Egyptian triliteral signs

As part of the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs, some hieroglyphs served as phonograms representing one, two, or three consonants, used purely for their consonantal values. This use as phonograms contrasts with use as logograms, where hieroglyphs represent an entire word depicted by the image of the hieroglyph itself that may also have the same one, two, or three consonants.^[1][2]

List

The following is a list of hieroglyphs used as phonographs with triconsonantal phonetic values. These forms and their values are from Allen (2014), unless otherwise indicated.^[A]

	Gardiner	Unicode	Unicode	Transl.	Description	Notes
	E26	U+130F0	𓃰	ꜣbw		[citation needed]
	W10	U+133BA	𓎺	iꜥb, wsḫ, ḥnt, ḥnw	Bowl	Allen (2014) has the transliteration ḥnw, others are from Beylage (2018)[3]
	O28	U+1327A	𓉺	iwn	Column with tendon[4]
	M1	U+131AD	𓆭	imꜣ	Tree
	F44	U+1312F	𓄯	isw, iwꜥ	Bone with meat[5]	iwꜥ "meat on the bone, haunch"; iwꜥ.w "heir", iwꜥ.t "inheritance";[5] isw "reward, payment"[6]
	V37	U+133A9	𓎩	idr	Bandage	Triliteral in Beylage (2018).[3]
	F21	U+13114	𓄔	idn, sḏm	Ear
	S39	U+132FF	𓋿	ꜥwt	Shepherd's crook	ꜥw.t "flock"[7]
	D34	U+1309A	𓂚	ꜥḥꜣ	Arms with shield and mace	Triliteral in Beylage (2018).[3]
	V12	U+1337C	𓍼	ꜥrq	Band of string[8]	Triliteral in Beylage (2018).[3] ꜥrq "wise"; ꜥrq "swear an oath"; ꜥrq.y "last day of the month";[9] sꜥrq "complete, finish off"[10]
	S42	U+1327A	𓌂	ꜥbꜣ, sḫm	ꜥbꜣ-scepter
	Aa20	U+13422	𓐢	ꜥpr	Bag for clothing[11]	ꜥpr "provide, equip", ꜥpr.w "equipment"; ꜥpr.w "jewelry"; ꜥpr.w "crew of a ship"[12]
	S34	U+132F9	𓋹	ꜥnḫ	Ankh symbol	Ideogram for "sandal-strap", as a phonogram, used to represent "life", "live"[2]
	P6	U+132A2	𓊢	ꜥḥꜥ	Mast
	I1	U+13188	𓆈	ꜥšꜣ	Lizard
	V29	U+1339D	𓎝	wꜣḥ	Swab
	S40	U+13300	𓌀	wꜣs, wꜣb	Was Sceptre
	M13	U+131C5	𓇅	wꜣḏ	Papyrus Stem
	D60	U+130C2	𓃂	wꜥb	Foot with water streaming	Ideogram for pure or clean. Triliteral in Collier and Manley (1998).[13]
	N8	U+131F6	𓇶	wbn	Sun with rays
	Aa2	U+1340E	𓐎	wḥꜣ	Pustule
	P4	U+132A0	𓊠	wḥꜥ	Boat with net
	F25	U+13119	𓄙	wḥm	Leg and hoof of an ox
	F12	U+1310A	𓄊	wsr	Head and neck of jackal
	S11	U+132DD	𓋝	wsḫ	Broad collar
	Aa21	U+13423	𓐣	wḏꜥ
	N20	U+13204	𓈄	wḏb, wdb[14]	Riverbank
	W2	U+133B0	𓎰	bꜣs
	H2	U+13180	𓆀	pꜣq	Head of a crested bird
	H3	U+13181	𓆁	pꜣq	Head of spoonbill
	F46	U+13132	𓄲	pẖr, dbn	Intestine[15]	Triliteral in Beylage (2018).[3] pẖr "go around";[16] pẖr.t "prescription, remedy"[17]
	N9	U+131F7	𓇷	psḏ	Moon
	N10	U+131F8	𓇸	psḏ
	Aa11	U+13419	𓐙	mꜣꜥ	Platform
	U4	U+13336	𓌶	mꜣꜥ		Triliteral phonogram per Allen's sign list and Beylage (2018).[18][3]
	G46	U+13176	𓅶	mