EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE: PHONETIC
SYSTEM AND PRONUNCIATION
I part
AMNTE NOFRE – AMNTE NOFRE
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
Copyright © 2014 Amentet Neferet
All rights reserved.
“Thus were born all the Gods and the Ennead was completed.
Every word of the God (Ptah) appeared and took shape according
to what the heart thought and the tongue commanded”
(from the “Memphite Theology”, Shabaka Stone, col. 56;
cfr. “Testi religiosi dell'Antico Egitto”, E. Bresciani)
Amnte Nofre - AMNTE NOFRE
EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE: PHONETIC SYSTEM AND
PRONUNCIATION
I part
(written by Luigi Tripani)
Introduction:
This research is dedicated to one of the most important issues for the knowledge of the ancient
Egyptian language and especially for the reconstruction of the rituals and of the Egyptian religious
tradition itself: the study of the phonetic system and pronunciation of the Egyptian language.
In the Egyptian religious tradition, as in all religions, the name is closely connected to the thing
named, and it is one of the fundamental parts of the essence of the thing itself: in fact the name is
one of the components of the essence of every human being together with the soul, the spirit, the
shade, and the heart. For example, the names of the dead are always to be remembered with great
care and attention, and this because it can be said that in some way the pronunciation of the name
evokes the thing named, being it a key part of its very essence; on the contrary, the forgetfulness of
the name (or even the deliberate damnatio memoriae of unworthy and impious beings) makes
impossible the funeral celebrations for the deceased. Hence it is necessary to pronounce correctly
the ritual formulas and also the names of the Gods and the dead, from a ritual point of view but also
for simply devotion, and this explains the great importance of the study of the pronunciation of the
Egyptian language.
The issue of the pronunciation of the Egyptian language arises from the fact that the hieroglyphic
writing system (and the same applies to the two forms of writing derived from it, Hieratic and
Demotic) is exclusively consonantal: that is to say, the hieroglyphic signs have only a consonantal
value, and no hieroglyphic sign has a vowel value. Even other languages, such as Aramaic, Arabic,
and Hebrew, have a consonantal alphabet, but they have also diacritical marks, usually dots and
lines placed next to the consonants, that indicate the vowels: the hieroglyphic writing system
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
instead doesn't has such diacritical marks, and its signs indicate exclusively consonants and glides.
For example, the word “God” is transliterated from the Hieroglyphics as Nṯr/Ntr , without vowels.
Given the lack of vowels and diacritical marks, the Egyptologists, since the birth of Egyptology
itself, have established certain conventional rules that allow to read the hieroglyphic transliterations,
otherwise completely unpronounceable: the main rule is to put an “e” between the consonants.
For example,
Ntr , “God” > “Neter”
Furthermore, the five glides, that are
[3]
[j]
[y] and its variant
[y]
[ˁ ]
[w] and its variant
[w]
and whose phonetic transliterations are respectively (as indicated above)
3 , j , y , ˁ, w
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according to these conventional rules are pronunced as fixed vowels:
“ a ” [ ˁ and 3 ]
“ i ” [ j and y ]
“u”[ w ]
Given the conventional nature of these rules, it is usual to find different transcriptions even for the
same word. For example, Ḫmnw , that is the egyptian name of Hermopolis Megale, is transcribed as
"Khemenu" or even "Khmenu", and so on.
These rules that allow the reading of the hieroglyphs constitute what is known as the “Conventional
pronunciation”, commonly known also among the general public. An example is the reading of Kmt
(one of the names of Egypt, and whose meaning is “the Black Land”, i.e. the fertile land flooded by
the Nile) as “Kemet” from which derives the adjective “Kemetic”: “Kemet” is nothing but the
conventional reading of Kmt and not its real pronunciation.
These conventional rules, as we have seen in the examples, undoubtedly allow to read the phonetic
transliteration of hieroglyphs, but the pronunciation that results, and the language itself, it is
obviously completely conventional and does not reflect the real pronunciation of the egyptian
language. Furthermore, especially among those who are not scholars in the strict sense, the
conventional pronunciation has become widespread and is commonly used as if it was the real and
historical Egyptian language, also in the worship and rituals: and since, as we said at the beginning,
according to the egyptian religious tradition the name is a fundamental part of the very essence of
the thing named, such misunderstanding is undoubtedly an essential problem for the knowledge of
the Egyptian language and for the reconstruction of the Egyptian traditions and rituals.
