jḫ

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

 interrogative enclitic (‘dependent’) pronoun

1. what?

In contradistinction to mj, this pronoun can only be used of animals and inanimate objects.

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.

• jšst
• mj jḫ

• Demotic: jḫ
  • Akhmimic Coptic: ⲉⳉ (ex)
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲁϣ (aš)
  • Fayyumic Coptic: ⲉϣ (eš)
  • Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲉϣ (eš)
  • Coptic Dialect P: ⲁⳉ (ax)
  • Sahidic Coptic: ⲁϣ (aš)

 proclitic

1. then, thus; introduces a clause with consequent optative meaning, expressing something the speaker wishes or requests to happen as a result
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 13–17:

     jꜥ tw jmj mw ḥr ḏbꜥw.k jḫ wšb.k wšd.t(w).k mdw.k n nswt jb.k m-ꜥ.k wšb.k nn njtjt

     Wash yourself, put water on your fingers,
     so you might answer when you are addressed, speak to the king with your mind in your possession, and answer without stammering.

This particle is used almost exclusively with a following verb in the subjunctive. It is especially common in requests made by a person of higher social status to one of lower status.

• 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, 193, 254.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 89
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN