Unlike the suffix pronouns and dependent pronouns, the independent pronouns are not tied to any other element of the sentence. Nevertheless, the meaning of an independent pronoun depends on context:
After an infinitive, it is the subject of the verb.
Before a noun, its meaning can be ambiguous:
In the first and second person, it could be the subject of a noun phrase.
Alternatively, in all persons, it can be the predicate of a noun phrase.
If the noun is a participle, then in all persons it could be either the subject or the predicate of a noun phrase.
If the demonstrative pronoun pw is placed between the pronoun and the noun, the pronoun is definitely the predicate.
Before an adjective, in the first person only, it is the subject of an adjectival phrase.
When the independent pronoun is the subject it may, but does not always, indicate an emphasised subject.
Further, this pronoun can optionally be varied to indicate the identity of the antecedent — a distinction which would not have been indicated in speech, e.g.:
James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN.
^ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 31, 33, 44
