nw

See also: NW, nW, Nw., and .nw

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: nu

For the noun:

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈnuwwuw/ → /ˈnuwwuw/ → /nøww/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈnuwwuw/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈnuwwuw/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /nøww/

Pronoun

 proximal, later copular demonstrative pronoun

1. (Old Egyptian) this, that
2. (Middle Egyptian, formal) O (vocative reference)

Usage notes

This demonstrative is a pronoun, and so does not directly modify nouns. In Middle Egyptian it becomes used as a demonstrative for plural nouns in place of the old adjectives jpw and jptw and comes to serve as a plural definite article. When used in this way, it precedes the noun, with the genitival adjective n(j) in between, e.g. "these feet" is nw n(j) rdw (literally "this of feet").

In Old Egyptian it forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrative pronoun nf, in which nw is proximal.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns1	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn, jtn	*jpnj	*jptnj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	*jptfj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, py, p	tj, tw, jtw	jpwj	*jptwj	jpw	jptw	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
number	singular		plural1
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’; vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles

	masculine	feminine	plural		adverb
pronoun	pꜣw				dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners (used with suffix pronouns)	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ1
indefinite articles	wꜥ1		nhꜣy1
Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Contraction

1. Contraction of nj wj.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of nw  

nw

Noun

 m

1. (moment of) time

Inflection

Declension of nw (masculine)

singular	nw
dual	nwwj
plural	nww

Derived terms

• zy nw

Verb

1. Uncertain
   1. (transitive) to hunt

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 54–55, 72, 381.
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
• Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN