# ꜣḫ
## Egyptian
### Pronunciation

* (noun meaning ‘akh’): (reconstructed) IPA: /ˈʀiːχuw/ → /ˈʀiːχuw/ → /ˈʔiːχə/ → /ˈʔiːχ/
* (noun meaning ‘akh’): (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ˈʀiːχuw/
* (noun meaning ‘akh’): (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ˈʀiːχuw/
* (noun meaning ‘akh’): (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ˈʔiːχə/
* (noun meaning ‘akh’): (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ˈʔiːχ/
* (verb): (reconstructed) IPA: /ʀaːχ/ → /ʀaːχ/ → /ʔaːχ/ → /ʔoːχ/
* (verb): (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ʀaːχ/ (infinitive)
* (verb): (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ʀaːχ/ (infinitive)
* (verb): (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ʔaːχ/ (infinitive)
* (verb): (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ʔoːχ/ (infinitive)
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /ɑx/
** Conventional anglicization: akh

### Noun

m
* akh
* ghost, spectre, spirit of the dead interfering with the living
* Used as an epithet for certain lesser gods and demons [Pyramid Texts]

#### Alternative forms

| ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ |

#### Descendants

* Bohairic Coptic: ⲓϧ (ix, “demon”)
* → English: akh

### Noun

m
* the state of being an akh or qualities pertaining to that state: spiritual power or dignity
** c. 1458 BCE, Biography of Ineni inscribed on a memorial stele in his tomb in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, line 20:
    rn.f nfr m r(ꜣ) ꜥnḫw sḫꜣt.f ꜣḫ.f n ḏtHis good name will be in the mouths of the living; his memory and his spiritual completeness are for eternity.
* mental faculty or skill

#### Alternative forms

| ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ |

### Verb

2-lit.
* (intransitive) to be(come) effective, to be(come) useful
* (intransitive) to be(come) splendid, radiant, glorious
* (intransitive) to be(come) an akh

#### Inflection

infinitival forms
imperative
infinitive
negatival complement
complementary infinitive$^1$
singular
plural
ꜣḫ
ꜣḫw, ꜣḫ
ꜣḫt
ꜣḫ, j.ꜣḫ
ꜣḫ, j.ꜣḫ
‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem
periphrastic imperfective$^2$
periphrastic prospective$^2$
ꜣḫ
ḥr ꜣḫ
m ꜣḫ
r ꜣḫ
suffix conjugation
aspect / mood
active
contingent
aspect / mood
active
perfect
ꜣḫ.n
consecutive
ꜣḫ.jn
terminative
ꜣḫt
perfective$^3$
ꜣḫ
obligative$^1$
ꜣḫ.ḫr
imperfective
ꜣḫ, j.ꜣḫ$^1$
prospective$^3$
ꜣḫ
potentialis$^1$
ꜣḫ.kꜣ
subjunctive
ꜣḫ, j.ꜣḫ$^1$
verbal adjectives
aspect / mood
relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms
participles
active
active
passive
perfect
ꜣḫ.n
perfective
ꜣḫ
ꜣḫ
ꜣḫḫ, ꜣḫḫj$^6$, ꜣḫ$^2$, ꜣḫw$^{25}$, ꜣḫy$^{25}$
imperfective
j.ꜣḫ$^1$, ꜣḫ, ꜣḫy, ꜣḫw$^5$
j.ꜣḫ$^1$, j.ꜣḫw$^{15}$, ꜣḫ, ꜣḫj$^6$, ꜣḫy$^6$
ꜣḫ, ꜣḫw$^5$
prospective
ꜣḫ, ꜣḫtj$^7$
ꜣḫtj$^4$, ꜣḫt$^4$
$^1$ 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 .sn/.snj, plural .sn.
$^5$ Only in the masculine singular.
$^6$ Only in the masculine.
$^7$ Only in the feminine. :

#### Alternative forms

| ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ | ꜣḫ |
| | | [Old Kingdom] | [Old Kingdom] |

#### Derived terms

* ꜣḫ jb
* ꜣḫ m jb
* ꜣḫ n
* ꜣḫ-n-jtn
* ꜣḫt
* sꜣḫ

#### Descendants

* Old Coptic: ⲁϧ (ax) (used as a magical name in DM 9,5)

### Noun

m
* thicket of papyrus

#### Derived terms

* ꜣḫ-bjt

### References

* Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 4
* Allen, James Peter (1984) The Inflection of the Verb in the Pyramid Texts, Malibu, California: Undena Publications, →ISBN, § 728, page 544
* Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 13.7–15.3, 15.17–16.14, 17.10–17.11, 18.14
* Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 69
* ↑ Sethe, Kurt, Helck, Wolfgang (1906–1958) Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums IV: Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Leipzig/Berlin: J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, pages 62.7–62.8
* ↑ Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 21