swꜣj

Egyptian

FWOTD – 3 June 2020

Etymology 1

Compare Hebrew שׁור (“to journey”), Arabic سَارَ (sāra, “to depart, travel”).

Pronunciation

(reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈsiwʀit/ → /ˈsiwʀiʔ/ → /ˈseʔja/ → /ˈseʔjə/

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /suːɑi/
- Conventional anglicization: suai

Verb

4ae inf.

(intransitive) to go past, to physically pass (+ ḥr: to pass by (a person, place, or afterworldly being); also, to pass through (a gate), to pass along (a path); + r: to)
- c. 1859 BCE – 1840 BCE, The Story of Sinuhe, version B (pBerlin 3022 and pAmherst n-q) lines 14–15:
  
  swꜣ.n.j ḥr jꜣbtjw jkw [m ḥryt] nb[t]-ḏw-(d)š(r)
  I passed by the east side of the Tura quarry [above] the Lad[y] of the Red Mountain.
(transitive, uncommon) to go past, to pass by (someone or something)
(transitive, uncommon) to overtake, to pass (someone moving in the same direction)
(intransitive, with ḥr) to stop by at, to visit in passing, to drop in on (a tomb, sacrificial altar, statue, or other place to remember the dead)

(intransitive) to come to an end, to pass

c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.6–1.7:

ẖz pw ḥnt n ẖt.f swꜣ tr smḫ.n.f wstn ẖt m pr.sn
He who is greedy for the sake of his belly when the proper time passes, having forgotten those in whose house his belly roams free, is a wretch.^[1]

c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.7–1.8:

jr ḥms.k ḥnꜥ ꜣfꜥ wnm.k ꜣḫf.f swꜣ(.w)

If you sit with a glutton, you should eat when his burning appetite has passed.

(intransitive, euphemistic) to die, to pass away
(intransitive, with ḥr) to pass over, to overlook, to take no heed of (people, laws, etc.)
(intransitive, with ḥr, of information) to escape (one’s) knowledge, to slip past (someone)

Inflection

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

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
swꜣt, swꜣj	swꜣw, swꜣyw, swꜣ	swꜣt, swꜣwt, swꜣyt	swꜣ	swꜣ, swꜣy

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
swꜣ⁸	ḥr swꜣt, ḥr swꜣj	m swꜣt, ḥr swꜣj	r swꜣt, ḥr swꜣj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
aspect / mood	active	passive	aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	swꜣ.n	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	consecutive	swꜣ.jn	active + .tj¹, .tw²
perfect	swꜣ.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²
terminative	swꜣt
perfective³	swꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	swꜣ.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
imperfective	swꜣ, swꜣy	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	swꜣ.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	swꜣ	potentialis¹	swꜣ.kꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	active + .tj¹, .tw²
subjunctive	swꜣ, swꜣy	active + .tj¹, .tw²

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
aspect / mood	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	swꜣ.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²	—	—
perfective	swꜣw¹, swꜣy, swꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²	swꜣ	swꜣy, swꜣ
imperfective	swꜣ, swꜣy, swꜣw⁵	active + .tj¹, .tw²	swꜣ, swꜣj⁶, swꜣy⁶	swꜣ, swꜣw⁵
prospective	swꜣw¹, swꜣy, swꜣ, swꜣtj⁷	—	swꜣwtj^{1 4}, swꜣtj⁴, swꜣt⁴
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.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of swꜣj

swꜣj

[since the Pyramid Texts]

[Middle Kingdom]

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of swꜣj

swꜣj

[Middle Kingdom]

[since the Middle Kingdom]

[18th Dynasty]

in hieratic

abbreviation

Etymology 2

s- (causative prefix) +‎ wꜣj (“to be far”).

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /sɛwɑi/
- Conventional anglicization: sewai

Verb

caus. 3ae inf.