The Egyptologists have studied in detail and are still studying the phonology of the ancient
Egyptian language, and in fact considerable progress has been made, but it is a very specialized
field of study whose researches are not spread and hence are practically unknown to the great
public, to the point that the conventional pronunciation is often used as if it was true and real.
The numerous studies and researches on the phonetic system of the Egyptian language have largely
solved the fundamental problem for the reconstruction of the true and real pronunciation of the
Egyptian, that is the lack of vowels in the writing, and at the same time have clarified the phonetic
value of certain consonants whose reading was doubtful. The sources for the reconstruction of the
pronunciation of the Egyptian are the comparative study of the transliterations of Egyptian words in
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
other languages that notice the vowels, and the most important in this respect are the Greek, the
Akkadian, and the Assyrian, and especially the study and knowledge of the phonetic system of the
Coptic. The Coptic is undoubtedly the most important element for the reconstruction of the
pronunciation of the Egyptian because in fact it represents the last stage of the Egyptian language;
as a clear evidence of the connection between Coptic and ancient Egyptian language is sufficient to
remember for example that the knowledge of Coptic has been essential to Champollion for the
deciphering of the hieroglyphs in 1882.
The Coptic, whose alphabet uses mainly the Greek letters, and that, unlike the Hieroglyphics, marks
the vowels, is, as we will see in more detail in the course of this article, the starting point for the
reconstruction of the Egyptian pronunciation: in fact, being the last stage of the Egyptian language,
apart from some differences in pronunciation due mainly to the influence of other languages (in
particular the Arabic that became very strong especially in the XV century), the Coptic has
preserved and handed down the phonetic system and the pronunciation of the Egyptian dating back
to the I millennium BCE (dating back at least to the VIII century BCE), as is also demonstrated by
the comparison with the neo-Assyrian and Greek transliterations of the same period that reflect
almost perfectly the pronunciation handed down from the Coptic.
In this article we will summarize the progress of the studies about the phonetic system and the
pronunciation of the ancient Egyptian language based on the Coptic and on the transliterations in
other languages. Obviously, given the complexity of the theme and the incomplete state of the
sources, this article has no claim to completeness and therefore is not fully conclusive; but our main
purpose is to make the point about the state of research and the progress of the reconstruction and at
the same time to spread even among those who are not scholars in the strict sense the rules and
principles of the phonetic system of the ancient Egyptian language that have been reconstructed by
the Egyptologists, in order to overcome the unreal conventional pronunciation and the manifestly
erroneous conceptions about the Egyptian phonetic system dating back to the beginning of the last
century.
Unlike the usual line of research that uses the phonetic system derived from the Akkadian
transliterations of the II millennium as a basis for the reconstruction of the Egyptian pronunciation
(using also the transliterations in other languages, even of a later period, but then altering and
changing the pronunciation according to the phonetic system derived from the Akkadian
transliterations), and whose purpose is therefore the reconstruction of the hypothetical Egyptian
pronunciation of the II millennium, this study instead is focused on the reconstruction of the
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pronunciation of the I millennium using as a base the Coptic, but of course without neglecting the
transliterations in other languages, especially in Greek, that allow to “purify” the Coptic from the
later influences of foreign languages, especially the Arabic, and to reconstruct the pronunciation of
Egyptian words that have not been preserved in Coptic. The choice of this line of research is based
first of all on the fact that the Coptic, being the last stage of the Egyptian language, is certainly a
source more reliable than any other foreign language as it is indeed the Akkadian; furthermore,
while for the II millennium BCE there are only Akkadian transliterations that cannot be compared
with any other language, instead for the I millennium there are transliterations of different
languages, such as the Greek, the Neo-Assyrian, etc. ; the Akkadian transliterations moreover are
limited both in number (especially if compared to the transliterations of the I millennium or even
just to the Coptic) and by the fact that the pronunciation of the Akkadian has not yet been
completely reconstructed.
In conclusion, given the various limitations of the Akkadian transliterations of the II millennium
BCE that do not allow to reconstruct with certainty the historical and real pronunciation of the
Egyptian language, that therefore remains largely hypothetical, this research is focused on the
pronunciation of the I millennium, for which instead there is a much larger number of
transliterations in different languages, and whose phonetic system has been largely preserved by the
Coptic, a real Egyptian language still spoken today, and not an hypothetical reconstruction.
Introduction to the Egyptian: stages of the language, the writing systems, and the Coptic
The Egyptian is one of the oldest languages in the world and at the same time the longest lived
language; in fact the hieroglyphics, that are the oldest form of Egyptian writing, are the oldest
known form of writing of all the human history together with the Sumerian cuneiform; and at the
same time no language in the world has the same continuity of the Egyptian, that, if we consider the
Coptic a dead language, reaches approximately five thousand years, but in fact, since the Coptic is
still spoken by the Coptic communities in Egypt, it is a living language still spoken today.
