zbṯ

Egyptian

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈzaːbac/ → /ˈsaːbaʔ/ → /ˈsaːba/ → /ˈsoːβə/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈzaːbac/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːbaʔ/
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːba/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsoːβə/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /zɛbɛt͡ʃ/
  • Conventional anglicization: zebetj

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (intransitive) to laugh
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 149–150:

     ꜥḥꜥ.n sbt.n.f jm.j m nn ḏd.n.j m nf m jb.f ḏd.f n.j (j)n wr n.k ꜥntjw ḫpr.t(j) ⟨m⟩ nb sntr

     Then he laughed at me – and at this that I’d said – as being wrong to his mind, saying to me: Are you abundant in myrrh, turned into a lord of incense?

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
zbṯ	zbṯw, zbṯ	zbṯt	zbṯ	zbṯ

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

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

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
	active	active	passive
perfect	zbṯ.n	—	—
perfective	zbṯ	zbṯ	zbṯ, zbṯw5, zbṯy5
imperfective	zbṯ, zbṯy, zbṯw5	zbṯ, zbṯj6, zbṯy6	zbṯ, zbṯw5
prospective	zbṯ, zbṯtj7	zbṯtj4, zbṯt4
Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. 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. Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of zbṯ  

sbt

Descendants

• Bohairic Coptic: ⲥⲱⲃⲓ (sōbi)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲱⲃⲉ (sōbe)

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 12.
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1929) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 3, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 434.5–434.11