Editing Meroitic language (section)

== Vocabulary ==
Below is a short list of Kushite words and parts of speech whose meanings are positively known and are not known to be adopted from Egyptian. Angle brackets ({{angbr|...}}) represent the [[grapheme]]s, or orthographic letters, used to write a word, as opposed to the word's phonemic representation. All non-syllabic, non-vocalic signs are written with their inherent {{angbr|a}} in parentheses. All {{angbr|e}} signs are written in parentheses (or brackets if in a word in parentheses) because of not knowing whether the {{angbr|e}} is a non-phonemic placeholder to preserve the syllabicity of the script or is actually vocalic. It is known that the final {{angbr|e}} in Kandake/ Kentake (female ruler) is vocalic and the initial vowel in {{angbr|yetmde}}, {{angbr|edxe}}, and {{angbr|erike}} is vocalic. Since those are known to be vocalic, they are not in parentheses. Any known {{angbr|n(a)}} signs [[resyllabify|resyllabified]]<ref>"Resyllabification is a phonological process in which consonants are attached to syllables other than those from which they originally came." Kirsty Rowan speaking of the adoption of Egyptian {{angbr|Hm-nTr}} (literally, servant of god) → Coptic (hont) "prophet, priest" into Kushite as {{angbr|an(a)t(a)}} /anata/ which, in later Kushite, becomes {{angbr|at(a)}} /anta/, "However, the nasal sign {{angbr|n(a)}} /na/ is not written in the late period form {{angbr|at}}, as the nasal has become resyllabified into coda position due to diachronic vowel reduction/weakening and subsequent complete syncope of the following vowel: {{angbr|ant}} /ˈanata/ → /ˈanəta/ → /ˈanta/ = {{angbr|at}}..." — Rowan, Kirsty (2015) 'The Meroitic Initial a Sign as Griffith's Initial Aleph.' Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 142 (1). pp. 70–84. Under 2.2 Meroitic forms with no loss of initial {{angbr|a}}, p. 78</ref> into coda position are written.
*{{angbr|(a)b(a)r(a)}} "man"<ref>In Kushite, initial {{angbr|a}}, in some words, undergoes [[apheresis|aph(a)eresis]]. Kirsty Rowan believes Kushite {{angbr|a}} to be /ʔa/. The validity of that proposal is unknown. Claude Rilly follows that initial {{angbr|a}} is an unstressed vowel in some words and undergoes an [[aphesis|aphetic]] process. Kirsty Rowan states, "The stress assignment of Meroitic forms can only be speculated although there are common variant forms where the Meroitic sign {{angbr|a}} is frequently omitted and these forms are suggestive for proposals on the placement of stress. It is claimed here that the omission of {{angbr|a}} in Meroitic is due to its pretonic position in the word. When {{angbr|a}} is not in a pretonic position, there is no omission of this sign. This is comparable to the diachronic loss of Egyptian {{angbr|3}} /ʔ/ in pretonic position (Peust 1999b, 149)." — Rowan, Kirsty (2015) 'The Meroitic Initial a Sign as Griffith's Initial Aleph.' Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 142 (1). pp. 70–84. Under 2.1 Pretonic loss of Meroitic {{angbr|a}}, p. 77</ref>
*{{angbr|at(a)}} "bread"