From a linguistic point of view the Egyptian belongs to the Afro-Asiatic languages, also known as
Camito-Semitic languages, with which it shares many features. But the Egyptian is the oldest, and
above all it presents some peculiarities that distinguish it as an independent and unique branch
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
compared to the other two language families. Besides being oldest and independent in respect to the
Camito-Semitic languages, that it would be more appropriate to define “Egyptian-Camito-Semitic”
languages, there are no languages closely related to the Egyptian, as instead is the case for all the
language families, including the Semitic and Camitic languages: for example, the Berber and the
Tuareg of Libya belong to the Camitic languages, together with the Somali, the Beja, and other
languages of East Africa; likewise, for example the Akkadian, the Hebrew, the Arabic, the Aramaic,
and the Phoenician belong to the Semitic languages.
In more than 4000 years of history, the Egyptian language, like any language in human history, has
undergone various changes: according to the various grammatical modifications, the Egyptian
language is divided into five stages, known respectively as Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, NeoEgyptian, Demotic and Coptic.
Each linguistic stage is linked to a given period of the Egyptian history:
the Old Egyptian is the language of the Old Kingdom, the Middle Egyptian of the Middle Kingdom,
the Neo-Egyptian dates back to the Eighteenth Dynasty, the Demotic is the language of the Roman
age, and the Coptic is attested from the II/ III century CE.
On the basis of grammatical similarities, the five stages of the Egyptian language are then reunited
into two groups known as Egyptian I and Egyptian II:
the Old and the Middle Egyptian belong to the Egyptian I;
the Neo-Egyptian, Demotic, and Coptic instead belong to the Egyptian II.
It 's very important to emphasize that, despite the language modifications and the passing of time,
the language that for the whole Egyptian history was commonly used for the sacred texts and
religious texts in general is the Middle Egyptian that in fact is also known as Classical Egyptian.
Concerning instead the writing, the Egyptian language has four writing systems, namely
Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic.
The Hieroglyphic writing system is the oldest, and from it derive both the Hieratic, a cursive
version of the Hieroglyphic used until the Roman period, and the Demotic, that in turn is a
simplification of the Hieratic (the last known inscription in Demotic dates back to the late V century
CE). Moreover, the Hieroglyphic is the most important writing system for the study of the Egyptian
religion: in fact, due to its nature of sacred writing system par excellence, it was always used to
transcribe the sacred texts on the walls of the monuments, both Temples and tombs; and it's very
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important to remember that, given its highly symbolic and sacred nature, the Hieroglyphic writing
was known only by the Sovereigns, by the priests, scribes, and nobles, while the other social classes
were illiterate.
The only form of writing of the Egyptian language not derived from Hieroglyphic is the Coptic, that
is largely based on the Greek alphabet. The Coptic is both the last stage of the Egyptian language
(the Egyptian II, closely related to Demotic and Neo-Egyptian), and the last writing system of the
Egyptian language. The oldest evidences of its existence date back to the I century CE, and
constitute what is known as “Old Coptic”, from which derives the common Coptic (attested from
the II/ III century CE). When the Roman Empire became a christian empire (in the fourth century of
the current era), Egypt experienced a shameful and bloody period of destructions of Temples and
persecutions against the priests and the devotees of the Gods: such impious and barbaric acts led,
through dread and deliberate violence, forced conversion, and the prohibition of worshiping the
Gods (the penalty was death), to the christianization of Egypt: the Hieroglyphic and Demotic
disappeared, and thereafter the only writing system of the Egyptian language that continued to be
used was the Coptic. Then, in the VII century, when Egypt was almost destroyed by the
impiousness committed by christians against the Gods and torn apart by the internal strife and
persecutions among the christians themselves, the islamic arabs invaded and conquered Egypt and
settled there, dragging even more the Two Lands into the abyss of the uncivilized barbarism, both
spiritual and material. Since then, the islamic arabs imposed their foreign language in Egypt, and
the Coptic was preserved only by the christian communities, and especially by the christian church
of Egypt, known as the coptic church. The Coptic then slowly disappeared up to the contemporary
age in which it is considered a dead language: concerning the writing, the last literary text written in
Coptic dates back to the 1322; but in fact, although the Arabic has replaced the Coptic as the spoken
language, the Coptic is still spoken by some communities in Egypt even today, in particular by the
christian church of Egypt, that uses for its liturgy the Bohairic, that is one of the several dialects of
the Coptic.
