sw

See also: SW, Sw, sŵ, Sw., św., and šw

Translingual

Symbol

sw

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Swahili.

Egyptian

Etymology 1

From Proto-Afroasiatic *sū. Cognate to Proto-Semitic *šuʔa and Central Atlas Tamazight -ⴰⵙ (-as).

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /suw/ → /suw/ → /su/ → /su/

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

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /suː/
  • Conventional anglicization: su

Pronoun

 m sg 3. enclitic (‘dependent’) pronoun

1. he, him (see usage notes)

Usage notes

By the time of Late Egyptian, this pronoun was no longer strictly masculine but common to both genders, as it had entirely merged with the feminine equivalent st through sound change.

This form of pronoun is an enclitic that must directly follow the word it modifies. Its meaning depends on its context:

• When it follows a verb, it indicates the object of the verb.
• In the second and third person when it follows an adjective, it forms the subject of an adjectival sentence.
• When it follows a relative adjective, such as ntj, ntt, or jsṯ, it indicates the subject of the relative clause (usually only in the first person singular and third person common).
• When it follows an imperative, it indicates the subject or the object of the verb.
• When it follows a particle like m.k, it indicates the subject of the clause.
• When attached to a preposition, it indicates the object of the preposition.

Inflection

Old Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kj1	.ṯ, .ṯn	.f, .fj1	.s, .sj1
	dual	.nj	.ṯnj		.snj
	plural	.n	.ṯn		.sn
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	singular	w, wj, wy	kw, k, ṯw, ṯ	ṯm, ṯn	sw, s	s
	dual	—	ṯnj		snj
	plural	n	ṯn		sn
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ṯwt	ṯmt	swt	stt
	dual	—	—		ntsnj
	plural	—	ntṯn		ntsn, jntsn
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kj, .k	.tj, .t		∅, .j	.tj, .t
	dual	—	.tjwn		.wy, .wj	.ty
	plural	.wn, .nw			∅, .w, .y, .wy	.tj, .t
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle.

Middle Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kj1	.ṯ, .t	.f, .fj1	.s, .sj1
	dual2	.nj	.ṯnj, .tnj		.snj
	plural	.n	.ṯn, .tn		.sn, .w3
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	singular	wj, w	ṯw, tw	ṯn, tn	sw, st	sj, s, st
	plural	n	ṯn, tn		sn, st
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ntk, ṯwt2	ntṯ, ntt, ṯwt2	ntf, swt2	nts, swt2
	plural	jnn3	ntṯn, nttn		ntsn
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kw	.tj, .t, .tw3		∅, .w	.tj, .t, .tw3
	plural	.wn, .wjn	.tjwn, .tjwnj		∅, .w, .y
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns3	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	sj, st
	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle. Only in formal texts, especially religious texts. Only in postclassical (Neo-Middle Egyptian) texts.

Late Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kw	.t	.f, .fj	.s, .st, .sw
	plural	.n	.tn, .twn		.w, .sn1
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns1	singular	wj	tw, tj		sw, st
	plural	n, wn	twn		sn, st
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	mntk, mtwk	mntt, mtwy	mntf	mntst, mntjst
	plural	jnn	mnttn		mntw
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings1	singular	.kw, .k	.tj, .tw		∅, .w, .y	.tj, .tw
	plural	.nw	.tn		∅, .w, .y
	unmarked (later)	∅, .tw
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	st, sw
	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st, sw, swt
Only in formal texts, especially religious texts.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of sw  

sw	s	s	sw	st	st
	[Middle Kingdom]	[New Kingdom]	[since the New Kingdom]	[Late Egyptian]	[Late Egyptian]
			rare	after merger with feminine st	after merger with feminine st, by confusion with plural st

Derived terms

• swt

Pronoun

 m sg 3. proclitic (‘subject form’) pronoun

1. he [since the 17th Dynasty]

Usage notes

This form of pronoun is a proclitic that must stand at the beginning of a sentence (generally adverbial) and cannot come after any particles. It always indicates the subject of the sentence.

