ḥsb

See also: hsb

Egyptian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (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 perfect ḥsb.n ḥsbw, ḥsb consecutive ḥsb.jn active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 terminative ḥsbt perfective3 ḥsb active + .tj1, .tw2 obligative1 ḥsb.ḫr active + .tj1, .tw2 imperfective ḥsb active + .tj1, .tw2 prospective3 ḥsb ḥsbb potentialis1 ḥsb.kꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 subjunctive ḥsb active + .tj1, .tw2 verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles 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 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 forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb  

ḥsb

Noun

 m

1. (medicine) bone fracture

Inflection

Declension of ḥsb (masculine)

singular	ḥsb
dual	ḥsbwj
plural	ḥsbw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb  

ḥsb	ḥsb
abbreviation	abbreviation

Noun

Egyptian numbers ^(edit)

←  3	𓏽 4	5  →
Cardinal: jfdw     Ordinal: jfdnw     Adverbial: jfdw zpw     Distributive: jfdw jfdw     Fractional: r jfdw, ḥsb

 m

1. a quarter, one fourth (in general)
2. 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	ḥsp
[Greco-Roman Period]	[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.

1. (transitive or rarely intransitive) to determine the number of (something); to count or calculate, to reckon
2. (transitive) to enumerate, to count out in series
3. (transitive) to reckon with or settle up with (an offender) by inflicting punishment; to get even with, to exact merited retribution on
4. (transitive) to pay back or punish (an evil deed)
5. (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.

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 perfect ḥsb.n ḥsbw, ḥsb consecutive ḥsb.jn active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 terminative ḥsbt perfective3 ḥsb active + .tj1, .tw2 obligative1 ḥsb.ḫr active + .tj1, .tw2 imperfective ḥsb active + .tj1, .tw2 prospective3 ḥsb ḥsbb potentialis1 ḥsb.kꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 subjunctive ḥsb active + .tj1, .tw2 verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles 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 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 forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥsb  

ḥsb	ḥsb	ḥsb	ḥsb	ḥsb
[Old Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]
			abbreviation	abbreviation

Derived terms

• nt-ḥsb
• rnpt-ḥsb
• ḥsbw

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