ꜣw

Egyptian

Pronunciation

 

• (noun meaning ‘length’): (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ʀaw/ → /ʀaw/ → /ʔaw/ → /ʔaw/

• (noun meaning ‘length’): (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʀaw/
• (noun meaning ‘length’): (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʀaw/
• (noun meaning ‘length’): (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʔaw/
• (noun meaning ‘length’): (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʔaw/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: au

Noun

 m

1. extent, length, expanse (of space) [since the Middle Kingdom]
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 24–28:

     hꜣ.kw r wꜣḏ-wr m dpt nt št-mḏwtj mḥ m ꜣw.s ḥmw mḥ m sḫw.s št-mḏwtj sqd jm.s m stp n(j) kmt

     I had gone down to the sea in a boat of a hundred twenty cubits in length and forty cubits in breadth, with a hundred twenty sailors in it of the choice of Egypt.

2. (rare) length, duration (of time)

Usage notes

Many of the later writings of this word (particularly its temporal uses) may instead represent ꜣwt (“length, generally of time”), as the t fell silent by Late Egyptian; indeed, authors working with Late Egyptian commonly treat the two words as the same.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣw  

ꜣw	ꜣw	ꜣw	ꜣw	ꜣw	ꜣw

Derived terms

• r ꜣw
• m ꜣw

Related terms

• ꜣwj
• ꜣwt

Descendants

• Demotic: ꜥw
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲱⲟⲩ (ōou)

Noun

 m

1. death [Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and Greco-Roman Period]

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣw  

ꜣw	ꜣw
	[Greco-Roman Period]

Derived terms

• m ꜣw

Noun

 m

1. Alternative form of jw (“wrongdoing, evil”)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣw  

ꜣw	ꜣw
[Late Egyptian]	[Late Egyptian]

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 455.
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 4.10–4.14, 5.15, 5
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, pages 1–2
• Lesko, Leonard, Lesko, Barbara (2002) A Dictionary of Late Egyptian, second edition, volume 1, Providence: B.C. Scribe Publications, →ISBN, page 3
• Wilson, Penelope (1991) A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu, Liverpool: University of Liverpool, page 3