As has been mentioned previously, the Coptic is the only writing system of the Egyptian language
that uses also the vowels, unlike the Hieroglyphic and the writing systems derived from it (Hieratic
and Demotic), that are exclusively consonantal and do not note in any way the vowels: the Coptic
therefore is essential for the study and the reconstruction of the phonetic system and pronunciation
of the Egyptian language.
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
The Coptic alphabet is not derived from the Hieroglyphic but from the Greek: the Coptic uses the
Greek alphabet to which are added some letters derived from Demotic for those sounds that are
present in the Egyptian language but absent in Greek. In addition to be based mainly on the Greek
alphabet, in its vocabulary the Coptic has many Greek words and words derived from the Greek.
The great importance and influence of the Greek language in Egypt obviously is historically
connected to Alexander the Great and to the spreading of Hellenism in the Ancient World, and in
particular to the Ptolemaic Dynasty: given that the Ptolemies were Greeks of Macedonia, the Greek
became the official language of Egypt, and, as the language of culture throughout Mediterranean
Europe during that period, it was widely used in court circles, among the nobles, the scholars, the
priests, and among the elites in general. During the Roman period the Greek language continued to
be the official language of the eastern part of the empire, and therefore also of Egypt, and so it was
also during the byzantine period, until the arab invasion, for a total of about a thousand years.
The Coptic has several regional dialects that reflect differences dating back to the most ancient
stages of the Egyptian language, and these are in turn divided into minor dialects and local variants:
the most important dialects are the Sahidic, also known as Thebaic, that is the dominant dialect of
Upper Egypt, and the Bohairic, also known as Memphitic, the dominant dialect of the Delta region
(and that from the XI century became the official language of the christian church of Egypt); among
the others there are, from north to south, the Fayumic (region of the Lake Moeris), the
Oxyrhynchite (also known as Mesokemic), the Lycopolitan (region of Lycopolis), and the
Akhmimic (region of Panopolis). The differences between the dialects are related to the
pronunciation and concern especially the vowels and sometimes also the consonants, and moreover,
many words are peculiar to a single dialect.
In this study we will refer mainly to the Sahidic of Upper Egypt and to the Bohairic of the Delta
region, first of all because these are the two dialects of which there are more evidences and literary
sources, but without forgetting the other dialects: in fact, the comparative study of the
pronunciations of the various dialects, and not just of Sahidic and Bohairic, is necessary for the
study of the Egyptian language as it allows to have more elements to reconstruct the phonetic
system of the Egyptian language itself, and also to reconstruct the pronunciation of words that are
preserved only in a dialect but are irretrievably lost in others.
Since Sahidic and Bohairic are two terms derived from arabic, a foreign language, in this study will
be used the two alternative names Thebaic for the Sahidic, and Memphitic for the Bohairic.
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The Coptic alphabet and the pronunciation of the letters:
The Coptic alphabet is constituted by the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet to which are added some
letters derived from the Demotic to express specific sounds of the Egyptian language that are absent
in Greek: for example in the Thebaic these are six, for a total of 30 letters.
The 30 letters of the Coptic alphabet with the corresponding pronunciation in Latin letters:
A
a
P
p
B
b
R
r
G
g (hard g)
C
s
D
dh
T
t
E
è
U
ü
Z
z
V
ph
Y
é
<
ch
:
th
"
ps
I
i (y)
W
ó
K
k
S
sh
L
l
F
f
M
m
H
h
N
n
J
g (soft g)
X
ks
[
c (soft c)
O
ò
]
ti
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
Remarks:
- U corresponds to the greek letter ypsilon, and is pronounced “ü” like the french “ u ” ;
to mark the pure vowel “u” is used the digraph OU (“ u ”);
- the digraph OU has two phonetic values: the pure vowel “u”/ , and the semiconsonant “w”
(corresponding to the “w” of the english “west”)
- I has two phonetic values: the pure vowel “i”/ , and the semiconsonant “y” ( corresponding to the
“y” of the english “you”)
- S corresponds to the sound “sh” of the english “ship”;
- G (“ gh ”) , D (“ dh ”) and Z (“ z ”) are mainly used for words derived from the Greek, and
are equivalent respectively to K (“ k ”), T (“ t ”), and C (“ s ”) ;
moreover, in Thebaic, G (“ gh ”) and Z (“ z ”) sometimes are used as variants respectively of K
(“ k ”) and C (“ s ”) when they follow N (“ n ”) ;
- X (“ ks ”) , " (“ ps ”) , and ] (“ ti ”) are used as variants respectively of
kc (“ ks ”), pc (“ ps ”), and ti (“ ti ”) ;
- J (soft “g”) sometimes is used as variant of ts (“ tsh ”) ;
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- in all the Coptic dialects, excluding the Memphitic, sometimes [ (soft “ c ”) is used as variant of
K (“ k ”) , S (“ sh ”), and J (soft “g”) ;
- B (“ b ”) and F (“ f ”) sometimes are used as a variant of one another;
- in Memphitic and Akhmimic the letters derived from Demotic are 7 and not 6, for a total of 31
letters.
