ḥꜥw

See also: ḫꜥw

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɑːuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: hau

Noun

 m

1. flesh of a body, sometimes as opposed to bones or organs
2. body of a person or god
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 62–66:

     n(j)-sw mꜥbꜣ mḥ ḫbzwt.f wr s(j) r mḥ snwj ḥꜥw.f sḫr.w m nbw jnḥwj.fj m ḫsbd mꜣꜥ ꜥrq sw r ḫnt

     He measured (literally, “belonged to”) thirty cubits, his beard, it was greater than two cubits, his body was plated with gold, his eyebrows were true lapis lazuli, and he was arched forward.

3. (rare) body of an animal
4. (with attached suffix pronoun) -self [since the Middle Kingdom]
5. (in the plural) body parts, limbs (collectively)

Inflection

Declension of ḥꜥw (masculine)

singular	ḥꜥw
dual	ḥꜥwj
plural	ḥꜥw

The singular and plural are generally indistinguishable in writing and interchangeable in meaning, so that only grammatical agreement allows one to distinguish between them.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥꜥw  

ḥꜥ

Descendants

• Coptic: ϩⲱⲱ⸗ (hōō⸗)

Noun

 m

1. fleet of ships [Middle Kingdom]
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 146–148:

     dj.j jn.t(w) n.k ḥꜥw ꜣtp.w ẖr špssw nb n(j) kmt mj jrrt n nṯr mrr r(m)ṯ m tꜣ wꜣ nj rḫ sw r(m)ṯ

     I will have them bring you a fleet laden with every finery of Egypt, like what is done for a god beloved by people in a faraway land people don’t know.

Inflection

Declension of ḥꜥw (masculine)

singular	ḥꜥw
dual	ḥꜥwwj
plural	ḥꜥww

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥꜥw  

ḥꜥw

Related terms

• ꜥḥꜥw (“flotilla”)

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1929) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 3, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 37.5–39.14
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 164
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 140, 271, 312.