In Earlier Egyptian, verb forms whose translation involve some sort of modality include the sDm(w)-f, often called 'Prospective', and the 'Emphatic' mrr-f form. Both have been recognized to have nominal features, although their syntactic and discursive function remains a much discussed topic. This contribution proposes to reconstruct paths of change that explain the emergence of these forms out of former participant/event nominalizations marked for definiteness vs. indefiniteness. Exploring this hypothesis sheds light not only on what is inherently marked by the forms themselves, but also on the role of particular uses within distinct source constructions in elaborating their respective semantics.