ḥwꜣ

Egyptian

Pronunciation

(reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈħaːwaʀ/ → /ˈħaːwaʀ/ → /ˈħaːwə/ → /ħoːw/

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /huːɑ/
- Conventional anglicization: hua

Verb

3-lit.

(intransitive) to rot, to be(come) putrid
- c. 1900 BCE – 1839 BCE, Coffin Texts, version B1C (coffin of Sepi III, Cairo CG 28083) spell 755:^[1]
  
  wrḏ ꜥwt m ws(j)r nj wrḏ zpwj snwj nj ḥwꜣ.sn ꜣd.sn nj [bn.sn nj]^[2] jr mw ḏw
  The limbs in Osiris are weary, but won’t be weary, won’t be weary, they won’t putrefy or decay, [they] won’t [swell up, won’t] make foul fluid (literally, “evil water”).

Inflection

Conjugation of ḥwꜣ (triliteral / 3-lit. / 3rad.) — base stem: ḥwꜣ, geminated stem: ḥwꜣꜣ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
ḥwꜣ	ḥwꜣw, ḥwꜣ	ḥwꜣt	ḥwꜣ	ḥwꜣ

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
ḥwꜣ	ḥr ḥwꜣ	m ḥwꜣ	r ḥwꜣ

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
aspect / mood	active	aspect / mood	active
perfect	ḥwꜣ.n	consecutive	ḥwꜣ.jn
terminative	ḥwꜣt	consecutive	ḥwꜣ.jn
perfective³	ḥwꜣ	obligative¹	ḥwꜣ.ḫr
imperfective	ḥwꜣ	obligative¹	ḥwꜣ.ḫr
prospective³	ḥwꜣ	potentialis¹	ḥwꜣ.kꜣ
subjunctive	ḥwꜣ	potentialis¹	ḥwꜣ.kꜣ

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
aspect / mood	active	active	passive
perfect	ḥwꜣ.n	—	—
perfective	ḥwꜣ	ḥwꜣ	ḥwꜣ, ḥwꜣw⁵, ḥwꜣy⁵
imperfective	ḥwꜣ, ḥwꜣy, ḥwꜣw⁵	ḥwꜣ, ḥwꜣj⁶, ḥwꜣy⁶	ḥwꜣ, ḥwꜣw⁵
prospective	ḥwꜣ, ḥwꜣtj⁷	ḥwꜣtj⁴, ḥwꜣt⁴

¹ Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian.
² Used mostly since Middle Egyptian.
³ Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective.
⁴ Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. ⁵ Only in the masculine singular.
⁶ Only in the masculine.
⁷ Only in the feminine.

Derived terms

ḥwꜣꜣt

Descendants

Demotic: ḥw
- Coptic: ϩⲟⲟⲩ (hoou)

References

James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 290.

^ de Buck, Adriaan (1956) The Egyptian Coffin Texts, volume VI, page 384 i–l
^ Faulkner, Raymond (1977) The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, volume 2, pages 288–289

[1] Buck, Adriaan (1956) The Egyptian Coffin Texts, volume VI, page 384 i–l

[FaulknerCT-2] Faulkner, Raymond (1977) The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, volume 2, pages 288–289

[1]

[2]