ḥsb

See also: hsb

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛsɛb/
  • Conventional anglicization: heseb

Etymology 1

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (transitive) to break apart [Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts]

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
ḥsb	ḥsbw, ḥsb	ḥsbt	ḥsb	ḥsb

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	ḥsbw, ḥsb	consecutive	ḥsb.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	ḥsbt
perfective3	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	ḥsb.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	ḥsb	ḥsbb	potentialis1	ḥsb.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2	ḥsb	ḥsb, ḥsbw5, ḥsby5
imperfective	ḥsb, ḥsby, ḥsbw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	ḥsb, ḥsbj6, ḥsby6	ḥsb, ḥsbw5
prospective	ḥsb, ḥsbtj7	—	ḥsbtj4, ḥsbt4
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 ḥsb  

ḥsb

Noun

 m

1. (medicine) bone fracture

Inflection

Declension of ḥsb (masculine)

singular	ḥsb
dual	ḥsbwj
plural	ḥsbw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb  

ḥsb	ḥsb
abbreviation	abbreviation

Noun

Egyptian numbers ^(edit)

←  3	𓏽 4	5  →
Cardinal: jfdw     Ordinal: jfdnw     Adverbial: jfdw zpw     Distributive: jfdw jfdw     Fractional: r jfdw, ḥsb

 m

1. a quarter, one fourth (in general)
2. one quarter of a sṯꜣt (“aroura”) (equivalent to about 0.07 hectares)

Inflection

Declension of ḥsb (masculine)

singular	ḥsb
dual	ḥsbwj
plural	ḥsbw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb  

ḥsp	ḥsp
[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]

Etymology 2

Compare Arabic حَسَبَ (ḥasaba, “to calculate, to count”), Hebrew חָשַׁב (ḥāšaḇ, “to think”), and Classical Syriac ܚܫܒ (“to think, to count, to calculate”). Alternatively identical in origin to the above word (‘to break apart’, etc.) by metaphorical extension; see the usage note below.

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (transitive or rarely intransitive) to determine the number of (something); to count or calculate, to reckon
2. (transitive) to enumerate, to count out in series
3. (transitive) to reckon with or settle up with (an offender) by inflicting punishment; to get even with, to exact merited retribution on
4. (transitive) to pay back or punish (an evil deed)
5. (transitive, usually negated) to value, to care something for, to esteem (something)

Usage notes

It has been hypothesized that the calculation operations represented by ḥsb are distinct from those represented by jp in that ḥsb prototypically expresses reckoning by means of repeatedly breaking into halves, while jp prototypically expresses reckoning by means of counting operations.

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
ḥsb	ḥsbw, ḥsb	ḥsbt	ḥsb	ḥsb

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	ḥsbw, ḥsb	consecutive	ḥsb.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	ḥsbt
perfective3	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	ḥsb.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	ḥsb	ḥsbb	potentialis1	ḥsb.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	ḥsb	active + .tj1, .tw2	ḥsb	ḥsb, ḥsbw5, ḥsby5
imperfective	ḥsb, ḥsby, ḥsbw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	ḥsb, ḥsbj6, ḥsby6	ḥsb, ḥsbw5
prospective	ḥsb, ḥsbtj7	—	ḥsbtj4, ḥsbt4
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 ḥsb  

ḥsb	ḥsb	ḥsb	ḥsb	ḥsb
[Old Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]
			abbreviation	abbreviation

Derived terms

• nt-ḥsb
• rnpt-ḥsb
• ḥsbw

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1929) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 3, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 166.6–167.15
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, pages 177–178
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, pages 3, 157
• Palma, Helena Lopez (2015) “Egyptian Fractional Numerals: The grammar of Egyptian NPs and statements with fractional number expressions” in Lingua Aegyptia, volume 23, pages 197–228