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Transliteration of Ancient Egyptian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the field of Egyptology, transliteration is the process of converting (or map
ping) texts written in the Egyptian language to alphabetic symbols representing
uniliteral hieroglyphs or their hieratic and Demotic counterparts. This process
facilitates the publication of texts where the inclusion of photographs or drawi
ngs of an actual Egyptian document is impractical.
It should be emphasised that transliteration is not the same as transcription. T
ranscription seeks to reproduce the pronunciation of a text. For example, the na
me of the founder of the Twenty-second dynasty is transliterated as
nq but transcr
ibed Shoshenq in English, Chchanq in French, Sjesjonk in Dutch, and Scheschonq in
German.
Due to the exact details regarding the phonetics of ancient Egyptian not being c
ompletely known, most transcriptions depend on Coptic for reconstruction or are
theoretical in nature. Egyptologists, therefore, rely on transliteration in scie
ntific publications.
Contents [hide]
1
Standards
2
Electronic transliteration
2.1
Unicode
2.1.1 Egyptological alef, ayin, and yod
3
Demotic
4
Table of conventional transliteration schemes
5
Samples of various transliteration schemes
6
Uniliteral signs
7
See also
8
Notes
9
References
10
External links
Standards[edit]
[]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering sup
port, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode cha
racters.
Important as transliteration is to the field of Egyptology, there is no one stan
dard scheme in use for hieroglyphic and hieratic texts. Some might even argue th
at there are as many systems of transliteration as there are Egyptologists. Howe
ver, there are a few closely related systems that can be regarded as conventiona
l. Many non-German-speaking Egyptologists use the system described in Gardiner 1
954, whereas many German-speaking scholars tend to opt for that used in the Wrter
buch der aegyptischen Sprache (Erman and Grapow 1926 1953), the standard dictionar
y of the ancient Egyptian language. However, there is a growing trend, even amon
g English-speaking scholars, to adopt a modified version of the method used in t
he Wrterbuch (e.g., Allen 2000).
Although these conventional approaches to transliteration have been followed sin
ce most of the second half of the nineteenth century to the present day, there h
ave been some attempts to adopt a modified system that seeks to utilise the Inte
rnational Phonetic Alphabet to a certain degree. The most successful of these is
that developed by Wolfgang Schenkel (1990), and it is being used fairly widely
in Germany and other German-speaking countries. More recent is a proposal by Tho
mas Schneider (2003) that is even closer to the IPA, but its usage is not presen
tly common. The major criticism levelled against both of these systems is that t
hey give an impression of being much more scientifically accurate with regard to

the pronunciation of Egyptian. Unfortunately this perceived accuracy is debatab

le. Moreover, the systems reflect only the theoretical pronunciation of Middle E
gyptian and not the older and later phases of the language, which are themselves
to be transliterated with the same system.
Electronic transliteration[edit]
In 1984 a standard, ASCII-based transliteration system was proposed by an intern
ational group of Egyptologists at the first Table ronde informatique et gyptologi
e and published in 1988 (see Buurman, Grimal, et al., 1988). This has come to be
known as the Manuel de Codage (or MdC) system, based on the title of the public
ation, Inventaire des signes hiroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie informatique: M
anuel de codage des textes hiroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie sur ordinateur. I
t is widely used in e-mail discussion lists and internet forums catering to prof
essional Egyptologists and the interested public.
Although the Manuel de codage system allows for simple "alphabetic" transliterat
ions, it also specifies a complex method for electronically encoding complete an
cient Egyptian texts, indicating features such as the placement, orientation, an
d even size of individual hieroglyphs. This system is used (though frequently wi
th modifications) by various software packages developed for typesetting hierogl
yphic texts (such as SignWriter, WinGlyph, MacScribe, InScribe, Glyphotext, Wiki
Hiero, and others).
Unicode[edit]
With the introduction of the Latin Extended Additional block to Unicode version
1.1 (1992) and the addition of Egyptological alef and ayin to Unicode version 5.
1 (2008), it is possible to fully transliterate Egyptian texts using a Unicode t
ypeface. The following table only lists the special characters used in various t
ransliteration schemes (see below).
Transcription characters in Unicode
Minuscule
? (Egyptological Alef) ? (Egyptological Secondary Alef)
i? (Egyptological Yod) i?

? (Egyptological Aijn) u?
?
?
h?
Unicode U+A723 U+02BE U+0131
U+0357 U+0069
U+032F U+00EF U+A725 U+0075
U+032F U+1E25 U+1E2B U+1E96 U+0068
U+032D
Majuscule
?
I?
I?

