sjnj

Egyptian

Etymology

Possibly from s- (causative prefix) +‎ jnj (“to delay”); however, the intransitivity of this verb speaks against it being a causative.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

 4ae inf. or caus. 3ae inf.

1. (intransitive) to hesitate, to wait (+ n: to wait for)

Inflection

Conjugation of sjnj (fourth weak / 4ae inf. / IV. inf.) — base stem: sjn

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
sjnt, sjnj	sjnw, sjnyw, sjn	sjnt, sjnwt, sjnyt	sjn	sjn, sjny

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective2		periphrastic prospective2
sjn8	ḥr sjnt, ḥr sjnj	m sjnt, ḥr sjnj	r sjnt, ḥr sjnj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
		aspect / mood	active
perfect	sjn.n	consecutive	sjn.jn
terminative	sjnt
perfective3	sjn	obligative1	sjn.ḫr
imperfective	sjn, sjny
prospective3	sjnw, sjn, sjny	potentialis1	sjn.kꜣ
subjunctive	sjn, sjny

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
	active	active	passive
perfect	sjn.n	—	—
perfective	sjnw1, sjny, sjn	sjn	sjny, sjn
imperfective	sjn, sjny, sjnw5	sjn, sjnj6, sjny6	sjn, sjnw5
prospective	sjnw1, sjny, sjn, sjntj7	sjnwtj1 4, sjntj4, sjnt4
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. Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.

Sometimes this verb is interpreted as a causative; see the etymology section above:

Conjugation of sjnj (causative third weak / caus. 3ae inf. / caus. III. inf.) — base stem: sjn, geminated stem: sjnn

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
sjnt, sjnj	sjnw, sjn	sjnt, sjnwt, sjnyt	sjn	sjn, sjny

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective2		periphrastic prospective2
sjn	ḥr sjnt, ḥr sjnj	m sjnt, m sjnj	r sjnt, r sjnj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	sjn.n	sjnw, sjn, sjny	consecutive	sjn.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	sjnt
perfective3	sjn	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	sjn.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	sjn, sjny	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	sjnw, sjn, sjny	sjnw, sjn, sjny	potentialis1	sjn.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	sjn, sjny	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	sjn.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	sjnw1, sjny, sjn	active + .tj1, .tw2	sjn	sjny, sjn
imperfective	sjnn, sjnny, sjnnw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	sjnn, sjnnj6, sjnny6	sjnn, sjnnw5
prospective	sjnw1, sjny, sjn, sjntj7	—	sjnwtj1 4, sjntj4, sjnt4
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.

References

• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 119
• Gardiner, Alan H. (1911) “‘To wait for’ in Egyptian” in Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, vol. 49, pages 100–102