Chapter VIII. Verb Classes 2

§161. Class IV: 3 lit inf (fem infinitives, §138); Model:

 

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

4ike

‘To dig’

4ekt-

4akt=

4oke

 

Verbs of this model are the most common of the 3 lit inf verbs. Not only are they fem in their Absolute form, but they further show the old fem ending in t in the Construct and Pronominal forms. As a general rule, the Construct has e as the formative vowel, and a appears in the Pronominal. The Qual generally shows o as its characteristic vowel. Note: Before 6 and 4 (§15), o changes to a; e.g. 56e ‘To become drunken’ Qual ta6e, ei4e ‘To hang’ Qual a4e. However, site ‘To throw’ has Qual sht, and 6ioue ‘To strike’ Qual 6woui.
§162. Note especially the following very common verbs:

 

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

eine

‘To bring’

n--

nt=

––

eire

‘To make, do’

r--

aa=

o

4ibe

‘To change’

4b--

4b-t=

4o(o)be

4ine

‘To seek, ask’

4en(t)-

4n-t=

––

2ine

‘To find’

2(e)n-

2n-t=

––

Here might also be included the very common verb:

kim

‘To move’

kemt-

kemt=

––

§163. Model ra4e ‘To rejoice’. The following only appear in this group:

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

ale

‘To mount’

––

alo=

alhu

mate

‘To reach’

––

––

matwou

pake

‘To be lightweight’

––

––

pok(e)

4a3e

‘To swell’

––

––

4obe

6ate

‘To flow’

––

6aat=

––

§164. Model knne ‘To become fat’. The verbs in this class are very fewonly:

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

pr-re

‘To shine forth’

––

––

––

tr-re

‘To be afraid’

––

––

treiwou

2b-be

‘To be feeble

––

––

2oob

§165. Model

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

pwwne

‘To change’

peene-

poone=

poone

About 30 verbs follow this model. The two verbs noted below had already begun to approximate to the 2 lit verbs of the bwte  model (§149):

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

tww2e

‘To join’

te2-

too2=

th2

`w(w)2e

‘To dye’

`e2-

`o2=

`h2

Note:  pwwpe ‘To knead, make bricks’ shows the forms pape-, papw=.
§166. Class V: 4 lit (Pronominal form, §28). Model:

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

solsl--

‘To comfort’

sl-sl--

sl-swl=

sl-swl

All these verbs, which are formed by reduplicating the first two consonants, have an intensive meaning or convey the idea of rapidly repeated action; e.g. ouo4oue4 ‘To thresh’, 2o42(e)4 ‘To sprinkle’. Note: Exceptions to this formation are nkotk ‘To sleep’, oua6be3 ‘To bark’, and ouostn ‘To become broad’ Qual ouestwn.
§167. Model brbr ‘To boil’ (note the presence of the sonant consonant). Verbs of this model are intransitive and have only Absolute forms (the one exception is tmtm ‘To be heavy’ which shows Qual temtwm), kmkm ‘To play a musical instrument’, snsn ‘To resound’, tltl ‘To drip’, 6m6m ‘To roar’, 6r6r ‘To snore’.
§168. Class VI: 4 lit inf. No model can be given, as the verbs in this class are quite irregular. A fairly complete list of this class is given:

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

ne6pe

‘To mourn’

––

––

––

ne6se

‘To awaken’

––

––

––

sabte

‘To chew’

––

––

––

sa6te

‘To kindle’

––

––

––

lale (or loole)

‘To paint’

lalw-

lalww=

lalwou

moste

‘To hate’

meste-

mestw=

––

na6te

‘To trust’

n6et-

––

n6o(u)t

4m4e

‘To serve’

4m4e-

4m4ht=

––

[6ooure]

‘To deprive’

6oure-

6ourw(w)=

––

2o(e)ile

‘To dwell’

2ale-

2alww=

2alwou

sr3e

‘To be at leisure’

––

––

sro3t

Note: sobte ‘To prepare’ is really a 3 lit gem verb (old spdd). The fourth radical has fallen away in all but the Pronominal and Qualitative forms; thus sbte-, sbtwt=, Qual sbtwt.
§169. Class VII: 5 lit verbs; Model:

Absolute Meaning Construct

Pronominal

Qual

skorkr-

‘To roll’

skrkr-

skrkwr=

skerkwr

All the verbs in this class are formed by the reduplication of the second and third consonants and follow the model form. 6borbr ‘To become loosened’ has two forms of the Qualitative: brbort and brbwr. Note: kromrm ‘To become dark’, but krmrm ‘To murmur’.
§170. Class VIII: Verbs showing a doubled vowel after the first root letter (§146n):

Absolute

Meaning

Construct

Pronominal

Qual

aa

baabe 

‘To be insipid’

babw-

babww=

––

taate
toote

‘To shine’

––

––

taate

taate

‘To shake’

––

––

––

4aare

‘To smite’

––

4ar=

4ar

`a(a)`e

‘To be hard, rough’

––

––

`a`w

`aa`e

‘To clap hands’

–– 

–– 

–– 

ee (Absolute forms only)

beebe

‘To bubble forth’

–– 

–– 

–– 

meeue

‘To think’

–– 

–– 

–– 

seepe

‘To remain over’

–– 

–– 

–– 

hh 

nhhbe

‘To swim’

–– 

–– 

–– 

oo

moone

‘To pasture’

mene-

manou=

–– 

moone

‘To come to land’

–– 

–– 

manoout

moo4e

‘To walk, go’

–– 

–– 

–– 

soo6e

‘To reprove’

sa6e-

sa6w=

––

§171. Causative Verbs Two formations of the Causative exist in Coptic. The first, and less common, by means of the prefix s-, and the second by means of the prefix t-.
(a) Formation with  prefix
s- . This was the regular method of forming Causatives in Old Egyptian. In Coptic, however, onl