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.

(transitive or intransitive, of a person or a nose) to breathe [since the Pyramid Texts]
(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	aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	ssn.n	ssnw, ssn	consecutive	ssn.jn	active + .tj¹, .tw²
perfect	ssn.n	active + .tj¹, .tw²
terminative	ssnt
perfective³	ssn	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	ssn.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
imperfective	ssn	active + .tj¹, .tw²	obligative¹	ssn.ḫr	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	ssnw, ssn, ssny	ssnw, ssn, ssny	potentialis¹	ssn.kꜣ	active + .tj¹, .tw²
prospective³	ssnw, ssn, ssny	active + .tj¹, .tw²
subjunctive	ssn	active + .tj¹, .tw²

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
aspect / mood	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	—	ssnwtj^{1 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

ssn

[since the Pyramid Texts;
common since the Middle Kingdom]

[since the New Kingdom]

Derived terms

ssnt

References

Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1930), Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], 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

Tashelhit

Alternative forms

isin, issan, issin, isan

Etymology

From Proto-Berber *isin, from earlier *iwsin ("to know").

Compare Tarifit ssen (“to know”), Kabyle issin (“to know”), Northern Saharan Berber ssen (“to know”) (Figuig), Zenaga ässən (“to know”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sːn/

Verb

ssn (intensive aorist ttssn, verbal noun tussna or assn or tawsna or tamsna, Tifinagh spelling ⵙⵙⵏ, Arabic spelling سّن)

to know
مقّار يمژّي، ايسّن ي توّوري.
mqqar imẓẓi, issn i twwuri.
although he's young, he knows how to work.
to understand
ايس تسّنت آيلّي اك نّيغ.
is tssnt aylli ak nniġ.
do you understand what I told you.
to be able
آزنكُض يسّن باهرا ي تازّلا.
aznkʷḍ issn bahra i tazzla.
the gazelle is capable of running very fast.

Derived terms

amwissn (“acquaintance”)
mwissin (“to get to know each other”)
tarassn (“ignorance”)
tawsna (“science”)
tussna (“knowledge”)

References

Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 3 m—š (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/3) (in French), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 2075