zꜣw

Egyptian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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

Noun

 m

1. magician, wizard, sorcerer [since the Middle Kingdom]
   • c. 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, 99, 2-4:

     jr nw rḏjw zjnw nb sḫmt-wꜥb
     nb zꜣw nb ꜥwj ḏbꜥw.f ḥr tp ḥr mkḥꜣ ḥr ḏrwt ḥr st jb ḥr
     ꜥwj ḥr rdwj nb ḫꜣ.f n ḥꜣtj

     As for these [the blood vessels], if any doctor, any wab-priest of Sekhmet,
     or any magician places two hands or his fingers on the head, or on the back of the head, or on the hands, or on the place of the heart, or on
     the two arms, or on each of the two legs, he examines the heart [i.e. the pulse].

Inflection

Declension of zꜣw (masculine)

singular	zꜣw
dual	zꜣwwj
plural	zꜣww

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

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

Verb

 3ae inf.

1. (transitive) to guard, to protect
2. (reflexive) to beware, to guard oneself against
3. (transitive, in a noun clause, with a subjunctive verb as object) lest
   • 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

     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.

Inflection

Conjugation of zꜣw (third weak / 3ae inf. / III. inf.) — base stem: zꜣ, geminated stem: zꜣꜣ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
zꜣt, zꜣj	zꜣw, zꜣ	zꜣt, zꜣwt, zꜣyt	zꜣ	zꜣ, zꜣy

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective2		periphrastic prospective2
zꜣ8, zꜣꜣ8	ḥr zꜣt, ḥr zꜣj	m zꜣt, m zꜣj	r zꜣt, r zꜣj

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	zꜣ.n	zꜣw, zꜣ, zꜣy	consecutive	zꜣ.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	zꜣt, zꜣyt
perfective3	zꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	zꜣ.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	zꜣ, zꜣy	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	zꜣw, zꜣ, zꜣy	zꜣw, zꜣ, zꜣy	potentialis1	zꜣ.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	zꜣ, zꜣy	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	zꜣ.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	zꜣw1, zꜣy, zꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2	zꜣ	zꜣy, zꜣ
imperfective	zꜣꜣ, zꜣꜣy, zꜣꜣw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	zꜣꜣ, zꜣꜣj6, zꜣꜣy6	zꜣꜣ, zꜣꜣw5
prospective	zꜣw1, zꜣy, zꜣ, zꜣtj7	—	zꜣwtj1 4, zꜣtj4, zꜣt4
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.

Derived terms

• zꜣ-pr
• zꜣ-nḫt

Etymology 3

Most likely derived from a form of the verb zꜣw (“to guard, to protect”), perhaps via an earlier form *zꜣjw, for which see the reconstructed pronunciation.

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈzuʀjVw/ → /ˈsuʀjVw/ → /ˈsuʔjə/ → /ˈsøʔjə/

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

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

Proper noun

  m./f. topo.

1. Saïs, a city in Lower Egypt

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of zꜣw  

zꜣy	zꜣ
[20th Dynasty]	[New Kingdom]
from Papyrus Chester Beatty I

Descendants

• → Neo-Assyrian: 𒌷𒊓𒀀𒀀 (^ālusa-a-a /⁠*saya⁠/)
• → Ancient Greek: Σάϊς (Sáïs)
  • Greek: Σάις (Sáis)
  • → Latin: Saïs
• Demotic: sy
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲥⲁ (sa)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲁⲓ (sai)

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 156, 257.
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1929) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 3, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, page 420.1
• Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 182
• Erichsen, Wolja (1954) Demotisches Glossar, Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard, page 408
• Janet H. Johnson, editor (2001), The Demotic Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago‎^[2], volume S (13.1), Chicago: The University of Chicago, page 44