The decrees always begin with the mention of the beneficiaries in the vocative. They can be called either by their name or by their title. The verbal compound in formula A (*yirohe-se-l-o-wi/d-irohe-se-l-o-wi*) is partly obscure, but it is not an optative or an imperative ([5.1](#iv1)). It is a periphrastic form — probably with an aspectual or modal value — since it includes the determiner *-l* used as nominalizer, followed by the copula. Accordingly, an explicit personal marker is expected, more precisely a [2sg]([sc]), because of the vocative. Many texts are so damaged that it is impossible to know whether the initial vocative phrase included a name or a title, but each time it is preserved, the formulae with initial *d-* occur after the titles and those with initial *y(i)-* after the proper names. This initial *d-* is very likely the expected 2nd person subject prefix, a short version of the independent pronoun *are/\*ade* “you [sg]({sc})” or the singular of *de-b* “you [pl]({sc}),” without the plural suffix *-b.*
The decrees always begin with the mention of the beneficiaries in the vocative. They can be called either by their name or by their title. The verbal compound in formula A (*yirohe-se-l-o-wi/d-irohe-se-l-o-wi*) is partly obscure, but it is not an optative or an imperative ([5.1](#iv1)). It is a periphrastic form — probably with an aspectual or modal value — since it includes the determiner *-l* used as nominalizer, followed by the copula. Accordingly, an explicit personal marker is expected, more precisely a [2sg]({sc}), because of the vocative. Many texts are so damaged that it is impossible to know whether the initial vocative phrase included a name or a title, but each time it is preserved, the formulae with initial *d-* occur after the titles and those with initial *y(i)-* after the proper names. This initial *d-* is very likely the expected 2nd person subject prefix, a short version of the independent pronoun *are/\*ade* “you [sg]({sc})” or the singular of *de-b* “you [pl]({sc}),” without the plural suffix *-b.*
The verb used in formula A is *arohe,* which, in these oracular decrees, probably means “take under someone’s protection.”[^111] It can also signify “take control,” hence “take prisoner” in military contexts (see (20)). From the two nouns groups present in formula A, only *wte-li* "life(time)" is known. A very tentative translation of formula A with prefix *d-* would be “Oh you, the XXX, you shall (?) be protected for your lifetime and your ???.” The other prefix *y(i)-* remains an enigma. It is not certain that it can be also regarded as a personal marker. Since *yi-* is a late spelling for initial /i/, it may be present in the form of the sign *i* in the verbal compound *d-i-(a)rohe-se-l-o-wi.* In that case, *yiroheselowi* would be a variant of *d-irohe-se-l-o-wi* unmarked for person.
@ -1275,7 +1275,7 @@ Rilly, Claude & Vincent Francigny.  *Sudan & Nubia* 22 (2018): pp. 65–74.
Schenkel, Wolfgang. !“[Meroitisches und Barya-Verb: Versuch einer Bestimmung der Tempusbildung der Meroitischen.”](bib:96a4cdaf-0f6e-492c-a8fe-ed105a5c779b) *Meroitic Newsletter* 11 (1972):pp. 1–16.
Schenkel, Wolfgang.  *Meroitic Newsletter* 11 (1972):pp. 1–16.
Schenkel, Wolfgang.  *Meroitic Newsletter* 12 (1973): pp.2–22.
