šmꜥ

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ʃɛmɑː/
  • Conventional anglicization: shema

Etymology 1

Proper noun

 m

1. Upper Egypt

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of šmꜥ  

šmꜥ

Derived terms

• ꜣby šmꜥ
• jt-šmꜥ

Etymology 2

Traditionally considered a shortening of jt-šmꜥ (“Upper Egyptian barley”). Allen instead suggests that the word is a nominalized nisba adjective formed from šmꜥ (“thin”) +‎ -(j) (nisba ending), referring to barley with fewer grains than jt-mḥ (“full barley”).

Noun

 m

1. barley of some kind; see the etymology section above for discussion

Etymology 3

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (intransitive) to chant, to sing

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
šmꜥ	šmꜥw, šmꜥ	šmꜥt	šmꜥ	šmꜥ

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

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

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
	active	active	passive
perfect	šmꜥ.n	—	—
perfective	šmꜥ	šmꜥ	šmꜥ, šmꜥw5, šmꜥy5
imperfective	šmꜥ, šmꜥy, šmꜥw5	šmꜥ, šmꜥj6, šmꜥy6	šmꜥ, šmꜥw5
prospective	šmꜥ, šmꜥtj7	šmꜥtj4, šmꜥt4
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

• šmꜥyt
• šmꜥw

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 253.