TheEgyptian hieroglyphic script contained 24 uniliterals (symbols that stood for single consonants, much likeEnglish letters) which today we associate with the 26 glyphs listed below. (Note that the glyph associated withw/u also has ahieratic abbreviation.)
The traditionaltransliteration system shown on the left of the chart below is over a century old and is the one most commonly seen in texts. It includes several symbols such as3 for sounds that were of unknown value at the time. Much progress has been made since, though there is still debate as to the details. For instance, it is now thought the3 may have been analveolar lateral approximant ("l") in Old Egyptian that was lost by Late Egyptian.[1] Some scholars believe that consonants transcribed asvoiced(d, g, dj) may actually have beenejective or, less likely,pharyngealized like the Arabicemphatic consonants.[2] A good description can be found in Allen.[3] For other systems of transliteration, seetransliteration of ancient Egyptian.