The two additional letters derived from Demotic are:
q in the Memphitic,
and
| in the Akhmimic,
both pronounced as “kh”, and corresponding to the “ch” of the german“nacht”.
As we said at the end of the previous chapter, in this study we refer mainly to the Thebaic and
Memphitic Coptic dialects, hence it will be used mainly the Thebaic alphabet of 30 letters plus the
q
(“kh”) belonging to the Memphitic.
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
Finally, it should be noted that the modern pronunciation of the Memphitic is based on the reformed
pronunciation introduced by the christian church of Egypt in the nineteenth century that changed the
pronunciation of certain letters adapting it to that of modern Greek. The letters whose phonetic
values have been changed are:
B , whose pronunciation is “b”.
In modern Memphitic B is pronounced “b” in the proper nouns, and “v” in all other words only if
it is followed by a vowel. Moreover, sometimes B is pronounced as the pure vowel “u”; also with
regard to the written form, some words have a variant in which B is replaced by the digraph OU.
Y
In modern Memphitic, as in modern Greek, Y is pronounced as the pure vowel “i”.
After this introduction, we can now turn to the central theme of this study: the reconstruction of the
phonetic system and pronunciation of the Egyptian.
First we will analyze the consonants, then the syllables, the vowels, and finally all the parts of
speech. The writing systems of the Egyptian language used in this study are the Hieroglyphic (and
obviously, since Hieratic and Demotic are two different forms of writing that belong to the same
language, in fact everything about the pronunciation of the hieroglyphs is also valid for Hieratic and
Demotic) and the Coptic (mainly the Thebaic and Memphitic Coptic dialects).
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The pronunciation of consonants:
The hieroglyphs are divided into signs that have a phonetic value, the “phonetic signs”, and signs
that have a semantic value: the reading concerns only the phonetic signs, while the function of the
semantic signs, called “determinatives” and placed at the end of the words, is to specify the
meaning of the word to which they are associated.
The phonetic signs of the Hieroglyphic have exclusively a consonant phonetic value, and are
divided into ideograms, or signs that express a single word, and phonograms, signs that indicate one
or more consonants. The phonograms are divided into uniliteral, biliteral, and triliteral signs: the
uniliterals express a single consonant, the biliterals two, and the triliterals three.
The uniliterals, a total of 24 signs (more than 30 including also the variants of some signs), are also
known as “alphabetic signs”, and correspond to all of the basic consonantal sounds of the
hieroglyphs; biliterals and triliterals instead are formed from a combination respectively of two and
three of the 24 basic consonantal sounds.
The 24 basic consonantal sounds have been reunited by the scholars in a sort of conventional
phonetic alphabet: it is the phonetic notation that is used to transliterate the hieroglyphics. In
dictionaries and lexicons is almost always used the transliteration, and not the hieroglyphs, and the
words are listed according to this conventional phonetic alphabet that uses the latin letters and some
special characters to notice the sounds.
These are the conventional signs used to transliterate the 24 basic consonants of the hieroglyphs:
-the 5 semiconsonants or glides:
3 , j , y ,ˁ , w
-the 19 consonants:
b , p , f , m , n , r , h , ḥ, ḫ, ẖ, s , š , ḳ, k , g , t , ṯ, d , ḏ
(Concerning the ś , it was assimilated to s from the end of the Ancient Kingdom, and in fact in
Coptic it has exactly the same pronunciation of s )
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
On the following pages the pronunciation of the 24 basic consonantal sounds of the hieroglyphs
(that is the phonetic alphabet that is the basis of the conventional transliteration of the hieroglyphs)
is analyzed and reconstructed in accordance with the progress of the studies on the phonetic system
of the Egyptian language, and especially with the Coptic.
Of each consonant is indicated the transliteration, followed by:
the corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph and its numbering according to the Gardiner's list;
the corresponding letter/letters of the Coptic alphabet, and then the reconstructed pronunciation on
the basis of the Coptic and of the transliterations in other languages.
