# ꜥ

| ꜥ | U+A725, &#42789; LATIN SMALL LETTER EGYPTOLOGICAL AIN |
| ← Ꜥ [U+A724] | Latin Extended-D | Ꜧ → [U+A726] |

## Translingual
### Letter

ꜥ (upper case Ꜥ)
* (Egyptological transliteration) The lowercase letter ayin, used in most Egyptian transliteration schemes to represent the sound of the hieroglyph . The sound value is thought to have been IPA [ʕ] since at least the time of Middle Egyptian, hypothesized by some to have come from earlier *[d].

### See also

* ʿ
* ˤ

## Egyptian
### Etymology 1

Possibly related to Proto-Semitic *yad- (“hand”).

#### Pronunciation

* (reconstructed) IPA: /ʕuːj/ → /ʕuːj/ → /ʕeːj/
* (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ʕuːj/, or /duːj/ according to the Rösslerian school
* (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ʕuːj/
* (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ʕeːj/
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /ɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: a

#### Noun

m
* arm, hand [since the First Dynasty]
** c. 1401 BCE, Amduat of Amenhotep II (tomb of Amenhotep II, KV35) First Hour, closing text, line 4: wn n⟨.j⟩ ꜥwj.ṯn bntjwOpen your arms to ⟨me⟩, baboons!
* ‘hand’ of an animal: hoof of a cow, foot of a crocodile, etc. [since the Pyramid Texts]
* part, portion
** specific measure of a substance such as food, liquid, or myrrh; portion
** individual item of something countable, item, piece [since the Middle Kingdom]
** pair of something generally found in pairs [since the Middle Kingdom]
* region
** area, region, portion (of a country, piece of land, or building) [since the Pyramid Texts]
** region of the sky where something, particularly the sun, is located
* (chiefly Late Egyptian) state, condition
* (chiefly Late Egyptian, with following infinitive as a genitive) manner (of doing something, such as moving or flying)

##### Alternative forms

| ꜥ | ꜥ | ꜥ | ꜥwj | ꜥ |
| | [Pyramid Texts] | [Late Egyptian] | [Late Egyptian] | [Greco-Roman Period] |
| | | in the sense ‘state’ | in the sense ‘state’ |

##### Derived terms

* ꜣwj-ꜥ
* ꜣwt-ꜥ
* jmj-ꜥ
* jmn-ꜥ
* ꜥwj
* ꜥ-mḥtj
* ꜥ n ḥr
* ꜥ n snṯr
* ꜥ-rsj
* p.f-ṯꜣw-ꜥwj-bꜣstt
* m-ꜥ
* m wḥm ꜥ
* nḫt-ꜥ
* nt-ꜥ
* r ꜥ
* rnpt-mḏd-ꜥ
* ḥꜣtj-ꜥ
* ḥꜣt-ꜥ
* ḥr ꜥ
* ḥr ꜥwj
* ḥrw-ꜥ
* ẖrj-ꜥ
* ẖrt-ꜥ
* st-ꜥ
* qꜣ-ꜥ
* tpj ꜥ
* tp ꜥ
* ḏr ꜥ

##### Descendants

* Demotic: ꜥ (“state, condition”)
* Demotic: ⁠ (ꜥ.wy, “arms, portion, pair”)
** Bohairic Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi, “pair, couple”)
** Sahidic Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi, “pair, couple”)
Compounded with nj (“of”):
* ⇒ Bohairic Coptic: ⲁⲛ- (an-, collective numeral prefix; place-name prefix)
* ⇒ Sahidic Coptic: ⲁⲛ- (an-, collective numeral prefix; place-name prefix)

##### See also

* 𓂝

#### Noun

m
* official document, register, record [since the Pyramid Texts]
* certificate, deed, warrant [since the Pyramid Texts]

##### Alternative forms

ꜥ :

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /ɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: a

#### Noun

m
* dyke [Middle Kingdom to 18th Dynasty]

##### Alternative forms

ꜥ :

##### Descendants

* Demotic: ꜥ.t

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /ɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: a

#### Noun

m
* (chiefly Late Egyptian) wooden shaft, particularly as a carriage pole or drawbar

##### Alternative forms

ꜥ :

### Etymology 4
#### Pronunciation

* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /ɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: a

#### Noun

m
* house [Late Period]

##### Descendants

* Demotic: ⁠⁠ (ꜥ.wy, “house”)
** Akhmimic Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi), ⲏⲉⲓ (ēei)
** Bohairic Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi)
** Fayyumic Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi)
** Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲏⲉⲓ (ēei)
** Old Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi)
** Sahidic Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi), ⲏⲉⲓ (ēei)

### References

* “ꜥ (lemma ID 34360)”, “ꜥ (lemma ID 34410)”, “ꜥ (lemma ID 34390)”, and “ꜥ (lemma ID 34460)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎, Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
* Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 156.1–157.10, 157.14–158.12, 158.19–159.1, 159.3, 159.7, 159.15
* Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 36