kmm

Egyptian

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /kɛmɛm/
- Conventional anglicization: kemem

Verb

2ae gem.

(intransitive) to be(come) black

Inflection

Conjugation of kmm (second geminate / 2ae gem. / II. gem.) — base stem: km, geminated stem: kmm

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
kmm⁸	kmm	kmmt	kmm, km	kmm, km

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
kmm, km	ḥr kmm	m kmm	r kmm

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
aspect / mood	active	aspect / mood	active
perfect	kmm.n, km.n	consecutive	km.jn
terminative	kmmt	consecutive	km.jn
perfective³	km	obligative¹	kmm.ḫr
imperfective	kmm	obligative¹	kmm.ḫr
prospective³	kmm	potentialis¹	km.kꜣ
subjunctive	km	potentialis¹	km.kꜣ

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
aspect / mood	active	active	passive
perfect	km.n	—	—
perfective	km	km	km, kmw⁵, kmy⁵
imperfective	kmm, kmmy, kmmw⁵	kmm, kmmj⁶, kmmy⁶	kmm, kmmw⁵
prospective	km, kmtj⁷	kmmtj⁴, kmmt⁴
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, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine. km before suffix pronouns.

This verb is almost exclusively used in its non-geminated forms; that it is a second-geminate verb kmm rather than a biliteral km is deduced from its Coptic descendants.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of kmm

km

[since the Amarna Period]

[since the 18th Dynasty]

These writings all represent non-geminated forms; see the note under ‘Inflection’ above.

Derived terms

km wr (“the Bitter Lakes”)
kmt^? (“a type of jar”)
kmt (“Egypt”)
kmt (“the Egyptians”)
m km n ꜣt

Descendants

Coptic: ⲕⲙⲟⲙ (kmom), (stative) ⲕⲏⲙ (kēm)

References

Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1931) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, volume 5, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, page 122–124.8
Faulkner, Raymond (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 286