mꜣꜥ

Demotic

Etymology 1

Unknown. The once-popular derivation from Egyptian (bw, “place, thing, -ness”) is untenable given the form of the Fayyumic descendant. A corresponding hieroglyphic Egyptian word (mꜣꜥ, “place”) is attested from the end of the Third Intermediate Period onward, especially in late temple inscriptions, with the earliest certain attestation being in Papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.84, but this is contemporaneous with the spread of early Demotic. Meeks proposes that another term bpꜣt attested at the beginning of the Ramesside Period might be an early writing of the same word, but the absence of the final ayin is problematic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʕ/

Noun

⁠⁠ m

1. place
2. cenotaph

Descendants

• Akhmimic Coptic: ⲙⲁ (ma)
• Bohairic Coptic: ⲙⲁ (ma), ⲙⲟⲩ (mou), (only with ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ (niben)) ⲙⲁⲓ (mai)
• Fayyumic Coptic: ⲙⲉ (me), ⲙⲟⲩ (mou), (before genitive ⲛ- (n-)) ⲙⲁ (ma)
• Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲙⲁ (ma)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲙⲁ (ma)

Etymology 2

From Egyptian (mꜣꜥ, “to direct, to be true or just”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːʔəʕ/

Verb

⁠⁠

1. to be true
2. to be justified

Descendants

• ⇒ Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲙⲁⲓⲟ (tmaio), ⲧⲙⲁⲉⲓⲟ (tmaeio)

References

• Erichsen, Wolja (1954) Demotisches Glossar, Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard, page 149
• Janet H. Johnson, editor (2001), The Demotic Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago‎^[1], volume M (10.1), Chicago: The University of Chicago, pages 21–29

Egyptian

Pronunciation

 

• (verb): (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈmaːʀaʕ/ → /ˈmaːʀaʕ/ → /ˈmaːʔəʕ/ → /ˈmoːʔəʕ/

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

• (noun, in the sense ‘place’) (reconstructed Late Egyptian) IPA^(key): /maʕ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /mɑʔɑː/
  • Conventional anglicization: maa

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (transitive) to direct, to guide, to conduct
   • c. 1550 BCE – 1295 BCE, Great Hymn to Osiris (Stela of Amenmose, Louvre C 286) lines 21–22:

     mꜣꜥ.n.sn n zꜣ ꜣst ḫft(j).f ḫr n qn.f

     To the son of Isis they have delivered his adversary, fallen through his (own) violence.

2. (reflexive or intransitive) to be(come) true, to be(come) correct
3. (intransitive) to be(come) genuine, real, true
4. (intransitive) to fulfil a title or familial relation as one should; to be a real or true (brother, servant, etc.)
5. (intransitive, law) to be(come) innocent
6. (intransitive) to be(come) just or fair
7. (transitive) to make an offering of

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥw, mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥt	mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥ

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	mꜣꜥ.n	mꜣꜥw, mꜣꜥ	consecutive	mꜣꜥ.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	mꜣꜥt
perfective3	mꜣꜥ	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	mꜣꜥ.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	mꜣꜥ	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥꜥ	potentialis1	mꜣꜥ.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	mꜣꜥ	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	mꜣꜥ.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	mꜣꜥ	active + .tj1, .tw2	mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥ, mꜣꜥw5, mꜣꜥy5
imperfective	mꜣꜥ, mꜣꜥy, mꜣꜥw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	mꜣꜥ, mꜣꜥj6, mꜣꜥy6	mꜣꜥ, mꜣꜥw5
prospective	mꜣꜥ, mꜣꜥtj7	—	mꜣꜥtj4, mꜣꜥt4
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 mꜣꜥ  

mꜣꜥ

Derived terms

• wn mꜣꜥ
• mꜣꜥw
• mꜣꜥt
• mꜣꜥ-ḫrw

Descendants

• Demotic: mꜣꜥ
  • ⇒ Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲙⲁⲓⲟ (tmaio), ⲧⲙⲁⲉⲓⲟ (tmaeio)

Noun

 m

1. (anatomy) temple

Inflection

Declension of mꜣꜥ (masculine)

singular	mꜣꜥ
dual	mꜣꜥwj
plural	mꜣꜥw

Derived terms

• rḏj mꜣꜥ r

Noun

 m

1. place [since the end of the Third Intermediate Period]

Inflection

Declension of mꜣꜥ (masculine)

singular	mꜣꜥ
dual	mꜣꜥwj
plural	mꜣꜥw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mꜣꜥ  

mꜣꜥt	mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥ	mꜣꜥt

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1928) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 2, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 12–14.19; 22.1–23.6
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 101
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, pages 55, 128
• Meeks, Dimitri (1994) “Étymologies coptes. Notes et remarques” in Coptology: Past, Present and Future: Studies in Honour of Professor Rodolphe Kasser, Louvain: Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 61, page 203–204