nw

See also: ñw, NW, nW, Nw., and .nw

Egyptian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nuː/
- Conventional anglicization: nu

Pronoun

proximal, later copular demonstrative pronoun

(Old Egyptian) this, that
(Middle Egyptian, formal) O (vocative reference)

Usage notes

This demonstrative is a pronoun, and so does not directly modify nouns. In Middle Egyptian it becomes used as a demonstrative for plural nouns in place of the old adjectives jpw and jptw and comes to serve as a plural definite article. When used in this way, it precedes the noun, with the genitival adjective n(j) in between, e.g. "these feet" is nw n(j) rdw (literally "this of feet").

In Old Egyptian it forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrative pronoun nf, in which nw is proximal.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives
	determiners						pronouns¹	adverbs
	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn	*jpnj	jptnj, jptntj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	jptfj, jptftj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, p	tj, tw	jpwj	jptwj, jptwtj	jpw	jptw, jptwt	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ

¹ Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives
	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
	singular		plural¹
	masculine	feminine	plural¹
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’ and vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ

¹ Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles
	masculine	feminine	plural	adverb
pronoun	pꜣw			dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners¹	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ²
indefinite articles	wꜥ²		nhꜣy²

¹ Used with suffix pronouns.
² Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nuː/
- Conventional anglicization: nu

Contraction

contraction of nj wj

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of nw

nw

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

(reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈnuwwuw/ → /ˈnuwwuw/ → /nuwwə/ → /nøww/

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nuː/
- Conventional anglicization: nu

Noun

m

(moment of) time

Inflection

Declension of nw (masculine)
singular	nw
dual	nwwj
plural	nww

Derived terms

zy nw

Descendants

Akhmimic Coptic: ⲛⲟ (no)
Bohairic Coptic: ⲛⲁⲩ (nau)
Fayyumic Coptic: ⲛⲉⲩ (neu), ⲛⲱ (nō)
Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲛⲉⲩ (neu)
Old Coptic: ⲛⲟ (no)
Sahidic Coptic: ⲛⲁⲩ (nau), ⲛⲟⲩ (nou)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nuː/
- Conventional anglicization: nu

Verb

The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
1. (transitive) to hunt

References

James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 54–55, 72, 381.
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN

Igbo

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ŋʷ/

Letter

nw (upper case Nw)

A letter of the Igbo alphabet, written in the Latin script.