Ancient Egyptian Alphabet

Ancient Egyptian is an extinct language known from inscriptions and papyri (about 3000 BCE to the early centuries CE). Hieroglyphs write mostly consonants; vowels are not written. The sounds are given in the standard Egyptological transliteration (ꜣ, j, ꜥ, ḥ, ḫ, ẖ, š, ḳ, ṯ, ḏ), and the pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention: nobody knows exactly how it sounded. First come the 25 single-consonant signs (the 'alphabet'), then 15 common words. Sign codes follow Gardiner's list. If the glyphs show as empty boxes, your device lacks an Egyptian Hieroglyphs font; installing one (for example Noto Sans Egyptian Hieroglyphs) fixes it.

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Single-consonant signs

𓄿ꜣVulture · a glottal sound, often read like 'a'Gardiner G001; Egyptian vulture

𓇋jFlowering reed · a light 'i' or 'y' soundGardiner M017; reed leaf

𓇍yTwo reed leaves · 'ee' / y soundGardiner M018; double reed leaf

𓂝ꜥForearm · a throaty 'ayin' soundGardiner D036; forearm

𓅱wQuail chick · 'w' or 'oo'Gardiner G043; quail chick

𓃀bFoot and calf · bGardiner D058; foot

𓊪pReed mat / stool · pGardiner Q003; stool

𓆑fHorned viper · fGardiner I009; horned viper

𓅓mOwl · mGardiner G017; owl

𓈖nRipple of water · nGardiner N035; water ripple

𓂋rMouth · rGardiner D021; mouth

𓉔hReed shelter · plain 'h'Gardiner O004; reed shelter

𓎛ḥTwisted flax wick · strong breathy 'h'Gardiner V028; twisted wick

𓐍ḫPlacenta, traditionally 'sieve' · 'ch' as in lochGardiner Aa001; placenta (or sieve)

𓄡ẖBelly of an animal · softer 'ch' (as in German ich)Gardiner F032; animal belly with tail

𓋴sFolded cloth · sGardiner S029; folded cloth

𓊃zDoor bolt · an 's' sound once separate from the cloth signGardiner O034; door bolt

𓈙šPool of water · 'sh'Gardiner N037; pool

𓈎ḳSandy hillslope · a back-of-throat 'k'Gardiner N029; hill slope

𓎡kBasket · kGardiner V031; basket with handle

𓎼gStand for a jar · g (hard)Gardiner W011; jar stand

𓏏tBread loaf · tGardiner X001; bread loaf

𓍿ṯTethering rope · 'ch' as in church (or 'ty')Gardiner V013; tethering rope

𓂧dHand · dGardiner D046; hand

𓆓ḏCobra · 'dj' as in judgeGardiner I010; cobra

15 common words

𓂝𓈖𓐍ꜥnḫlifealso written with the ankh sign 𓋹 (S034). Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓄤nfrgood, beautiful, perfectthe sign alone writes the whole word. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓇳rꜥsun, the god Rasun disk; the phonetic spelling is r + ꜥ. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓉐prhouseground plan of a house; the ideogram alone. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓊹nṯrgodcloth wrapped on a flagpole. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓇓𓏏nswtking (of Upper Egypt)sedge plant + t; spelling can vary. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓊵ḥtppeace, offering, to be contentloaf on a reed mat; the root of the name Hotep. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓌳𓂝𓏏𓁦mꜣꜥttruth, justice, order (Maat)sickle + arm + t + seated goddess; the feather (H006) also appears; spelling unverified in detail. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓅭sꜣsonpintail duck. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓅐mwtmothervulture. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓇋𓏏𓀀jtfatherreed + t + seated man; typical spelling, unverified in detail. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓋾ḥḳꜣrulerthe heka crook, also the word for ruler. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓁷ḥrfacea human face; also the word 'upon'. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓈗mwwaterthree ripples; ideogram. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.

𓂓kꜣka, spirit, life forcetwo raised arms. Transliteration only; pronunciation is a modern scholarly convention.