gs-tp

Egyptian

FWOTD – 8 October 2018

Etymology

gs (“half, side”) +‎ tp (“head”) in a direct genitive construction, thus ‘half of the head’ or ‘side of the head’.

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˌkʼasˈtʼap/ → /ˌkʼasˈtʼap/ → /kʼəsˈtʼap/ → /kʼəsˈtʼap/

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

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɡɛs tɛp/
  • Conventional anglicization: ges-tep

Noun

 m

1. migraine headache
   • c. 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, lines 47.14–47.15 (Eb 250):

     kt nt mrt m gs-tp ḏnnt nt nꜥr snwḫ ḥr mrḥt gs tp jm r jfdw hrw

     Another [remedy] for pain in a migraine: the skull of a catfish, boiled in oil/fat. Anoint the head in it over the course of four days.

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: ἡμικρανία (hēmikranía) (calque)
  • Greek: ημικρανία (imikranía)
  • → Latin: hemicrania
    • Old French: migraigne
      • → Middle English: megrim
        • English: migraine
        • English: megrim
      • French: migraine

References

• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 164