Inflection

Old Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kj1	.ṯ, .ṯn	.f, .fj1	.s, .sj1
	dual	.nj	.ṯnj		.snj
	plural	.n	.ṯn		.sn
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	singular	w, wj, wy	kw, k, ṯw, ṯ	ṯm, ṯn	sw, s	s
	dual	—	ṯnj		snj
	plural	n	ṯn		sn
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ṯwt	ṯmt	swt	stt
	dual	—	—		ntsnj
	plural	—	ntṯn		ntsn, jntsn
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kj, .k	.tj, .t		∅, .j	.tj, .t
	dual	—	.tjwn		.wy, .wj	.ty
	plural	.wn, .nw			∅, .w, .y, .wy	.tj, .t
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle.

Middle Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kj1	.ṯ, .t	.f, .fj1	.s, .sj1
	dual2	.nj	.ṯnj, .tnj		.snj
	plural	.n	.ṯn, .tn		.sn, .w3
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns	singular	wj, w	ṯw, tw	ṯn, tn	sw, st	sj, s, st
	plural	n	ṯn, tn		sn, st
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	ntk, ṯwt2	ntṯ, ntt, ṯwt2	ntf, swt2	nts, swt2
	plural	jnn3	ntṯn, nttn		ntsn
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings	singular	.kw	.tj, .t, .tw3		∅, .w	.tj, .t, .tw3
	plural	.wn, .wjn	.tjwn, .tjwnj		∅, .w, .y
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns3	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	sj, st
	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st
Only when attached to a dual noun or prospective participle. Only in formal texts, especially religious texts. Only in postclassical (Neo-Middle Egyptian) texts.

Late Egyptian personal pronouns

	number	first person	second person		third person
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
suffix pronouns	singular	∅, .j	.k, .kw	.t	.f, .fj	.s, .st, .sw
	plural	.n	.tn, .twn		.w, .sn1
enclitic (‘dependent’) pronouns1	singular	wj	tw, tj		sw, st
	plural	n, wn	twn		sn, st
stressed (‘independent’) pronouns	singular	jnk	mntk, mtwk	mntt, mtwy	mntf	mntst, mntjst
	plural	jnn	mnttn		mntw
stative (‘pseudoparticiple’) endings1	singular	.kw, .k	.tj, .tw		∅, .w, .y	.tj, .tw
	plural	.nw	.tn		∅, .w, .y
	unmarked (later)	∅, .tw
proclitic (‘subject form’) pronouns	singular	tw.j	tw.k	tw.t	sw	st, sw
	plural	tw.n	tw.tn		st, sw, swt
Only in formal texts, especially religious texts.

Alternative forms

See under the enclitic pronoun above.

Etymology 2

Noun

 m

1. used with an ordinal number, indicates a day of the month [since the Middle Kingdom]

   ― sw snnw ― the second day of the month

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of sw  

sw	sw	sw	sw	s	sw	sw	sw
			[Middle Kingdom]	[New Kingdom]	[Late Period]	[Late Period]	[Late Period]
This was the usual writing before the Late Period.

Descendants

• Coptic: ⲥⲟⲩ- (sou-)

See also

• hrw

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 51, 107, 116.
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 77

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English zoo.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /suː/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /zuː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

sw m (plural sŵau, not mutable)

1. zoo

Derived terms

• fformat sw (“zoo format”)
• Sw Mynydd Cymru (“Welsh Mountain Zoo”)

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “sw”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Zhuang

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θɯ˨˦/
• Tone numbers: sw¹
• Hyphenation: sw

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *sɯːᴬ (“writing; book”), from Middle Chinese 書 (MC syo, “writing; book”). Cognate with Lao ສື (sư̄), Thai สือ (sʉ̌ʉ).

Noun

sw (1957–1982 spelling sɯ)

1. (dialectal) (Chinese) character

   Synonym: saw

2. (dialectal) book

   Synonym: saw

Etymology 2

From Chinese 輸 (MC syu).

Verb

sw (1957–1982 spelling sɯ)

1. (dialectal) to lose

   Synonym: saw

Etymology 3

Noun

sw (Sawndip form ⿰犭書, 1957–1982 spelling sɯ)

1. (dialectal) tiger

   Synonym: guk

Derived terms

• swbeuq