?
U?
?
H_
H?
Unicode U+A722
U+0049
U+0357 U+0049
U+032F U+00CF U+A724 U+0055
U+032F U+1E24 U+1E2A U+0048
U+0331 U+0048
U+032D
Minuscule
s
?
c
?
?
?
c?
Unicode U+015B U+0161 U+1E33 U+010D U+1E6F U+1E6D U+1E71 U+010D
U+0323 U+1E0F
Majuscule
S
?
C
?
?
?
C?
Unicode U+015A U+0160 U+1E32 U+010C U+1E6E U+1E6C U+1E70 U+010C
U+0323 U+1E0E
Brackets/
interpunction ?
?
?
?
?
Unicode U+2E17 U+27E8 U+27E9 U+2308 U+2309
Egyptological alef, ayin, and yod[edit]
Three additional characters are required for transliterating Egyptian:

Alef (Egyptological Alef, two Semitistic alephs, one set over the other (Lepsius

?
?

); approximated by the digit ?3? in ASCII);[1]

Ayin (Egyptological Aijn, a Semitistic ayin);
Yod (Egyptological Yod, i with a Semitistic aleph instead of the dot, both yod a
nd alef being considered possible sound values in the 19th century).[2]
Although six Egyptological and Ugariticist letters were proposed in August 2000,
[3] it was not until 2008 (Unicode 5.1) that four of the six letters were encode
d:
Designation
Capital Lowercase
Egyptological alef
?
U+A722 ?
U+A723
Egyptological ayin
?
U+A724 ?
U+A725
Another two proposals were made regarding the Egyptological yod,[4][5] the event
ual result of which was to accept the use of the Cyrillic psili pneumata (U+0486
?? ) as one of several possible diacritics for this purpose. The other options
use the superscript comma (U+0313) and the right half ring above (U+0357). OpenT
ype tables in fonts will be necessary to support the combination correctly.
Examples showing the Cyrillic option and the reverse sicilicus option are given
below:
Egyptological yod workarounds
Designation
Capital Lowercase
Cyrillic psili pneumata I?
U+0049 U+0486 i?
U+0069 U+0486
Right half ring above I?
U+0049 U+0357 i?
U+0069 U+0357
The Institut Franais d'Archologie Orientale adopted its own Unicode-based translit
eration system. It uses the Middle English yogh ??? (Unicode U+021D) for alef (h
amza), ?j? or Vietnamese ??? (Unicode U+1EC9, i with hook above) for Egyptologic
al yod, and a reverse sicilicus ??? (Unicode U+02BF) for ayin.
Demotic[edit]
As the latest stage of pre-Coptic Egyptian, Demotic texts have long been transli
terated using the same system(s) used for hieroglyphic and hieratic texts. Howev
er, in 1980, Demotists adopted a single, uniform, international standard based o
n the traditional system used for hieroglyphic, but with the addition of some ex
tra symbols for vowels (which are frequently indicated in Demotic[citation neede
d]) and other letters that were written in the Demotic script. The Demotic Dicti
onary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (or CDD) utilises t
his method. As this system is likely only of interest to specialists, for detail
s see the references below.
de Cenival, Franoise. 1980. "Unification des mthodes de translittration." Enchoria:
Zeitschrift fr Demotistik und Koptologie 10:2 4.
Johnson, Janet H. 1980. "CDDP Transliteration System." Enchoria 10:5 6.
Johnson, Janet H. 1991. Thus Wrote 'Onchsheshonqy: An Introductory Grammar of De
motic. 2nd ed. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 45. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Tait, William John. 1982. "The Transliteration of Demotic." Enchoria 11:67 76.
Thissen, Heinz-Josef. 1980. "Zur Transkription demotischer Texte." Enchoria 10:7 9
.
Table of conventional transliteration schemes[edit]
This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you
may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Erman & Grapow 1926 1953

