mḥ

mḥ

See also: mh, Mh, MH, mH, and .mh

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /mɛħ/
  • Conventional anglicization: meh

Noun

 m

1. forearm

Inflection

Declension of mḥ (masculine)

singular	mḥ
dual	mḥwj
plural	mḥw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mḥ  

mḥ

Noun

 m

1. a cubit, a measure of length equivalent to 28 ḏbꜥw (“digits”) or 7 šzpw (“palms”) (about 52.5 centimetres).
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 24–28:

     hꜣ.kw r wꜣḏ-wr m dpt nt št-mḏwtj mḥ m ꜣw.s ḥmw mḥ m sḫw.s št-mḏwtj sqd jm.s m stp n(j) kmt

     I had gone down to the sea in a boat of a hundred twenty cubits in length and forty cubits in breadth, with a hundred twenty sailors in it of the choice of Egypt.

Inflection

Declension of mḥ (masculine)

singular	mḥ
dual	mḥwj
plural	mḥw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mḥ  

mḥ	mḥ	mḥ

Derived terms

• mḥ tꜣ

Descendants

• Bohairic Coptic: ⲙⲁϩⲓ (mahi)
• Fayyumic Coptic: ⲙⲉϩⲓ (mehi)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲙⲁϩⲉ (mahe)

Verb

 2-lit.

1. (transitive) to hold
2. (transitive) to understand
3. (transitive) to capture
4. (transitive with n) to seize

Inflection

Conjugation of mḥ (biliteral / 2-lit. / 2rad.) — base stem: mḥ, geminated stem: mḥḥ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
mḥ	mḥw, mḥ	mḥt	mḥ, j.mḥ	mḥ, j.mḥ

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	mḥ.n	mḥw, mḥ	consecutive	mḥ.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	mḥt
perfective3	mḥ	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	mḥ.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	mḥ, j.mḥ1	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	mḥ	mḥḥ	potentialis1	mḥ.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	mḥ, j.mḥ1	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	mḥ.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	mḥ	active + .tj1, .tw2	mḥ	mḥḥ, mḥḥj6, mḥ2, mḥw2 5, mḥy2 5
imperfective	j.mḥ1, mḥ, mḥy, mḥw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	j.mḥ1, j.mḥw1 5, mḥ, mḥj6, mḥy6	mḥ, mḥw5
prospective	mḥ, mḥtj7	—	mḥtj4, mḥt4
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.

Verb

 2-lit.

1. (transitive) to fill
   1. (with m) to fill with
2. (transitive) to complete, finish
3. (transitive) to capture
4. (transitive) to inlay
5. (intransitive) to be(come) full
   1. (transitive with m or ẖr) to be(come) full of
6. (auxiliary with r and a verb in the infinitive) to begin doing

Inflection

Conjugation of mḥ (biliteral / 2-lit. / 2rad.) — base stem: mḥ, geminated stem: mḥḥ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
mḥ	mḥw, mḥ	mḥt	mḥ, j.mḥ	mḥ, j.mḥ

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	mḥ.n	mḥw, mḥ	consecutive	mḥ.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	mḥt
perfective3	mḥ	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	mḥ.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	mḥ, j.mḥ1	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	mḥ	mḥḥ	potentialis1	mḥ.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	mḥ, j.mḥ1	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	mḥ.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	mḥ	active + .tj1, .tw2	mḥ	mḥḥ, mḥḥj6, mḥ2, mḥw2 5, mḥy2 5
imperfective	j.mḥ1, mḥ, mḥy, mḥw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	j.mḥ1, j.mḥw1 5, mḥ, mḥj6, mḥy6	mḥ, mḥw5
prospective	mḥ, mḥtj7	—	mḥtj4, mḥt4
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.

Derived terms

• mḥ nfr (“justify, explain oneself”)
• mḥ rdwj (“hurry”)

 

Descendants

• Bohairic Coptic: ⲙⲟϩ (moh)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲙⲟⲩϩ (mouh)

Prefix

1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Forms ordinal numbers greater than nine from cardinal numbers.
2. (Late Egyptian) Forms ordinal numbers greater than one from cardinal numbers.

Inflection

Declension of mḥ

	masculine	feminine
singular	mḥ	mḥt

Descendants

• Akhmimic Coptic: ⲙⲟⲩϩ- (mouh-)
• Bohairic Coptic: ⲙⲁϩ- (mah-)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲙⲉϩ- (meh-)

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, 105, 174, 208–209, 257, 269, 461 page 103, 105, 174, 208–209, 257, 269, 461.
• Faulkner, Raymond (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 83
• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 68
• Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 130