*{{angbr|ato}} (← *as[V]tu)<ref>Apparently, the /s/ is resyllabified in the same manner as {{angbr|na}}. The /s/ is known to exist via the Egyptian transcriptions of Kushite toponyms from the New Kingdom African Peoples List {{angbr|ı͗stʰ(w)-dg(3)(y)r/l𓈗{{font|text=𓈘𓈇|size=large}}}} (ı͗s[V]tʰ[w]...𓈗{{font|text=𓈘𓈇|size=large}}), from the late Napatan era Nastasen Stele {{angbr|ı͗sd𓈗-rs(3)tʰ}} (ı͗s[V]tˀ / tʰ𓈗), and Ptolemaic Era Greek transcriptions of ''Ἀστά-'' from the hydronyms: Ασταβόρας, Ἀστάπους/ Ἄσταπος, and Ἀστασόβας. Based on the Egyptian and Greek transcriptions, the /s/ is present before the 1st century AD then disappears after the first century AD. See, Peust, Carsten (1999a). 20. "Namen von Personen, Göttern, Tempeln, Städten, Völkern, und Ländern". In ''Napatanische: ein ägyptischer Dialekt aus dem Nubien des späten ersten vorchristlichen Jahrtausends''. Peust & Gutschmidt Verlag, 1999 – 371 pages, Under "Jsdrst" on p. 222. http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/peust1999a/0227?sid=c68725dccdf226c9001489b686df6882&navmode=fulltextsearch&ft_query=dgr&nixda=1 After discussing the 𓈗 determinative in {{angbr|ı͗-s-d(tˀ / tʰ)-𓈗-r-s(3)-tʰ}}, Mr. Peust says: "Dasselbe determinative steht schon im Neuen Reich in dem toponyme istdgr, das als ortschaft in Kusch gennant wird." → English: "The same determinative is already in the New Kingdom in the toponym, {{angbr|istdgr}}, which is called as a village in Kush."</ref> "water"
*-{{angbr|b(a)}}- (plural)
*{{angbr|(e/t[e]-)d(a)x(e)}} "born, be born, child of"
*{{angbr|(t/y-)erik(e)}} "beget, begotten"
*{{angbr|k(a)(n)di}}<ref>The resyllabified /n/ is known, firstly, from transcriptions of Kushite: {{angbr|kdke}}, {{angbr|ktke}} "female ruler" as Egyptian: {{angbr|kntı͗ky}}, Greek: κανδάκη, Latin: Candace, and Ge'ez: xan(ə)dākē of which {{angbr|k(a)(n)di}} is the base and, secondly, from [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]]' gloss of Kushite: {{angbr|k(a)di}} as κάνδη /kɒndɛː/ translated as Greek: γυνὴ "woman, lady, wife". See, I. Hofmann, Material für eine meroitische Grammatik (Veröffentlichungen der Institute für Afrikanistik und Ägyptologie der Universität Wien 16. Beiträge zur Afrikanistik 13), Wien 1981, p. 41. https://books.google.com/books?id=bHMOAAAAYAAJ&dq=searchwithinvolume&q=hesychius</ref> "woman, lady, female". 
*-{{angbr|k(e)}} (ablative)
*-{{angbr|l(a)}}- (determinant)
*{{angbr|l(a)ẖ(a)}} "great, big"
*{{angbr|m(a)k(a)}} "god, deity"
*{{angbr|m(a)t(e)}}, (later) {{angbr|m(a)s(e)}} "child, son"
*{{angbr|m(a)s(a)}} "sun, sun god"
*{{angbr|qor(e)}} "king, ruler"
*{{angbr|s(a)t(a)}} "feet, foot, pair of feet"
*-{{angbr|s(e)}}- (genitive)
*{{angbr|t(a)k(e)}} "to love, beloved, to respect, to revere, to desire"
*-{{angbr|t(e)}} (locative)/ -{{angbr|y(a)t(e)}} (a type of locative)<ref>The regular locative is -{{angbr|t(e)}}. A form of the locative, written as -{{angbr|y(a)t(e)}}, seems to indicate direction towards a destination, the destination arrived to, or is arriving to. For instance, in the Kushite phrase: {{angbr|Sim(a)lo-k(e) dik(a) Selele-y(a)t(e)}} = "From Simalu (going/ traveling/ proceeding) to Selele."</ref>
*-{{angbr|x(a)}}-, (later) -{{angbr|x(e)}}- (verbal pronominal suffix)
*{{angbr|yet(a)m(a)d(e)}} "a non-filial, non-(grand)parental, non-avuncular-maternal familial relation"