Gardiner 1957 Buurman, Grimal, et al. 1988
Schenkel
1991 Hannig 1995
Allen 2000
Hoch 1997
Schneider 2003 traditio
nal English pronunciation
A
??
? (Egyptian 3 symbol.png, 3)
3
A
3
3
?
3
?
/??/
i
??
i?/j
i?
i
i?
j
j
i?
i?
/??, i?/
i
i
??
i?j
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
/j, i?/
a
??
? (?) ?
a
?
?
?
?
?
/??/
w
??
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
/w, u?/
b
??
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
/b/
p
??
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
/p/
f
??
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
/f/
m
??
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
/m/
n
??
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
/n/
r
??
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
l
/r/
h
??
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
/h/
H
??
?
?
H
?
?
?
?
?
/h/
x
??
?
?
x
?
?
?
?
?
/x/
X
??
?
?
X
?
?
?
?
?
/x/
z
??
s
s
s
s
z, s
z
s
s
/s/
s
??
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
/s/
S
S
/?/
??
q
??
?
?
q
?
q
q
q
?
/k/
k
??
k
k
k
k
k
k
k
k
/k/
g
??
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
/g/
t
??
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
/t/
T
??
?
?
T
c
?
?
?
c
/t?/
d
??
d
d
d
?
d
d
d
?
/d/
D
??
?
?
D
c?
?
?
?
c?
/d?/
The vowel /?/ is conventionally inserted between consonants to make Egyptian wor
ds pronounceable in English.
Samples of various transliteration schemes[edit]
The following text (rendered using WikiHiero) is transliterated below in some of
the more common schemes.

M23
X1
R4
X8
Q2
D4
W17
R14
G4
R8
O29
V30
U23
N26
D58
O49
Z1
F13
N31
V30
N16
N21 Z1 D45
N25
[Unicode: ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ]
(This text is conventionally translated into English as "an offering that the ki
ng gives; and Osiris, Foremost of Westerners [i.e., the Dead], the Great God, Lo
rd of Abydos; and Wepwawet, Lord of the Sacred Land [i.e., the Necropolis]." It
can also be translated "a royal offering of Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners,
the Great God, Lord of Abydos; and of Wepwawet, Lord of the Sacred Land" [Allen
2000:24.10].)
Erman and Grapow 1926 1953
?tp-d?-nswt ws?r ?nt?j ?mntjw n?r ?? nb ?b?w wp-w?wt nb t? ?sr
Gardiner 1953
?tp-d?-nswt ws?r ?nty ?mnt?w n?r ?? nb ?b?w wp-w?wt nb t? ?sr
Buurman, Grimal, et al. 1988
Htp-di-nswt wsir xnty imntiw nTr aA nb AbDw wp-wAwt nb tA Dsr
A fully encoded, machine-readable version of the same text is:
M23-X1:R4-X8-Q2:D4-W17-R14-G4-R8-O29:V30-U23-N26-D58-O49:Z1-F13:N31-V30:N16:N21*
Z1-D45:N25
Schenkel 1991
?tp-d?-nswt ws?r ?nty ?mntjw ncr ?? nb ?bc?w wp-w?wt nb t? c?sr
Allen 2000
?tp-dj-nswt wsjr ?nty jmntjw n?r ?? nb ?b?w wp-w?wt nb t? ?sr
Schneider 2003
?tp-??-nswt ws?r ?nty ?mntjw ncr ?? nb ?bc?w wp-w?wt nb t? c?sr
Uniliteral signs[edit]
The Egyptian hieroglyphic script contained 24 uniliterals (symbols that stood fo
r single consonants, much like English letters) which today we associate with th
e 26 glyphs listed below. (Note that the glyph associated with w/u also has a hi
eratic abbreviation.)
The traditional transliteration system shown on the left of the chart below is o
ver a century old and is the one most commonly seen in texts. It includes severa
l symbols such as alef (?) for sounds that were of unknown value at the time. Mu
ch progress has been made since, though there is still debate as to the details.
For instance, it is now thought the alef (?) may have been an alveolar lateral
approximant [l] in Old Egyptian but was lost by Middle Egyptian. The consonants
transcribed as voiced (d, g, ?) may actually have been ejective or, less likely,
pharyngealized like the Arabic emphatic consonants. A good description can be f
ound in Allen.[6]
Uniliteral signs
Sign
Traditional transliteration
Say
Notes Old Egyptian
A

Phonetic values per Allen (2000)

