sḏm

See also: sdm and sDm

Egyptian

Etymology

Compare Proto-Semitic *šamaʕ- (“to hear, to listen”). Apparently unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound”).

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːcʼam/ → /ˈsaːtʼam/ → /ˈsaːtʼəm/ → /ˈsoːtʼəm/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːcʼam/ (infinitive); IPA^(key): /saˈcʼimna/ (perfect), IPA^(key): /sacʼˈma/ (subjunctive), IPA^(key): /ˈsaːcʼim/ (active participle), IPA^(key): /ˈsacʼmiw/ (passive participle)
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːtʼam/ (infinitive)
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːtʼəm/ (infinitive)
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈsoːtʼəm/ (infinitive)

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /sɛd͡ʒɛm/
  • Conventional anglicization: sedjem

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (transitive) to hear
2. (transitive) to obey, to heed
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 2.4–2.5:

     ḏr.n ḏd.n.f n.sn jr ntt nbt m zẖꜣ ḥr pꜣ šfdw sḏm st mj ḏd.j st (j)m zn ḥꜣw ḥr šꜣꜣt

     In the end he said to them: As for everything in the writing on this scroll, heed it as I say it; don’t exceed what has been set down.

3. (intransitive) to listen (+ n: to (someone))
4. (transitive) to put on trial, to try

Inflection

Conjugation of sḏm (triliteral / 3-lit. / 3rad.) — base stem: sḏm, geminated stem: sḏmm

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
sḏm	sḏmw, sḏm	sḏmt	sḏm	sḏm

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

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	sḏm.n	sḏmw, sḏm	consecutive	sḏm.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	sḏmt
perfective3	sḏm	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	sḏm.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	sḏm	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	sḏm	sḏmm	potentialis1	sḏm.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	sḏm	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	sḏm.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	sḏm	active + .tj1, .tw2	sḏm	sḏm, sḏmw5, sḏmy5
imperfective	sḏm, sḏmy, sḏmw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	sḏm, sḏmj6, sḏmy6	sḏm, sḏmw5
prospective	sḏm, sḏmtj7	—	sḏmtj4, sḏmt4
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.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of sḏm  

sḏm

Derived terms

• sḏmy
• sḏm ꜥš
• sḏmw
• sḏmt

 

Descendants

• Demotic: stm
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ (sōtm̄)
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲥⲱⲧⲉⲙ (sōtem)
  • Akhmimic Coptic: ⲥⲱⲧⲙⲉ (sōtme)

Noun

 m

1. trial

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 282, 299.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 25