It 's important to note that the pronunciation of some consonants changes depending on the context
(the stress, the other consonants, and also the vowels of the word itself): as we will see later, this is
one of the main characteristics of the phonetic system of the Egyptian language, and it concerns
especially the vowel system.
The transliteration of the words and of the individual letters is written in italics, while the
pronunciation is noted in italics between quotation marks.
-the 5 Glides:
The glides are one of the more complex elements of the phonetic system of the Egyptian language.
They can be both vowels and consonants: the phonetic value of the glides varies according to the
stress and to the other letters that constitute a word; and in turn the glides affect the phonetic value
of the other letters of a word, especially the vowels. The phonetic value of the glides therefore will
be discussed in specific later; for now of each glide will be shown only the corresponding uniliteral
hieroglyph, the basic phonetic value, and the basic respective letter in Coptic (excluding the ˁ that in
fact does not have a basic phonetic value nor a corresponding basic letter in Coptic).
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3
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
[Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus, G1]
basic phonetic value: semiconsonant “y”
corresponding basic letter in Coptic: I
j
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
[flowering reed, M17]
basic phonetic value: semiconsonant “y”
corresponding basic letter in Coptic: I
y
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
and the variant
[two flowering reeds, M17]
[two diagonal strokes, Z4]
basic phonetic value: semiconsonant “y”
corresponding basic letter in Coptic: I
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
ˁ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
[forearm, D36]
w
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
and the variant
[quail chick, G43]
[Z7, hieroglyphic adaptation of the hieratic form of G43]
basic phonetic value: semiconsonant “w”
corresponding basic letter in Coptic: OU
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- The 19 Consonants:
b
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
B
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
“ b/v ”
[foot, D58]
/
P
/
/
“p”
OU
/
“w”
Remarks:
- usually b is pronounced “ b ” ;
- b > P (“ p ”)
traces of phonetic change of b in p are already present in some texts from the New Kingdom;
in Coptic (in all dialects) b usually becomes P (“ p ”) if it is the last consonant of a word and it is
not part of a consonant cluster;
in Memphitic b at the end of a word can be written and pronounced both as B (“ b ”) and as P
(“ p ”);
sometimes b becomes P (“ p ”) in a way that seems irregular;
- b > OU (w)
Rarely b becomes OU and is pronounced as the semiconsonant “ w ”;
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
in modern Memphitic some words have a variant in which B is replaced by OU (“ w ”).
-“b”/“v”:
in modern Memphitic B (b) is pronounced “ b ” in proper names, while it is “ v ” in all other words
when it is followed by a vowel.
p
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
P
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
“p”
[stool, Q3]
/
V
/
/
“ ph ”
B
/
/
OU
“b”
/
“w”
Remarks:
- usually p is pronounced “ p ” ;
- p > V (“ ph ”)
V (“ ph ”) is the aspirated p ;
in all Coptic dialects, excluding the Memphitic, V (“ ph ”) is used to express with a single letter
the sequence p + h (unless the h is mute, in such cases p doesn't change and remains P , “ p ”);
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this happens quite often in compounds, when a word ending in p is connected to another starting
with h , and more rarely within a word (since usually the h is mute when it is part of a consonant
cluster together with p, especially in Thebaic);
Memphitic:
p becomes V (“ ph ”) when preceding directly the stressed vowel or a sonorant (m, n, l, r, b, j, w)
or OU/ I (“ w ” / “ y ”) that precedes another vowel, otherwise it remains P (“ p ”);
when p precedes a mute consonant (especially a mute semiconsonant), even if it is followed by the
stressed vowel, it remains p , P (“ p ”);
sometimes in the reduplicate verbs (verbs whose last two consonants are identical to the first two),
by analogy, the aspirated p , that is V (“ ph ”), is used for both syllables, and the same with the
unaspirated p , that is P (“ p ”);
rarely, V (“ ph ”) is used to express the sequence p + h/ ḥ ;
in the compounds, when a word ending in p is connected to another word starting with h , there is
never aspiration, and p remains P (“ p ”).
- p > B (“ b ”) /
OU (“ w ”)
/
(mute)
Often, when p is in direct conctact with t , ṯ , d , ḏ , it becomes B (“ b ”) or OU (“ w ”),
otherwise is mute; this happens almost always when p precedes T (“ t ”).