Middle Egyptian

??
Egyptian vulture
? (3) a
called alef or hamza,
a glottal stop [l] or [?]
silent, [j], and [?]
i
??
flowering reed i?
i/a
called yod
an initial or final vowe
l; sometimes [j]
i
i
??
pair of reeds y
y
called yod or y no record
[j]
y
??
pair of strokes
or river (?)
a
??
forearm ? (?) a
called ayin,
a voiced pharyngeal fricative perhaps [d]
[?]; [d] perhaps retained in som
e words and dialects
w
?? or
W
??
quail chick or its
hieratic abbreviation w
w/u
called waw
[w] ~ [u]
b
??
lower leg
b
b
[b] ~ []
p
??
reed mat or stool
p
p
aspirated [p?]
f
??
horned viper
f
f
[f]
m
??
owl
m
m
[m]
n
??
ripple of water n
n
[n]
[n], sometimes [l]
r
??
human mouth
r
r
[l] or [?]
[?], sometimes [
l]
(always [l] in some dialects)
h
??
reed shelter
h
h
[h]
H
??
twisted wick
?
h
an emphatic h,
a voiceless pharyngeal fricative
[h]
x
??
sieve or placenta
?
kh
a voiceless velar fricative
[x]
X
??
animal belly and tail ?
kh
a softer sound,
a voiceless palatal fricative []
s
??
folded cloth
s
s
Old Egyptian sound for
"door bolt" is unknown,
but perhaps was z or th [s]
[s]
z
??
door bolt
[z]
S
?? or
N38
?? or
N39
sh
[?]
??
garden pool
q
??
hill slope
? or q k
an emphatic k,
a voiceless uvular plosive
ejective [q']

k
??
basket with handle
k
k
aspirated [k?]
in some words, palatalized [k?]
g
??
jar stand
g
g
ejective [k']
t
??
bread loaf
t
t
aspirated [t?]
T
??
tethering rope or hobble
? or tj ch
as in English church
palatalized [t?] or [t??]
d
??
hand
d
d
ejective [t']
D
??
cobra ? or dj j
as in English judge
ejective [t?'] or [t??']
Gardiner [7] lists several variations:
Uniliteral signs
Sign
Traditional transliteration
Notes
V33
??
bag of linen
g
Appears in a few older words
Aa15
??
possibly a finger
m
Originally biliteral i?m
S3
??
crown of Lower Egypt
n
Originally ideogram nt for 'crown of Low
er Egypt'
U33
??
pestle t
Originally biliteral ti?
See also[edit]
Egyptian biliteral signs
Egyptian triliteral signs
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Carsten Peust, Egyptian Phonology: Introduction to the Phonology of a
Dead Language (Gttingen, 1999), 127.
Jump up ^ Peust, Egyptian Phonology, p. 50, 99ff.
Jump up ^ Everson, Michael. Proposal to add 6 Egyptological characters to the UC
S, 2000-08-27
Jump up ^ Everson, Michael and Bob Richmond, EGYPTOLOGICAL YOD and Cyrillic brea
thing, 2008-04-08
Jump up ^ Everson, Michael, Proposal to encode Egyptological Yod and similar cha
racters in the UCS, 2008-08-04
Jump up ^ Allen, James P. (2000). Middle Egyptian: an Introduction to the Langua
ge and Culture of Hieroglyphs. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77483-7.
Jump up ^ Gardiner, Sir Alan H. (1973). Egyptian Grammar, 3rd. Ed. The Griffith
Institute. p. 27. ISBN 0-900416-35-1.
References[edit]
Allen, James Paul. 2000. Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Cu
lture of Hieroglyphs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Buurman, Jan, Nicolas-Christophe Grimal, Michael Hainsworth, Jochen Hallof, and
Dirk van der Plas. 1988. Inventaire des signes hiroglyphiques en vue de leur sais
ie informatique: Manuel de codage des textes hiroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie
sur ordinateur. 3rd ed. Informatique et gyptologie 2. Mmoires de l'Acadmie des Ins
criptions et Belle-Lettres (Nouvelle Srie) 8. Paris: Institut de France.
Erman, Adolf, and Hermann Grapow, eds. 1926 1953. Wrterbuch der aegyptischen Sprach
e im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buc
hhandlungen. (Reprinted Berlin: Akademie-Verlag GmbH, 1971).
Gardiner, Alan Henderson. 1957. Egyptian Grammar; Being an Introduction to the S
tudy of Hieroglyphs. 3rd ed. Oxford: Griffith Institute.
Hannig, Rainer. 1995. Groes Handwrterbuch gyptisch Deutsch: die Sprache der Pharaonen
(2800 950 v. Chr.). Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt 64 (Hannig-Lexica 1). Mainz
am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.

Schenkel, Wolfgang. 1990. Einfhrung in die altgyptische Sprachwissenschaft. Orient

alistische Einfhrungen. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Schneider, Thomas. 2003. "Etymologische Methode, die Historizitt der Phoneme und
das gyptologische Transkriptionsalphabet." Lingua aegyptia: Journal of Egyptian L
anguage Studies 11:187 199.
External links[edit]
Manuel de Codage: technical details of electronic transliteration of Egyptian te
xts
Unicode-based transliteration system adopted by the Institut Franais d'Archologie
Orientale. Description and downloadable keyboard layouts.
Online encoding converter for converting ASCII-based transliterations into Unico
de.
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