ḥfꜣt

Egyptian

Etymology

ḥfꜣw (“snake”) +‎ -t (“feminine suffix”).

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ħaˈfaːʀat/ → /ħaˈfaːʀaʔ/ → /ħəˈfaːʔə/ → /ħəˈfoːʔ/

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

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛfɑt/
  • Conventional anglicization: hefat

Noun

 f

1. (female) snake

Inflection

Declension of ḥfꜣt (feminine a-stem)

singular	ḥfꜣt
dual	ḥfꜣtj
plural	ḥfꜣwt

Descendants

• Akhmimic Coptic: ϩⲃⲟⲩ (hbou)
• Bohairic Coptic: ϩϥⲱ (hfō)
• Fayyumic Coptic: ϩⲃⲱ (hbō)
• Lycopolitan Coptic: ϩⲃⲱ (hbō)
• Sahidic Coptic: ϩϥⲱ (hfō), ϩⲃⲱ (hbō)

Proper noun

 f

1. a settlement in Egypt at what is now El Mo'alla

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 38, 214.