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Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
f
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding Coptic letter:
[horned viper, I9]
F
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ f ”
Remarks:
- in Thebaic sometimes the f followed by OU ( “ w ” ) becomes B (“ b ”) ;
m
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
the variant:
[owl, G17]
[two ribs of an oryx (?), Aa13-Aa15]
and the variant of the Late Period:
corresponding Coptic letter:
[Aa56]
M
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ m ”
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n
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
and the variants:
[ripple of water, N35]
[arms spread out horizontally , D35]
corresponding Coptic letter:
N
phonetic value/pronunciation:
“n”
r
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
R
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
“r”
[mouth, D21]
/
L
/
“l”
Remarks:
- usually r is pronounced “ r ” ;
-r > L
21
and
[Red Crown, S3]
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
r becomes L (“ l ”) almost always in a word that also has the 3 ;
sometimes, in a way that seems irregular, r becomes L (“ l ”) ;
the Demotic, unlike Hieroglyph, has a particular sign for the sound “ l ” that in Coptic corresponds
always to L (“ l ”): hence Demotic often allows to distinguish when r corresponds to “ r ” and
when it is “ l ” ;
in the Piam/Phiom dialect, r corresponds almost always to L (“ l ”) ;
h
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding Coptic letter:
[reed shelter, O4]
H
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ h ”
Remarks:
- h corresponds to the aspirated “ h ” ;
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ḥ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding Coptic letter:
[wick of twisted flax, V28]
H
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ h ”
Remarks:
- ḥ corresponds to the aspirated “ h ” ;
ḫ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding letters in Coptic:
S
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ sh ”
[placenta (?), Aa1]
/
|
/
/ “ kh ”
23
q
/
/ “ kh ”
H
/
K
/ “h”
/
<
/ “k”
/ “ ch ”
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
Remarks:
- usually ḫ corresponds to S , whose pronunciation is “ sh ” ;
- in the Akhmimic dialect, ḫ corresponds always to
- in Memphitic, ḫ may also correspond to
| , whose pronunciation is
“ kh ” ;
q , whose pronunciation is “ kh ” ;
- in Thebaic, ḫ may also correspond to H (aspirated “ h ” );
-ḫ > K / <
sometimes, in a way that seems irregular, ḫ corresponds to K (“ k ”) ;
moreover, in Memphitic, when ḫ precedes directly the stressed vowel or a sonorant (m, n, l, r, b, j,
w), it is aspirated and corresponds to < (“ch”) ;
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Amnte Nofre - AMNTE NOFRE
ẖ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
H
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
“h”
[animal's belly (?), F32]
|
/
/
/
q
“ kh ”
Remarks:
- in Thebaic ẖ corresponds to H (aspirated “ h ” ) ;
- in Akhmimic ẖ corresponds to
|
- in Memphitic ẖ corresponds to
q ( “ kh ” );
(“ kh ”) ;
- rarely ẖ corresponds to K (“ k ”) / < (“ ch ”) ;
25
/
“ kh ”
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
s
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
and the variant:
[bolt, O34]
[folded cloth, S29]
corresponding Coptic letter:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
C
“s”
š
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding Coptic letter:
[pool, N37]
S
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ sh ”
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The last 7 consonants are divided into
voiced velar stops: ḳ , k , g
voiced dental stops: t , d
voiced palatal stops: ṯ , ḏ
Before describing the pronunciation of each of these consonants it is important to note the following
consonantal changes dating at least from the New Kingdom:
k > ṯ
ṯ > t
ḏ > d
and the following cases of alternation between consonants, always dating from the New Kingdom:
k
/
ḳ
ṯ
/
ḏ
t
/
d
/
g
ḳ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
K
“k”
[hill-slope, N29]
[
/
/
/
“c”
J
/
“ g (soft g)”
Remarks:
- usually ḳ is pronounced “ k ” , corresponding to the Coptic K ;
27
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
- ḳ > [ (“ c ”) /
J (soft “ g ”):
sometimes ḳ , that is a voiced velar stop, becomes a voiced palatal stop corresponding in Thebaic to
the [ (“ c ”), and in Memphitic to the J (soft “ g ” ) ;
- usually, when ḳ is preceded by n , it does not become a voiced palatal stop and its pronunciation
remains “ k ” , that is the Coptic K (and often n is transcribed as M and pronounced as “ m ”) ;
k
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
K
“k”
[basket with handle, V31]
[
/
/
/
<
“c”
/
“ ch”
Remarks:
- usually k is pronounced “ k ” and corresponds to the Coptic K (“ k ”); k (like ḳ ) is a voiced
velar stop, and often it becomes a voiced palatal stop: especially when it is close to the stressed
syllable, k corresponds to [ and its pronunciation is “ c ” ;
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Amnte Nofre - AMNTE NOFRE
- k > < (“ ch ”)
< (“ ch ”) is the aspirated k ;
in all the Coptic dialects, excluding Memphitic, < (“ ch ”) is used to express with a single letter
the sequence k + h (unless the h is mute, in such cases k doesn't change and remains K , “ k ”);
this happens quite often in compounds, when a word ending in k is connected to another starting
with h , and more rarely within a word (since usually the h is mute when it is part of a consonant
cluster together with k , especially in Thebaic);
Memphitic:
k becomes < (“ ch ”) when preceding directly the stressed vowel or a sonorant (m, n, l, r, b, j, w),
or OU/ I (“ w ” / “ y ”) that precedes another vowel, otherwise it remains k , K (“ k ”) ;
sometimes in the reduplicate verbs, by analogy, the aspirated k , that is < (“ ch ”), is used for both
syllables, and the same with the unaspirated k , that is K (“ k ”);
rarely, < (“ ch ”) is used to express the sequence k + h/ ḥ ;
in compounds, when a word ending in k is connected to another starting with h , there is no
aspiration, and k remains K (“ k ”).
