Egyptian
FWOTD – 6 January 2020
Etymology
Sometimes proposed to be from a form such as Proto-Afroasiatic *hVy/*hVw- (“to fall, to happen”), in which case it may be cognate with Arabic هوى (hawā, “to come down, to fall”) and Iraqw huu’ (“fall, drop”).
Pronunciation
- (reconstructed) IPA(key): /ˈhiʀjit/ → /ˈhiʀjiʔ/ → /ˈheʔja/ → /ˈheʔjə/
Verb
3ae inf.
- (intransitive) to descend
c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE,
Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 24–28:
- hꜣ.kw r wꜣḏ-wr m dpt nt št-mḏwtj mḥ m ꜣw.s ḥmw mḥ m sḫw.s št-mḏwtj sqd jm.s m stp n(j) kmt
- I had gone down to the sea in a boat of a hundred twenty cubits in length and forty cubits in breadth, with a hundred twenty sailors in it of the choice of Egypt.
- (intransitive) to fall, to drop
- (intransitive) to come, to walk (+ n or r: to (someone))
- (transitive) to charge upon, to fall upon (an enemy)
c. 1859 BCE – 1840 BCE,
The Story of Sinuhe, version B (pBerlin 3022 and pAmherst n-q) lines 52–53:
- nn twt n.f mꜣꜣ.t(w).f hꜣ.f r-pḏt(j)w ẖꜥm.f r-ḏꜣw
- Translation by J. P. Allen
- There is none equal to him when he is seen charging archers and engaging opposition.
Inflection
Conjugation of hꜣj (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: hꜣ, geminated stem: hꜣꜣ
| infinitival forms
|
imperative
|
| infinitive
|
negatival complement
|
complementary infinitive1
|
singular
|
plural
|
hꜣt, hꜣj
|
hꜣw, hꜣ
|
hꜣt, hꜣwt, hꜣyt
|
hꜣ
|
hꜣ, hꜣy
|
| ‘pseudoverbal’ forms
|
| stative stem
|
periphrastic imperfective2
|
periphrastic prospective2
|
hꜣ8, hꜣꜣ8
|
ḥr hꜣt, ḥr hꜣj
|
m hꜣt, m hꜣj
|
r hꜣt, r hꜣj
|
| suffix conjugation
|
| aspect / mood
|
active
|
passive
|
contingent
|
| aspect / mood
|
active
|
passive
|
| perfect
|
hꜣ.n
|
hꜣw, hꜣ, hꜣy
|
consecutive
|
hꜣ.jn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| terminative
|
hꜣt, hꜣyt
|
| perfective3
|
hꜣ
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
obligative1
|
hꜣ.ḫr
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| imperfective
|
hꜣ, hꜣy
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| prospective3
|
hꜣw, hꜣ, hꜣy
|
hꜣw, hꜣ, hꜣy
|
potentialis1
|
hꜣ.kꜣ
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| subjunctive
|
hꜣ, hꜣy
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| verbal adjectives
|
| aspect / mood
|
relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms
|
participles
|
| active
|
passive
|
active
|
passive
|
| perfect
|
hꜣ.n
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
—
|
—
|
| perfective
|
hꜣw1, hꜣy, hꜣ
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
hꜣ
|
hꜣy, hꜣ
|
| imperfective
|
hꜣꜣ, hꜣꜣy, hꜣꜣw5
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
hꜣꜣ, hꜣꜣj6, hꜣꜣy6
|
hꜣꜣ, hꜣꜣw5
|
| prospective
|
hꜣw1, hꜣy, hꜣ, hꜣtj7
|
—
|
hꜣwtj1 4, hꜣtj4, hꜣt4
|
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.
8 Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.
|
Descendants
- Bohairic Coptic: ϩⲉⲓ (hei)
- Sahidic Coptic: ϩⲉ (he)
References
- Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1928) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache[1], volume 2, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 472.3–475.4
- Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 156
- James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 180, 275.