Egyptian
Etymology
s- (causative prefix) + sn (“to smell, to kiss”).
Pronunciation
Verb
caus. 2-lit.
- (transitive or intransitive, of a person or a nose) to breathe [since the Pyramid Texts]
- (transitive) to smell (a scent) [since the Pyramid Texts]
Usage notes
By the Late Period, snsn (“to smell, to inhale”) began to replace this word.
Inflection
Conjugation of ssn (causative biliteral / caus. 2-lit. / caus. 2rad.) — base stem: ssn
| infinitival forms
|
imperative
|
| infinitive
|
negatival complement
|
complementary infinitive1
|
singular
|
plural
|
ssnt, ssn
|
ssnw, ssn
|
ssnt
|
ssn
|
ssn
|
| ‘pseudoverbal’ forms
|
| stative stem
|
periphrastic imperfective2
|
periphrastic prospective2
|
ssn
|
ḥr ssn
|
m ssn
|
r ssn
|
| suffix conjugation
|
| aspect / mood
|
active
|
passive
|
contingent
|
| aspect / mood
|
active
|
passive
|
| perfect
|
ssn.n
|
ssnw, ssn
|
consecutive
|
ssn.jn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| terminative
|
ssnt
|
| perfective3
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
obligative1
|
ssn.ḫr
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| imperfective
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| prospective3
|
ssnw, ssn, ssny
|
ssnw, ssn, ssny
|
potentialis1
|
ssn.kꜣ
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| subjunctive
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| verbal adjectives
|
| aspect / mood
|
relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms
|
participles
|
| active
|
passive
|
active
|
passive
|
| perfect
|
ssn.n
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
—
|
—
|
| perfective
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
ssn
|
ssn, ssnw5, ssny5
|
| imperfective
|
ssn, ssny, ssnw5
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
ssn, ssnj6, ssny6
|
ssn, ssnw5
|
| prospective
|
ssn, ssntj7
|
—
|
ssnwtj1 4, ssntj4, ssnt4
|
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.
|
Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ssn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ssn
|
ssnj
|
ssnj
|
ssn
|
ssn
|
ssn
|
[since the Pyramid Texts;
common since the Middle Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
Derived terms
References
- Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1930) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache[1], volume 4, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 277.9–277.16
- Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 245
Tashelhit
Etymology
From Proto-Berber.
Verb
ssn (Tifinagh spelling ⵙⵙⵏ)
- to know
- tawsna (“science”)
- tussna (“knowledge”)