29
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
g
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
[
“c”
[stand for jar, W11]
/
J
/
/
K
“ g (soft) ”
/
“k”
Remarks:
- g (like ḳ and k ) is a voiced velar stop that often becomes a voiced palatal stop: this happens
almost always, hence g usually corresponds to [ (“ c ”) in Thebaic and to J (soft “ g ”) in
Memphitic;
- when g remains a voiced velar stop, its pronunciation is “ k ” and corresponds to K ; this
happens especially when g is close to w or b ;
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t
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
[loaf, X1]
T
/
phonetic value/pronunciation: “ t ”
/
corresponding letters in Coptic:
:
“ th ”
Remarks:
- usually t is pronounced “ t ” and corresponds to the Coptic T ;
- t > : (“ th ”)
: (“ th ”) is the aspirated t ;
in all the Coptic dialects, excluding Memphitic, : (“ th ”) is used to express with a single letter
the sequence t + h (unless the h is mute, in such cases t doesn't change and remains T , “ t ”);
this happens quite often in compounds, when a word ending in t is connected to another starting
with h , and more rarely within a word (since usually the h is mute when it is part of a consonant
cluster together with t , especially in Thebaic);
Memphitic:
t becomes : (“ th ”) when preceding directly the stressed vowel or a sonorant (m, n, l, r, b, j, w) or
OU/ I (“ w ” / “ y ”) that precedes another vowel, otherwise it remains t , T (“ t ”);
sometimes in the reduplicate verbs, by analogy, the aspirated t , that is : (“ th ”), is used for both
31
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
syllables, and the same with the unaspirated t , that is T (“ t ”);
rarely : (“ th ”) is used to express the sequence t + h/ ḥ ;
in compounds, when a word ending in t is connected to another word starting with h , there is no
aspiration, and t remains T (“ t ”).
ṯ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation
[tethering rope, V13]
T
/
“t”
/
J
/
[
“ g (soft) ”
/
“c”
Remarks:
- usually ṯ is pronounced “ t ” and corresponds to the Coptic T ;
- sometimes ṯ is pronounced “ g (soft) ” and corresponds to the Coptic J (soft “g”);
- in Memphitic ṯ sometimes is pronounced “ c ” and corresponds to the Coptic [ ;
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d
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding Coptic letter:
T
phonetic value/pronunciation:
“t”
[hand, D46]
ḏ
corresponding uniliteral hieroglyph:
corresponding letters in Coptic:
phonetic value/pronunciation:
[cobra, I10]
T
/
“t”
/
J
“ g (soft) ”
Remarks:
- ḏ is pronounced “ g (soft) ”, corresponding to the Coptic J ,
or “ t ”, corresponding to the Coptic T ;
33
Egyptian language: phonetic system and pronunciation - Part I
-Bibliography-
Georg Steindorff, “Koptische Grammatik mit Chrestomathie”, 1894
Kurt Sethe, “Das Aegyptische Verbum im Altaegyptische, Neuaegyptische und Koptischen”, 18991902
Jozef Vergote, “Grammaire Copte”, 1973/1983
Antonio Loprieno, “Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction”, 1995
Carsten Peust, “Egyptian Phonology”, 1999
Bentley Layton, “A Coptic Grammar”, 2000
Antonio Loprieno, “Ancient Egyptian and Coptic”, 2004
James P. Allen, “The Ancient Egyptian Language”, 2013
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35