ḥsb

See also: hsb

Egyptian

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛsɛb/
- Conventional anglicization: heseb

Etymology 1

Verb

3-lit.

(transitive) to break apart [Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts]

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
ḥsb	ḥsbw, ḥsb	ḥsbt	ḥsb	ḥsb

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
aspect / mood	active	passive	aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	ḥsbw, ḥsb	consecutive	ḥsb.jn	active + .tj¹, .tw²
perfect	ḥsb.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²
terminative	ḥsbt
perfective³	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	ḥsb.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
imperfective	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	ḥsb.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	ḥsb	ḥsbb	potentialis¹	ḥsb.kꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²
subjunctive	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
aspect / mood	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²	—	—
perfective	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²	ḥsb	ḥsb, ḥsbw⁵, ḥsby⁵
imperfective	ḥsb, ḥsby, ḥsbw⁵	active + .tj¹, .tw²	ḥsb, ḥsbj⁶, ḥsby⁶	ḥsb, ḥsbw⁵
prospective	ḥsb, ḥsbtj⁷	—	ḥsbtj⁴, ḥsbt⁴
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.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb

ḥsb

Noun

m

(medicine) bone fracture

Inflection

Declension of ḥsb (masculine)

singular	ḥsb
dual	ḥsbwj
plural	ḥsbw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb

ḥsb

abbreviation

Noun

**Egyptian numbers ^(edit)**
← 3	𓏽 4	5 →
Cardinal: jfdw Ordinal: jfdnw Adverbial: jfdw zpw Distributive: jfdw jfdw Fractional: r jfdw, ḥsb

m

a quarter, one fourth (in general)
one quarter of a sṯꜣt (“aroura”) (equivalent to about 0.07 hectares)

Inflection

Declension of ḥsb (masculine)

singular	ḥsb
dual	ḥsbwj
plural	ḥsbw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb

ḥsp

[Greco-Roman Period]

Etymology 2

Compare Arabic حَسَبَ (ḥasaba, “to calculate, to count”), Hebrew חָשַׁב (ḥāšaḇ, “to think”), and Classical Syriac ܚܫܒ (“to think, to count, to calculate”). Alternatively identical in origin to the above word (‘to break apart’, etc.) by metaphorical extension; see the usage note below.

Verb

3-lit.

(transitive or rarely intransitive) to determine the number of (something); to count or calculate, to reckon
(transitive) to enumerate, to count out in series
(transitive) to reckon with or settle up with (an offender) by inflicting punishment; to get even with, to exact merited retribution on
(transitive) to pay back or punish (an evil deed)
(transitive, usually negated) to value, to care something for, to esteem (something)

Usage notes

It has been hypothesized that the calculation operations represented by ḥsb are distinct from those represented by jp in that ḥsb prototypically expresses reckoning by means of repeatedly breaking into halves, while jp prototypically expresses reckoning by means of counting operations.^[1]

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
ḥsb	ḥsbw, ḥsb	ḥsbt	ḥsb	ḥsb

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
aspect / mood	active	passive	aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	ḥsbw, ḥsb	consecutive	ḥsb.jn	active + .tj¹, .tw²
perfect	ḥsb.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²
terminative	ḥsbt
perfective³	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	ḥsb.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
imperfective	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	ḥsb.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	ḥsb	ḥsbb	potentialis¹	ḥsb.kꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²
subjunctive	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
aspect / mood	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	ḥsb.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²	—	—
perfective	ḥsb	active + .tj¹, .tw²	ḥsb	ḥsb, ḥsbw⁵, ḥsby⁵
imperfective	ḥsb, ḥsby, ḥsbw⁵	active + .tj¹, .tw²	ḥsb, ḥsbj⁶, ḥsby⁶	ḥsb, ḥsbw⁵
prospective	ḥsb, ḥsbtj⁷	—	ḥsbtj⁴, ḥsbt⁴
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.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb

ḥsb

[Old Kingdom]

[Middle Kingdom]

[since the Middle Kingdom]

abbreviation

Derived terms

References

Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1929) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 3, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 166.6–167.15
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, pages 177–178
Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, pages 3, 157
Palma, Helena Lopez (2015) “Egyptian Fractional Numerals: The grammar of Egyptian NPs and statements with fractional number expressions” in Lingua Aegyptia, volume 23, pages 197–228

^ Palma, Helena Lopez (2015) “Egyptian Fractional Numerals: The grammar of Egyptian NPs and statements with fractional number expressions” in Lingua Aegyptia, volume 23, page 199, note 4

[1] Palma, Helena Lopez (2015) “Egyptian Fractional Numerals: The grammar of Egyptian NPs and statements with fractional number expressions” in Lingua Aegyptia, volume 23, page 199, note 4

[1]