ḥmw

See also: ḫmw

Egyptian

Egyptian numbers ^(edit)

←  30	𓎉 40	50  →
	4
Cardinal: ḥmw     Ordinal: mḥ-ḥmw

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Numeral:

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ħVˈmuw/ → /ħVˈmuw/ → /ħəˈmuʔ/ → /ħəˈmøʔ/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħVˈmuw/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħVˈmuw/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħəˈmuʔ/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħəˈmøʔ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛmuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: hemu

Numeral

1. forty

Inflection

Declension of ḥmw

	masculine	feminine
singular	ḥmw	—

Descendants

• Akhmimic Coptic: ϩⲙⲉ (hme)
• Bohairic Coptic: ϩⲙⲉ (hme), ϩⲙ (hm)
• Lycopolitan Coptic: ϩⲙⲉ (hme)
• Sahidic Coptic: ϩⲙⲉ (hme)

Etymology 2

A participial form of ḥm (“to steer”).

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛmuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: hemu

Noun

 m

1. rudder, steering-oar
2. (by extension) helmsman

Inflection

Declension of ḥmw (masculine)

singular	ḥmw
dual	ḥmwwj
plural	ḥmww

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥmw  

ḥmw	ḥmw

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛmuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: hemu

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (intransitive) to be(come) skilled

Inflection

Conjugation of ḥmw (triliteral / 3-lit. / 3rad.) — base stem: ḥmw

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
ḥmw	ḥmww, ḥmw	ḥmwt	ḥmw	ḥmw

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

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

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
	active	active	passive
perfect	ḥmw.n	—	—
perfective	ḥmw	ḥmw	ḥmw, ḥmww5, ḥmwy5
imperfective	ḥmw, ḥmwy, ḥmww5	ḥmw, ḥmwj6, ḥmwy6	ḥmw, ḥmww5
prospective	ḥmw, ḥmwtj7	ḥmwtj4, ḥmwt4
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.

Derived terms

• ḥmwy (“work”)
• ḥmww (“craftsman”)
• ḥmwwtyw (“craftsmen”)
• ḥmwt (“craftsman”)

 

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 102, 382.
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN