kkw

Egyptian

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈkikjVw/ → /ˈkikjVw/ → /ˈkekjə/ → /ˈkeki/

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

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

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

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

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

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /kɛkuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: keku

Noun

 m

1. darkness [since the Pyramid Texts]
   • c. 1550 BCE – 1295 BCE, Great Hymn to Osiris (Stela of Amenmose, Louvre C 286) lines 12–13:

     ḫꜥ ḥr nst nt (j)t.f mj rꜥ wbn.f m ꜣḫt rdj.f šsp n ḥr(j) kkw sḥḏ.n.f šw m šwtj.fj bꜥḥ.n.f tꜣwj mj jṯn m tp-dwꜣyt

     One shining forth on the throne of his father like Ra when he rises in the Akhet, he gave light to what was covered by darkness, having brightened the air with his two plumes, having flooded the Two Lands (Egypt) like the sun disk at the break of dawn.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of kkw  

kkw	kk

Descendants

• Demotic: kky
  • Old Coptic:
    • → Ancient Greek: ἀκακία (akakía, “acacia”) (see there for further descendants)
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲭⲁⲕⲓ (khaki)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲁⲕⲉ (kake)
  • Akhmimic Coptic: ⲕⲉⲕⲉ (keke), ⲕⲉⲕⲉⲓ (kekei)
  • Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲕⲉⲕⲉ (keke), ⲕⲉⲕⲉⲓ (kekei)

Proper noun

 m

1. the god Kek or Kuk, personification of the darkness of the primeval waters [since the Coffin Texts]

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: χοῦχ (khoûkh)

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 334.