ssn

See also: SSN and S.Sn.

Egyptian

Etymology

s- (causative prefix) +‎ sn (“to smell, to kiss”).

Pronunciation

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

Verb

 caus. 2-lit.

1. (transitive or intransitive, of a person or a nose) to breathe [since the Pyramid Texts]
2. (transitive) to smell (a scent) [since the Pyramid Texts]
   • c. 1800 BCE, Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus (UC 32057), page 2, line 7:

     jw.j ḥr ssnt ꜣšr

     I smell roasting.

Usage notes

By the Late Period, snsn (“to smell, to inhale”) began to replace this word.

Inflection

Conjugation of ssn (causative biliteral / caus. 2-lit. / caus. 2rad.) — base stem: ssn

infinitival forms imperative infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural ssnt, ssn ssnw, ssn ssnt ssn ssn ‘pseudoverbal’ forms stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2 ssn ḥr ssn m ssn r ssn suffix conjugation aspect / mood active passive contingent aspect / mood active passive perfect ssn.n ssnw, ssn consecutive ssn.jn active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 terminative ssnt perfective3 ssn active + .tj1, .tw2 obligative1 ssn.ḫr active + .tj1, .tw2 imperfective ssn active + .tj1, .tw2 prospective3 ssnw, ssn, ssny ssnw, ssn, ssny potentialis1 ssn.kꜣ active + .tj1, .tw2 active + .tj1, .tw2 subjunctive ssn active + .tj1, .tw2 verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles active passive active passive perfect ssn.n active + .tj1, .tw2 — — perfective ssn active + .tj1, .tw2 ssn ssn, ssnw5, ssny5 imperfective ssn, ssny, ssnw5 active + .tj1, .tw2 ssn, ssnj6, ssny6 ssn, ssnw5 prospective ssn, ssntj7 — ssnwtj1 4, ssntj4, ssnt4 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

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ssn  

ssn	ssnj	ssnj	ssn	ssn	ssn
[since the Pyramid Texts; common since the Middle Kingdom]	[since the New Kingdom]	[since the New Kingdom]	[since the New Kingdom]	[since the New Kingdom]	[since the New Kingdom]

Derived terms

• ssnt

References

• Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1930), Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 4, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 277.9–277.16
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962), A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 245