mj

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mj"

Egyptian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Compare with Hebrew מי (mí).

Pronoun

 interrogative enclitic (‘dependent’) pronoun

1. who?, what?; a general interrogative pronoun for people and things

Usage notes

This form of pronoun is an enclitic that must directly follow the word it modifies. Its meaning depends on its context:

• When it follows a verb, it indicates the object of the verb.
• In the second and third person when it follows an adjective, it forms the subject of an adjectival sentence.
• When it follows a relative adjective, such as ntj, ntt, or jsṯ, it indicates the subject of the relative clause (usually only in the first person singular and third person common).
• When it follows an imperative, it indicates the subject or the object of the verb.
• When it follows a particle like m.k, it indicates the subject of the clause.
• When attached to a preposition, it indicates the object of the preposition.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mj  

mj	mj

Derived terms

• mj mj
• r mj
• ḥr mj

Etymology 2

Possibly to be identified with the proclitic particle m (“see, behold”).

Particle

 enclitic

1. (following a verb in the imperative) strengthens an imperative; please, now

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mj  

mj	mj	my
		[Late Egyptian]

Etymology 3

Preposition

1. like, just as
   • c. 1859 BCE – 1840 BCE, The Eloquent Peasant, version B1 (pAmherst 1 and pBerlin 3023) lines 221–222:

     […] mj dpt nn sḫry jm.s […]

     […] like a ship without a captain […]

2. in accordance with
3. as well as

Usage notes

When the object is a personal pronoun, mj is not used; instead, one of its derivatives mjtj and mjtw is used with a suffix pronoun.

Inflection

Adverbial forms of mj  

my

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mj  

mj

Derived terms

• wꜣḥ-nsyt-mj-rꜥ-m-pt
• mj jḫ
• mjw
• mjwj
• mj mj
• mj qj
• mj qd
• mjt
• mjtj
• mjtw

 

Etymology 4

Verb

1. imperative of jj (“to come”)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of mj  

mj	m	mj	mj
		[Late Egyptian]	[Late Egyptian]
			with feminine addressee

Descendants

• Demotic: jmj
  • Coptic: ⲁⲙⲟⲩ (amou) (masculine singular), ⲁⲙⲏ (amē) (feminine singular), ⲁⲙⲱⲓ- (amōi-) (masculine plural), ⲁⲙⲏⲓ- (amēi-), ⲁⲙⲏⲉⲓ- (amēei-) (feminine plural)

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 56, 78, 86, 90, 189–190, 198.
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, pages 78–79