(transitive) to keep or drive (someone) away, to remove (someone) (+ m: from (a place)) [since the Pyramid Texts]
(transitive) to drive away (darkness or night) [Greco-Roman Period]

Inflection

Conjugation of swꜣj (causative third weak / caus. 3ae inf. / caus. III. inf.) — base stem: swꜣ, geminated stem: swꜣꜣ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
swꜣt, swꜣj	swꜣw, swꜣ	swꜣt, swꜣwt, swꜣyt	swꜣ	swꜣ, swꜣy

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
swꜣ	ḥr swꜣt, ḥr swꜣj	m swꜣt, m swꜣj	r swꜣt, r swꜣj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
aspect / mood	active	passive	aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	swꜣ.n	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	consecutive	swꜣ.jn	active + .tj¹, .tw²
perfect	swꜣ.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²
terminative	swꜣt
perfective³	swꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	swꜣ.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
imperfective	swꜣ, swꜣy	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	swꜣ.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	potentialis¹	swꜣ.kꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	swꜣw, swꜣ, swꜣy	active + .tj¹, .tw²
subjunctive	swꜣ, swꜣy	active + .tj¹, .tw²

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
aspect / mood	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	swꜣ.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²	—	—
perfective	swꜣw¹, swꜣy, swꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²	swꜣ	swꜣy, swꜣ
imperfective	swꜣꜣ, swꜣꜣy, swꜣꜣw⁵	active + .tj¹, .tw²	swꜣꜣ, swꜣꜣj⁶, swꜣꜣy⁶	swꜣꜣ, swꜣꜣw⁵
prospective	swꜣw¹, swꜣy, swꜣ, swꜣtj⁷	—	swꜣwtj^{1 4}, swꜣtj⁴, swꜣt⁴
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.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of swꜣj

swꜣj

[Greco-Roman Period]

References

“swꜣi̯ (lemma ID 129740)” and “swꜣi̯ (lemma ID 129800)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎^[1], Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1930) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 4, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 60.5–61.20
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 216
James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 36, 242, 255, 262.
Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 129

^ The latter part of this sentence is ambiguous and can be interpreted in numerous ways. Both swꜣ tr (“(when) the proper time passes”) and smḫ.n .f wstn ẖt m pr .sn (“he has forgotten/having forgotten…, etc.”) may be taken either as adverbial clauses (as rendered here) or main clauses. Furthermore, if wstn is taken as a participle rather than a relative form, the phrase it introduces could mean ‘he whose belly roams free at home’ rather than ‘those in whose house his belly roams free’; in this case the preceding perfect verb form smḫ.n demands a different interpretation. One possible solution is to read it with a counterfactual meaning ‘would that he forgot…’ instead of ‘he has forgotten…’; this is substantially the tack taken in Simpson 2003, The Literature of Ancient Egypt. Such counterfactual uses of the bare perfect are, however, rare. Another solution is that taken in Allen 2015, Middle Egyptian Literature, who reinterprets smḫ.n.f as smḫ nf (“those forget…”), taking nf as a pronoun referring to the “multitude” mentioned several sentences prior. This proposed antecedent is, however, far enough removed as to make such an interpretation doubtful.

[1] The latter part of this sentence is ambiguous and can be interpreted in numerous ways. Both swꜣ tr (“(when) the proper time passes”) and smḫ.n .f wstn ẖt m pr .sn (“he has forgotten/having forgotten…, etc.”) may be taken either as adverbial clauses (as rendered here) or main clauses. Furthermore, if wstn is taken as a participle rather than a relative form, the phrase it introduces could mean ‘he whose belly roams free at home’ rather than ‘those in whose house his belly roams free’; in this case the preceding perfect verb form smḫ.n demands a different interpretation. One possible solution is to read it with a counterfactual meaning ‘would that he forgot…’ instead of ‘he has forgotten…’; this is substantially the tack taken in Simpson 2003, The Literature of Ancient Egypt. Such counterfactual uses of the bare perfect are, however, rare. Another solution is that taken in Allen 2015, Middle Egyptian Literature, who reinterprets smḫ.n.f as smḫ nf (“those forget…”), taking nf as a pronoun referring to the “multitude” mentioned several sentences prior. This proposed antecedent is, however, far enough removed as to make such an interpretation doubtful.

[1]