21.1 Definitions

A noun clause acts like a noun: for example, in the English sentence Jack knows that Jill won, the noun clause that Jill won functions as the object of the verb knows, just as the noun Jack does in the sentence Jack knows Jill. Like adverb clauses, noun clauses can be marked or unmarked. In the sentence Jack knows that Jill won, the noun clause is marked by the word that. If we say Jack knows Jill won, the noun clause is unmarked. The clause Jill won is just the same as an independent statement, but it is functioning here as a noun clause (object of the verb knows). There is nothing in the clause itself to indicate this function: only the context in which it is used shows that it is a noun clause and not a separate sentence.

Middle Egyptian also has marked and unmarked noun clauses. Many of these are very similar to their English counterparts, but others are quite different.

Marked Noun Clauses

21.2 Functions

Nouns can have many different functions in an Egyptian sentence: most often they serve as the subject, as a nominal predicate, or as the object of a verb or preposition. Although noun clauses can do the same things, most often they appear as the object of either a verb or a preposition.