Egyptian
Etymology
s- (causative prefix) + sn (“to smell, to kiss”).
Pronunciation
Verb
caus. 2-lit.
- (transitive or intransitive, of a person or a nose) to breathe [since the Pyramid Texts]
- (transitive) to smell (a scent) [since the Pyramid Texts]
Usage notes
By the Late Period, snsn (“to smell, to inhale”) began to replace this word.
Inflection
Conjugation of ssn (causative biliteral / caus. 2-lit. / caus. 2rad.) — base stem: ssn
| infinitival forms
|
imperative
|
| infinitive
|
negatival complement
|
complementary infinitive1
|
singular
|
plural
|
ssnt, ssn
|
ssnw, ssn
|
ssnt
|
ssn
|
ssn
|
| ‘pseudoverbal’ forms
|
| stative stem
|
periphrastic imperfective2
|
periphrastic prospective2
|
ssn
|
ḥr ssn
|
m ssn
|
r ssn
|
| suffix conjugation
|
| aspect / mood
|
active
|
passive
|
contingent
|
| aspect / mood
|
active
|
passive
|
| perfect
|
ssn.n
|
ssnw, ssn
|
consecutive
|
ssn.jn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| terminative
|
ssnt
|
| perfective3
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
obligative1
|
ssn.ḫr
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| imperfective
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| prospective3
|
ssnw, ssn, ssny
|
ssnw, ssn, ssny
|
potentialis1
|
ssn.kꜣ
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| subjunctive
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
| verbal adjectives
|
| aspect / mood
|
relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms
|
participles
|
| active
|
passive
|
active
|
passive
|
| perfect
|
ssn.n
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
—
|
—
|
| perfective
|
ssn
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
ssn
|
ssn, ssnw5, ssny5
|
| imperfective
|
ssn, ssny, ssnw5
|
active + .tj1, .tw2
|
ssn, ssnj6, ssny6
|
ssn, ssnw5
|
| prospective
|
ssn, ssntj7
|
—
|
ssnwtj1 4, ssntj4, ssnt4
|
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 .snj, plural .sn.
5 Only in the masculine singular.
6 Only in the masculine.
7 Only in the feminine.
|
Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ssn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ssn
|
ssnj
|
ssnj
|
ssn
|
ssn
|
ssn
|
[since the Pyramid Texts;
common since the Middle Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
[since the New Kingdom]
|
Derived terms
References
- Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1930), Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache[1], volume 4, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 277.9–277.16
- Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962), A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 245
Tashelhit
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Berber *əssắn, the perfect of *isin[1], from earlier *iwsin ("to know"), ultimately from Proto-Afroasiatic [Term?] (“to know”).
Cognate with Zenaga ässən (“to know”), Ghadames ăssǝn (“to know”), Tuareg ə̀ssən (“to know”), Hausa sani (“to know”), Proto-Central Chadic *sɨn, and Egyptian swn (“to know, to recognize, to take note”).
Pronunciation
Verb
ssn (intensive aorist ttssn, verbal noun tawsna or tussna or assn or tamsna, Tifinagh spelling ⵙⵙⵏ, Arabic spelling سّن)
- to know
- Synonym: atun
مقّار يمژّي، ايسّن ي توّوري.- mqqar imẓẓi, issn i twwuri.
- although he's young, he knows how to work.
- to understand
ايس تسّنت آيلّي اك نّيغ.- is tssnt aylli ak nniġ.
- do you understand what I told you.
- to be able
آزنكُض يسّن باهرا ي تازّلا.- aznkʷḍ issn bahra i tazzla.
- the gazelle is capable of running very fast.
Derived terms
- amassn (“savant, scientist”)
- amwissn (“acquaintance”)
- mwissin (“to get to know each other”)
- tarassn (“ignorance”)
- tawsna (“science”)
- tussna (“knowledge”)
See also
- ara (“to write”)
- ddr (“to live”)
- ini (“to say”)
- lmd (“to learn”)
- ɣr (“to read”)
References
- ^ The Reconstruction of Proto-Berber 'to say', reconstructing the iCiC Light Verbs and the reflexes of Pre-Proto-Berber *w
- Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 3 m—š (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/3) (in French), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 2075