Learning Egyptian Hieroglyphs - Lesson 4 (Part I)
by Caroline Seawright

Leaning to Read Hieroglyphs

Biliteral Signs

Here are biliteral signs with y as the second consonant:

my my
my my1
ty ty

1 Sometimes used to accompany or replace a simple m m when used as a grammatical affirmative.

With ` as the second consonant:

w` w`
kh` kh`

With w as the second consonant:

aw aw
nw nw (rarely also for yn)
hw hw (rare)
shw shw
yw yw
nw nw
khw khw
djw djw (later dw)
mw mw
rw rw
sw sw (old shw)

with b as the second consonant:

ab ab
nb nb

Triliteral Signs

The triliteral signs respondent combinations of three consonants and have a far more restricted use than the biliteral signs. These need only be learned when the occasion calls for them.

As with the biliteral signs, these are normally accompanied by phonetic complements. Two arrangements are frequently used:

  1. adding the third consonant only:
    `h` `h` 'stand up, arise'
    khpr khpr 'become'
    sdjm sdjm 'hear'

  2. adding the second and third consonants:
    nfrfr nfr 'good, happy, beautiful'
    `nkh `nkh 'live'
    htp htp 'rest, become at peace'

Dependent Personal Pronouns

Dependent pronouns are less closely attached to a preceding word than the suffix pronouns, but can never stand as a first word of a sentence.

Sing. 1wman determinativewyI, meOr wyman determinative Varr. as in the corresponding suffix: whawk determinative, wking determinative, wy, w, etc
Sing. 2, mascthwthwThou, theeLater also tw
Sing. 2, femthnthnThou, theeLater also tn
Sing. 3, mascswwswHe, him, itOriginally shw
Sing. 3, fems two strokessyShe, her, itEarly s; later also sy or s; Originally shy
Sing. 3, femststSee Reflexive Use of the Dependant PronounsLater writings st, st three strokes Originally sht
Plural 1n three strokesnWe, usRarely n
Plural 2 *thn three strokesthnYouOr thn, later also tn three strokes or thn
Plural 3 *sn three strokessnThey, themOr sn, later also written as sn three strokes or sn Originally shn

* Also used as suffixes

Among the chief uses of the dependent pronouns are the following:

  1. As an object of any form of the verb, except the infinitive:

    habhlegs determinativekwman determinative habk wy 'thou sendest me'
    djaaboat determinativenfsww djanf sw 'he ferried him over'

  2. After a number of particles like ysth ysth 'lo', mmyk mk 'behold', shrug determinativen nn 'not', ntt ntt 'that', as well as the relative adjective nty nty 'which', the pronoun frequently serves as subject when an adverbial predicate follows:

    makrope determinativeman determinativembbaahphallus determinativebook determinativek mk wy m-bahk 'behold, I am before thee'
    makthwmbakman determinativeman determinative mk thw m baky 'behold thou art my servant' (lit. 'as my servant')

  3. As the subject after adjectival predicate:

    nfrfrtrope determinativehn`man determinative nfr tw hn`y 'thou art happy with me'
    (Note: tw here is for thw, and is to be carefully distinguished from the indefinite pronoun.)

Reflexive Use of the Dependent Pronouns

As with the suffix, the dependent pronouns are used reflexively:

r`nwman determinativeface determinative one strokecht one strokeman determinative rdyn(y) wy hr chty 'I place myself on my belly'

The pronoun st st appears to be an old form of the dependent pronoun third singular fem, which has been specialised for certain particular uses, mainly as third plural 'they', 'them' or the neuter form of 'it'.

  1. As the object of the verb:

    `nnlegs determinativesn three strokesst `nnsn st 'they turned themselves about'
    (Note the reflexive meaning).

  2. After the particles mentioned above, in Dependent Personal Pronouns:

    mkstkhftfacek mk st khft hrk 'behold, they (my gifts to thee) are before thee'

  3. As the subject after adjectival predicate:

    nfrfrstrkhtbook determinative three strokesnbt nfr st r kht nbt 'it is more beautiful than anything'

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