The Egyptian Alphabet

There are over 700 common heiroglyphs, but these 25 cover all the sounds of the Egyptian language and were used by the Egyptians themselves to "sound out" unfamiliar words. The order of the letters is standard, but modern.

Hieroglyph		Value	Pronunciation
	Eagle		Originally a "glottal stop" like the sound between the two syllables of "uh-oh". Pronounced as a vowel "a" as in "father" by American Egyptologists.
	Reed		Like "i" in "this".
	Double Reed		Before a vowel, like "y" in "yes". Otherwise like "y" in "many".
	Arm		Originally a consonant made far back in the throat. Pronounced as a long vowel "ay" as in "day" by American Egyptologists.
	Quail chick		Before a vowel, like "w" in "wood". Otherwise like a long "oo" as in "too".
	Leg		Like "b" as in "boy".
	Window shutter		Like "p" as in "pea".
	Asp		Like "f" as in "find".
	Owl		Like "m" as in "more". The word "m" ("in") is pronounced "em".
	Water		Like "n" as in "new". The word "n" ("of") is pronounced "en".
	Mouth		Like "r" as in "red". The word "r" ("to") is pronounced "er".
	House		Like "h" as in "how".
	Coil of rope		Like "h" as in "how", only stronger.
	Placenta		Like "ch" as in the German "ach".
	Animal belly		Like "ch" as in the German "ich", but most people pronounce it the same as the letter above.
	Folded cloth		Like "s" as in "say". The word "s" ("man") is pronounced "se"
	Door bolt		Like "z" as in "zero", but most people pronounce it the same as the letter above.
	Pool		Like "sh" as in "shoe".
	Knee		Like a "q" pronounced far back in the throat, but most people pronounce it as "k".
	Cup		Like "k" as in "king".
	Chair back		Like "g" as in "go". Never soft like "j" as in "join".
	Loaf of bread		Like "t" as in "take".
	Rope		Like "ch" as in "cheese".
	Hand		Like "d" as in "door".
	Snake		Like "j" as in "join".

Important Note: We really have no idea how ancient Egyptian was pronounced, so don't worry about trying to get it "right". Most American Egyptologists use the pronunciations above and also insert a short "e" between any combinations of consonants that are too hard to pronounce.