ḫsf

See also: HSF

Egyptian

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈχaːsaf/ → /ˈχaːsaf/ → /ˈχaːsəf/ → /ˈχoːsəf/

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

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

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (transitive) to bar, to thwart, to fend off (+ ḥr: to prevent from doing)
2. (intransitive) to punish (+ n: to punish (someone))
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 2.1–2.2:

     
     
     

     (j)m ꜥꜣ jb.k ḥr ḫpš m ḥr(j) jb ḏꜣmw.k zꜣw jtn.k nj rḫ.n.tw ḫprt jrrt nṯr ḫft ḫsf.f

     Don’t grow arrogant (lit. don’t make your heart big) on account of (your) strength in the midst of your cohort, lest you be challenged. One cannot know what might come to be or what the god might do when he punishes.

   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Ptahhotep (pPrisse/pBN 186–194) lines 6.1–6.2 (74–77):

     
     
     
     

     jr gm.k ḏꜣjsw m ꜣt.f m ḥwrw nj js mjtw.k m ꜣd(w) jb.k r.f ḫft ẖzz.f jmj sw r tꜣ ḫsf.f n.f ḏs.f

     If you find a disputant in the act who is an inferior and not your equal, don’t let yourself rage at him in accordance with his being wretched; set him aside (literally, “to the earth”) and he himself will punish himself.

3. (intransitive, with r) to oppose

   ― jm ḫsf r.j ― Do not oppose me.

Inflection

Conjugation of ḫsf (triliteral / 3-lit. / 3rad.) — base stem: ḫsf, geminated stem: ḫsff

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
ḫsf	ḫsfw, ḫsf	ḫsft	ḫsf	ḫsf

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective2		periphrastic prospective2
ḫsf	ḥr ḫsf	m ḫsf	r ḫsf

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	ḫsf.n	ḫsfw, ḫsf	consecutive	ḫsf.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	ḫsft
perfective3	ḫsf	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	ḫsf.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	ḫsf	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	ḫsf	ḫsff	potentialis1	ḫsf.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	ḫsf	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	ḫsf.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	ḫsf	active + .tj1, .tw2	ḫsf	ḫsf, ḫsfw5, ḫsfy5
imperfective	ḫsf, ḫsfy, ḫsfw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	ḫsf, ḫsfj6, ḫsfy6	ḫsf, ḫsfw5
prospective	ḫsf, ḫsftj7	—	ḫsftj4, ḫsft4
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 ḫsf  

ḫsb	ḫsf
[Pyramid Texts]

Derived terms

• ḫsf ꜣt

 

Descendants

• Akhmimic Coptic: ⳉⲱⲥϥ (xōsf)
• Bohairic Coptic: ϣⲱϣϥ (šōšf)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲱϣϥ (sōšf)

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 173, 218, 388.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, pages 134, 147