and above all very modern.
my booko.org,my favourite website
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: booko.org my favourite website
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. source from www.booko.org
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). my booko.org,my favourite website
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. my booko.org,my favourite website
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. www.booko.org—freebook and password
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.
Summary: Excellent introduction to the Egyptian language
Rating: 5
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.