sꜥnḫ

Egyptian

Etymology

s- (causative prefix) +‎ ꜥnḫ (“to live”).

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈsaʕnaχ/ → /ˈsaʕnaχ/ → /ˈsaʕnəχ/ → /ˈsaʕnəχ/

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

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /sɛɑːnx/
  • Conventional anglicization: seankh

Verb

 caus. 3-lit.

1. (transitive) to make live, to vivify, to give life or keep alive
2. (transitive) to feed, to nourish

Inflection

Conjugation of sꜥnḫ (causative triliteral / caus. 3-lit. / caus. 3rad.) — base stem: sꜥnḫ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
sꜥnḫ	sꜥnḫw, sꜥnḫ	sꜥnḫt	sꜥnḫ	sꜥnḫ

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	sꜥnḫ.n	sꜥnḫw, sꜥnḫ	consecutive	sꜥnḫ.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	sꜥnḫt
perfective3	sꜥnḫ	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	sꜥnḫ.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	sꜥnḫ	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	sꜥnḫw, sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫy	sꜥnḫw, sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫy	potentialis1	sꜥnḫ.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	sꜥnḫ	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	sꜥnḫ.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	sꜥnḫ	active + .tj1, .tw2	sꜥnḫ	sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫw5, sꜥnḫy5
imperfective	sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫy, sꜥnḫw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫj6, sꜥnḫy6	sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫw5
prospective	sꜥnḫ, sꜥnḫtj7	—	sꜥnḫwtj1 4, sꜥnḫtj4, sꜥnḫt4
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.

Descendants

• Akhmimic Coptic: ⲥⲁⲛⳉ (sanx)
• Bohairic Coptic: ϣⲁⲛϣ (šanš)
• Fayyumic Coptic: ϣⲏⲛϣ (šēnš)
• Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲥⲁⲛⲉϣ (saneš)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲁⲁⲛϣ (saanš)

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 158, 214.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 113