For the Sake of ∘γωϣ,‘Love’: An Exception to the Stern-Jernstedt Rule and its History

A historical explanation is offered for the exceptional behaviour of the Coptic verb Oγωω ‘love, wish’ in relation to the Stern-Jernstedt Rule. It is argued that, at the time when the Stern-Jernstedt Rule took effect, in early Demotic, there were two constructions wḫȝ n ‘seek’ and wḫȝ ‘wish’ and that the verb wḫȝ in the latter meaning was barred from the indirect connection of the direct object because wḫȝ n meant ‘seek’ in all its conjugations.