wnmj
Egyptian
Etymology
wnm (“to eat”) + -j (nisba ending).
As speculated by W. Vycichl (1959), this word might have originally meant “eating hand”. Furthermore, Takacs (1999) pointed out that the semantic shift from the original sense to “right hand/side” is an African sprachbund's feature; cf. Swahili mkono wa kulia (“eating hand; right hand”).[1]
Pronunciation
- (modern Egyptological) IPA(key): /wɛnmi/
- Conventional anglicization: wenmi
Adjective
| |
Inflection
| masculine | feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| singular | wnmj |
wnmt |
| dual | wnmjwj, wnmwj |
wnmtj |
| plural | wnmjw, wnmw |
wnmwt1, wnmt2 |
1 Archaic in Middle Egyptian when modifying a noun.
2 From Middle Egyptian, this feminine singular form was generally used for the plural.
In Late Egyptian, the masculine singular form was used with all nouns.
2 From Middle Egyptian, this feminine singular form was generally used for the plural.
In Late Egyptian, the masculine singular form was used with all nouns.
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 238.
- ^ Takács, Gábor (1999) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 1, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 37, →ISBN