pꜣw

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /pɑuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: pau

Verb

 3ae inf.

1. (catenative, with a verb in the infinitive) to have done in the past, to have once done

Usage notes

This verb is often negated with nj to mean “not once” or “never yet (has it happened that...)”.

Inflection

Conjugation of pꜣw (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: pꜣ, geminated stem: pꜣꜣ

infinitival forms imperative infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural pꜣt, pꜣj pꜣw, pꜣ pꜣt, pꜣwt, pꜣyt pꜣ pꜣ, pꜣy ‘pseudoverbal’ forms stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2 pꜣ8, pꜣꜣ8 ḥr pꜣt, ḥr pꜣj m pꜣt, m pꜣj r pꜣt, r pꜣj suffix conjugation aspect / mood active passive contingent aspect / mood active passive perfect pꜣ.n pꜣw, pꜣ, pꜣy consecutive pꜣ.jn active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 terminative pꜣt, pꜣyt perfective3 pꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 obligative1 pꜣ.ḫr active + .tj1, .tw2 imperfective pꜣ, pꜣy active + .tj1, .tw2 prospective3 pꜣw, pꜣ, pꜣy pꜣw, pꜣ, pꜣy potentialis1 pꜣ.kꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 subjunctive pꜣ, pꜣy active + .tj1, .tw2 verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles active passive active passive perfect pꜣ.n active + .tj1, .tw2 — — perfective pꜣw1, pꜣy, pꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 pꜣ pꜣy, pꜣ imperfective pꜣꜣ, pꜣꜣy, pꜣꜣw5 active + .tj1, .tw2 pꜣꜣ, pꜣꜣj6, pꜣꜣy6 pꜣꜣ, pꜣꜣw5 prospective pꜣw1, pꜣy, pꜣ, pꜣtj7 — pꜣwtj1 4, pꜣtj4, pꜣt4 1 Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. 2 Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. 3 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. 4 Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. 5 Only in the masculine singular. 6 Only in the masculine. 7 Only in the feminine. 8 Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of pꜣw  

pꜣw	pꜣw	pꜣw
		[chiefly Old Kingdom]

Pronoun

 demonstrative pronoun

1. (Late Egyptian) this, that, these, those

Usage notes

This demonstrative is unmarked for gender and number, and can either be used independently or to introduce a relative clause.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns1	adverbs
	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
proximal to speaker	pn	tn	*jpnj	jptnj, jptntj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	*jptfj, *jptftj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, p	tj, tw	jpwj	jptwj, jptwtj	jpw	jptw, jptwt	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ

¹ 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
	singular		plural1
	masculine	feminine
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’ and vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ

¹ 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 determiners1	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ2
indefinite articles	wꜥ2		nhꜣy2

¹ Used with suffix pronouns.
² Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

References

• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 87
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 270.
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, page 494.18
• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 53