Does the Book of Mormon distinguish between Egyptian language and Egyptian script?

[Olavarria]

1 Ne. 1:2

2)Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

Mosiah 1:4

4)For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to this present time.

Morm. 9:32

32)And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.

The Book of Mormon seems to make a distinction between the "language" and "characters" of Egypt. The Brass Plates and Nephi's record were written in the Egyptian language, whereas the gold plates were written in reformed Egyptian characters.

There is a difference between Egyptian language and Egyptian characters. Egyptian characters could be used to write other languages. Papyrus Amherst 62 uses Demotic Egyptian script to write an Aramaic version of Psalm 20. Aramaic is a sister language to Hebrew, just as Spanish is to Italian. Modified Egyptian script was the basis for the Meroitic written language. However, Coptic is Egyptian language written in Greek letters.

[cdowis]

I can look around but the plates of brass were partially written in the egyptian language, so Lehi was able to read it.

[SlackTime]

1 Ne. 1:2

2)Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

Mosiah 1:4

4)For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to this present time.

Morm. 9:32

32)And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.

The Book of Mormon seems to make a distinction between the "language" and "characters" of Egypt. The Brass Plates and Nephi's record were written in the Egyptian language, whereas the gold plates were written in reformed Egyptian characters.

There is a difference between Egyptian language and Egyptian characters. Egyptian characters could be used to write other languages. Papyrus Amherst 62 uses Demotic Egyptian script to write an Aramaic version of Psalm 20. Aramaic is a sister language to Hebrew, just as Spanish is to Italian. Modified Egyptian script was the basis for the Meroitic written language. However, Coptic is Egyptian language written in Greek letters.

A question that I have always had, is; Do we know enough about 600BC Egypt to know what language was generally used verbally, especially for trade? Would that have been Aramaic or is that too early for Aramaic? If Lehi was a merchant, and he seems to be trained in the use of the written Egyptian language, what languages would he have used in his profession and if he had trade routes established with Egypt? Was there a "formal" Egyptian that was reserved for the state and religion vs. a common language that was used in the streets? And if there was a difference, which did Lehi use, and how does that effect what his decendants "reformed"?

- SlackTime

[volgadon]

The examples we have of Egyptian mixed with Hebrew (such as the Arad ostraca, but really any found in the Negev) all come from a trade setting.

[Gervin]

The examples we have of Egyptian mixed with Hebrew (such as the Arad ostraca, but really any found in the Negev) all come from a trade setting.

I've always wondered how long - and how - reformed egyptian was used in the New World. How would a hybrid language such as this have been taught to succeeding generations and how many years did the language survive? Is it fair to assume that examples would survive in the form of inscriptions, on pottery shards, murals, etc?

[volgadon]

Good questions. Yes, I suppose it is fair to assume that, but look at how many examples we have of each, let alone from the right time frame. As for pottery shards, there were only a few examples of the hybrid Egyptian-Hebrew on them found in Israel. A big reason for this is that rarely were archaeologists very thorough in checking pottery shards, so writing tends to get lost.