We’re ready again to explore another fascinating language belonging to one of the most beautiful continents on earth, Africa. We see a lot of films, documentaries, and books written and directed based on ancient Egyptians; but how much do we really know about the ancient Egyptian language?
Join us as we explore the ancient Egyptian language’s origin and uncover the life and culture of those who spoke this beautiful tongue.
What You Should Know About the Ancient Egyptian Language
The ancient Egyptian language considered a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages and connected to Berber and other Semitic languages like Arabic, Amharic, and Hebrew, is the oldest known native tongue.
Along with Sumerian, it is one of the oldest recorded languages. It was in use as a demotic until the 17th century in the Middle Ages, and its earliest records date back to the middle of the third millennium BC during the old kingdom of Egypt.
In addition to the language, hieroglyphs served as the official writing system. Since the Muslim conquest of the country in the seventh century, Egyptian Arabic has replaced Arabic as the official language of modern-day Egypt.
The Stages of Ancient Egyptian Language
There are five stages of the Ancient Egyptian language, which demonstrate how the language evolved over the centuries.
Old Egyptian
This refers to the earliest period in the history of the language. Nevertheless, the language only emerged around 3400 BCE. Early writings were brief assertions of names. As a result, we can claim that the Old Egyptian period lasted from 2600 BCE, when the Old Kingdom first emerged, until 2100 BCE.
Middle Egyptian
Following Old Egyptian, this period emerged around 2100 BCE and persisted as a spoken and written language for roughly 500 years. It was the primary stage of the Ancient Egyptian language, and it is regarded as a classical stage or a period of linguistic eloquence. During this stage, the language achieved the pinnacle of its development and produced some of its most brilliant literary masterpieces. Being the most developed phase of the Ancient Egyptian language, this phase, known as “Middle Egyptian,” became the best place to start when learning the language.
Late Egyptian
After 1600 BCE, this phase of Egyptian may have begun to take the place of Middle Egyptian as a spoken and written language. Although it was mentioned in documents from about 1600 BCE, its entire development didn’t occur until 1300 BCE and wasn’t used until 600 BCE. In correspondence and trade documents from the Ramesside Period, it was clear that there were foreign words in the Ancient Egyptian language at this time.
Demotic
The fourth stage of ancient Egyptian followed Late Egyptian between roughly 700 BCE and 400 CE during the Saite, Persian, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods, reflecting once more changes in spoken language. Instead of using Hieroglyphs or Hieratic to write, Demotic adopted a more cursive system of signs that was also known as Demotic.
Coptic
The Early Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, starting approximately 400 CE, saw the replacement of all prior stages of the language with Coptic, which is the final stage in the ancient Egyptian language.
Ancient Egyptian Writing
By 3000 B.C., hieroglyphic writing had developed into a highly sophisticated system. Writing at the time was regarded as having a divine origin by the ancient Egyptians. It was given to people by the god Thoth.
It appears that Egyptian culture independently evolved its writing system. In fact, the illustrations it utilizes depict regional animals, flora, and customs.
Hieroglyphs
The first writing system is the hieroglyphic writing, which has an official and sacred character and may be found on monuments and temples, royal tombs, and religious and funeral literature. Naturally, this writing had to change in order to meet the demands of the language’s development, but it was kept up throughout Egyptian history in an effort to uphold the tradition of the classical ancient language.
Modern Egyptian Language
Standard Arabic, used in most written documents and educational institutions, is now Egypt’s official language.
Modern Standard Arabic, which is a macro language made up of numerous unique vernacular dialects, mainly describes the literary form of Arabic, nevertheless. It serves as the written norm for a collection of related dialects that are, for the most part, mutually understandable.
The grammar and syntax of Modern Standard Arabic, which derives from Classical Arabic, have remained unchanged since the 7th century. However, due in part to English and French influence, some aspects of its style and phrasing have changed over time.
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