Is it Ushabti or Shabti?

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to be taking a closer look at the inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 that is on the Ushabti of Sati, which is the ushabti 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 that I posted about yesterday 𓋴𓆑𓇳! 

I was so excited when I saw the variant for the word “shabti 𓆷𓄿𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾” going across the front of the hieroglyphic text 𓏟𓏛𓏥 (it’s in the middle row of this picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏) and it was clear to read! I don’t know why spotting a single word 𓌃𓂧𓅱𓀁 in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 makes me so excited, but it did! I guess I just love 𓈘𓏏 ushabtis that much! 

I have seen people debate if the correct word for my favorite funerary figures is “shabti” or “ushabti,” when in reality, both pronunciations would be correct! So why would both “shabti” and “ushabti” be correct? Its because the word appears both ways in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 too! The word “𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 usbty” is where “ushabti” comes from and  the word “𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 sawabti” is where “shabti” comes from! 

The variant of “𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 sawabti” is what appears on this ushabti figure – it is missing the “𓍯” symbol, most likely for spacing reasons, so it is spelled like this: 𓆷𓄿𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾. It would still be pronounced as “sawabti” though! 

The word for “stick 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓄿𓃀𓏲𓍘𓇋𓆱” is pronounced like “swbt,” and many Egyptologists think that this was the word that “𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 sawabti” was originally derived from. The term ““𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 sawabti” was used mostly during the New Kingdom Period, which is the time period this ushabti pictured is from. 

It has also been proposed that the word “Ushabti 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾” (which became more popular from the 21st Dynasty and onward), is derived from the verb “to answer 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓀁,” which would be pronounced like “wsb.” This makes sense too because ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪 answered the call of the deceased to perform manual labor in the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. 

My Nonno always said “Ushabti 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾” so that is what I tend to say as well! Which term to you usually use?