znj

Egyptian

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈziːnit/ → /ˈsiːniʔ/ → /ˈsiːna/ → /ˈsiːnə/

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

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

Verb

 3ae inf.

1. (transitive or intransitive) to pass by, to go beyond
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 8–10:

     pḥ.n.n pḥwj wꜣwꜣt zn.n.n znmwt

     We have reached the end of Lower Nubia, and we have passed by Bigeh.

2. (transitive) to surpass, to exceed
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 2.4–2.5:

     ḏr.n ḏd.n.f n.sn jr ntt nbt m zẖꜣ ḥr pꜣ šfdw sḏm st mj ḏd.j st (j)m zn ḥꜣw ḥr šꜣꜣt

     In the end he said to them: As for everything in the writing on this scroll, heed it as I say it; don’t exceed what has been set down.

3. (intransitive) to come to an end, to pass
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) line 124:

     ršwj sḏd dpt.n.f zn ḫt mr

     How joyful is he who recounts what he has experienced when a painful thing passes!

Inflection

Conjugation of znj (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: zn

infinitival forms imperative infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural znt, znj znw, zn znt, znwt, znyt zn zn, zny ‘pseudoverbal’ forms stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2 zn8 ḥr znt, ḥr znj m znt, m znj r znt, r znj suffix conjugation aspect / mood active passive contingent aspect / mood active passive perfect zn.n znw, zn, zny consecutive zn.jn active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 terminative znt, znyt perfective3 zn active + .tj1, .tw2 obligative1 zn.ḫr active + .tj1, .tw2 imperfective zn, zny active + .tj1, .tw2 prospective3 znw, zn, zny znw, zn, zny potentialis1 zn.kꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 subjunctive zn, zny active + .tj1, .tw2 verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles active passive active passive perfect zn.n active + .tj1, .tw2 — — perfective znw1, zny, zn active + .tj1, .tw2 zn zny, zn imperfective zn, zny, znw5 active + .tj1, .tw2 zn, znj6, zny6 zn, znw5 prospective znw1, zny, zn, zntj7 — znwtj1 4, zntj4, znt4 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. 8 Third-person masculine statives of this class often have a final -y instead of the expected stative ending.

Derived terms

• znj mnt
• znt

Descendants

• Demotic: sny
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲥⲓⲛⲓ (sini)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲓⲛⲉ (sine)

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 282.