From: Patrick Ryan
Message: 52123
Date: 2008-01-30
----- Original Message -----
From: "fournet.arnaud" <fournet.arnaud@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 4:29 PM
Subject: Re: Re: [tied] Nubia (WAS- Re: Limitations of the comparative
method)
> Egyptian for gold is nub, right?
> Many popular books claim Nubia is "land of gold"
> -although I've never seen it anywhere else. But they
> got it from somewhere
> ============
> tsalam? t?ob
>
> According to Loprieno's reconstructions,
> Coptic : <noub> or <nouf> to be read [nuw]
> Egyptian skeleton : n_b_w
> Reconstruction : na:baw
> Later on : [nu:b > nuw]
>
> I have no idea if we have the right to connect Nubia with n_b_w.
>
> Arnaud
***
Loprieno is excellent - even when I disagree with him.
I believe the skeleton is n-w-b, nawab with -awa- contract to -â- as in
Semitic languages. Later in Egyptian, vowels in contact with nasals were
rounded - â to û.
If Egyptian <b> ever disappears, it will have to be very rare since it is
regularly <b> in Coptic.
In my opinion, the principal reason for using biliterals was to indicate
internal vowels not indicated in the regular alphabet.
Patrick
***