Die Langform des koptischen Pronominalsuffixes der zweiten Person Plural

Abstract

“The long form of the Coptic 2nd person pl. pronominal suffix” I discuss the development and function of the long form of the 2nd person pl. pronominal suffix, -ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ in Sahidic. It is argued that at a certain point of time, probably during the New Kingdom, the regular suffix =T°n developed a stressed variant =T±n in some contexts in order to reduce ambiguity and to avoid certain morphological complexities. Later on, this variant was expanded by the 3rd person pl. suffix to give rise to a form -T´n=w, which became grammaticalized in Demotic most prominently for expressing the 2nd pl. pronominal direct object after verbs. A series of phonetic and analogical transformations -tênw > -têwn > -têwtn, which did not reach completion in all regions of Egypt, brought it again into more conformity with the regular short suffix =ⲧⲛ. Once the long suffix had come into existence, it slowly gained ground to the expense of the short suffix, while never replacing it entirely. The long suffix has always remained paradigmatically isolated and has no counterpart in any of the other grammatical persons.