jwn

Egyptian

Etymology 1

Perhaps from a form such as Proto-Afroasiatic *lwn-; compare Arabic لَوْن (lawn, “color, type”), Ugaritic 𐎀𐎐 (ản, “pigment”).

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /jaˈwin/ → /jaˈwin/ → /ʔaˈwen/ → /ʔaˈwen/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /jaˈwin/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /jaˈwin/ (→ IPA^(key): /ʔaˈwin/^[1])
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈwen/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈwen/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /iuːn/
  • Conventional anglicization: iun

Noun

 m

1. color [since the Middle Kingdom]
2. complexion, skin color
3. (of a god) look, appearance
4. character, nature, sort

Inflection

singular	jwn
dual	jwnwj
plural	jwnw

Declension of jwn (masculine)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jwn  

jwn	jwn	jwn	jn	jnw	jnmm	jwn	jwn
[Middle Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[18th Dynasty]	[since the 18th Dynasty]	[19th and 20th Dynasty]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]
						abbreviation	abbreviation

Derived terms

• jwn-n-pt

 

Descendants

• Demotic: jwn
  • Akhmimic Coptic: ⲉⲟⲩⲉⲛ (eouen)
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲁⲟⲩⲁⲛ (aouan)
  • Fayyumic Coptic: ⲁⲟⲩⲏⲛ (aouēn), ⲁⲩⲁⲛ (auan)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲁⲩⲁⲛ (auan), ⲁⲩⲉⲓⲛ (auein)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /iuːn/
  • Conventional anglicization: iun

Noun

 m

1. pillar, column
2. one of the mythical pillars seen as holding up the sky
3. (figuratively) person upon whom someone or something else depends; crucial supporter, maintainer, sustainer, succorer

Inflection

singular	jwn
dual	jwnwj
plural	jwnw

Declension of jwn (masculine)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jwn  

jwn	jwn	jwn	jwn
	[18th Dynasty]	[19th Dynasty]	[Greco-Roman Period]
	in hieratic

Derived terms

• jwnj
• jwnyt
• jwnw
• jwn-mwt.f
• jwn n fnḏ
• jwn-ḥꜥꜥ
• jwn-knmwt
• jwnt

 

Noun

 m

1. ‘the Pillar’, ‘the Succorer’ as an epithet for gods, in the Greco-Roman Period especially for Osiris

Inflection

singular	jwn
dual	jwnwj
plural	jwnw

Declension of jwn (masculine)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jwn  

jwn	jwn	jwn

Derived terms

• jwnw

 

Noun

 m

1. air or wind, seen as a support holding up the sky [Pyramid Texts and Greco-Roman Period]

Inflection

singular	jwn
dual	jwnwj
plural	jwnw

Declension of jwn (masculine)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jwn  

jwn	jwn
[Old Kingdom]	[Greco-Roman Period]

Derived terms

• jwn-wr

 

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /iuːn/
  • Conventional anglicization: iun

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (transitive) to unite (something) (+ n: with (something else)) [Pyramid Texts]
2. (intransitive, with n or ḥnꜥ) to join (someone) [Pyramid Texts]
3. (in the stative) together [Pyramid Texts]

Inflection

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
jwn	jwnw, jwn	jwnt	jwn	jwn

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	jwn.n	jwnw, jwn	consecutive	jwn.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	jwnt
perfective3	jwn	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	jwn.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	jwn	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	jwn	jwnn	potentialis1	jwn.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	jwn	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	jwn.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	jwn	active + .tj1, .tw2	jwn	jwn, jwnw5, jwny5
imperfective	jwn, jwny, jwnw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	jwn, jwnj6, jwny6	jwn, jwnw5
prospective	jwn, jwntj7	—	jwntj4, jwnt4
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.

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

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jwn  

jwn	jwn

References

• “jwn (lemma ID 22570)”, “jwn (lemma ID 22610)”, “jwn (lemma ID 22620)”, “jwn (lemma ID 22600)”, and “jwn (lemma ID 22590)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎, Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 52.7–52.20, 53.3–53.18
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 13
• Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 19

1. Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 31, 35