The Nedj Nedj Databases: 1. INTRODUCTION: 1.1 MEANING OF Nedj Nedj

1.1 MEANING OF Nedj Nedj

The database has the following collections of meanings for nedj nedj:

AE	respelt	meaning	JSM	source	page	line	glyph names	glyphs
ne´tne´t	nedj nedj	converse	converse	EAWB	145	15.1	cobra-J water cobra-J water cross SQUATTERMOUTH
ne´tne´t	nedj nedj	converse	converse	EAWB	145	15.2	cobra-J water cobra-J water cross SQUATTERMOUTH
ndnd	nedj nedj	confer	converse	Faulkner Concise	144	17.1	water cobra-J water cobra-J cross jar SQUATTERMOUTH
ndnd	nedj nedj	consult	consult	Faulkner Concise	144	17.2	water cross jar PLANE water cross jar PLANE
ndnd	nedj nedj	advice	advice	Faulkner Concise	144	17.3	cross jar cross jar SQUATTERMOUTH
ndnd	nedj nedj	converse	converse	Gardiner	577.1	7	cross pot cross pot SQUATTERMOUTH
ndnd	nedj nedj	take counsel	consult	Gardiner	626.1	21.9	cross pot cross pot SQUATTERMOUTH

Table 1 Occurrences of nedj nedj in the Nedj Nedj database

They are all to do with communication, although the preferred meaning for the name of the database is ‘converse’.

The table itself is a preview of what the database can do, which is to find answers to questions, and in the present case what ‘nedj nedj’ means.

AE

The first column AE (Ancient Egyptian) is as near as possible to the original record made, although in the process of dumping the result from the database some information has been lost, specifically some underlining. The database actually shows ‘ndnd’ in the first column and not ‘ndnd’.

respelt

The second column shows an easy-to-read respelling. This is not only a convenience for the database compiler (Jeremy Steele, or JMS), but some others might find it a help too. But more importantly, it provides a feature for sorting. So it is that the only consistently common element in the table is the respelling, the original records varying, as well as meanings, sources and glyph information.

meaning

The ‘meaning’ column shows the meaning as recorded in the original record presented.

JSM

The column ‘JSM’ stands for the database compiler’s meaning (in full: ‘English JS Main’, there being two subsidiary JS English columns in the database). The column contains a standardised translation, which attempts to reduce the word to the simplest consistent form, and where possible to distinguish noun forms from verb forms, although this is often impossible, and in any case hard to know when a word was a noun or verb in the first place.

The column with is standardisation and simplification features is also helpful for searching and sorting purposes, just as with the ‘respelt’ column.

source, page, line

The source, page and line columns together provide the source information for the record concerned: the actual document, and the page and line numbers where the record occurs. The line number is variable in interpretation as it is not always easy to determine, or there may be numbered paragraphs prompting another way of numbering. As to the source, another field in the database provides source details. So, for example, the ‘Gardiner’ source is spelt out in a {source details} field as”

‘Gardiner, Alan Henderson,  Sir. 1957. Egyptian grammar; being an introduction to the study of hieroglyphs. London: Oxford by Oxford University Press. Third edition, revised: 2007’

glyph names

The names in this column are those invented for and used in this database. They are what suggested themselves to your database compiler (JMS), as for example, <yacht>: 

Fig. 1.1 Glyph display for <yacht> record

This glyph looked like a yacht under sail, seen from behind of in front. 

The database also offers the Gardiner number (T34), and the sound value: nm.

For common glyphs especially the aim was to devise a short name that quickly sprang to mind. What, for example, would you have called

, , or? 

The forms actually selected for these were bell, rails (after having discarded ‘parallelogram’ as being too long), and rag. These are easier to remember than U22, N23, and I6, or the supposed true object depicted: ‘chisel’, ‘irrigation canal’ and ‘burning charcoal with flames’; and shorter too as descriptions, and hence easier to type, and without typing errors.

But with names such as ‘CROUCH: hawk: plumes: w3s’, ‘kneeler: pot-pour&tub’, and ‘kiosk-drop-riders: basin-hole’ for many less common glyphs, which terms can hardly be said to spring instantly to mind, as well as requiring precision in typing to get to work, there is scope aplenty for improvements in nomenclature.

glyphs

The final column in the table shows the actual glyph sequence for the record concerned.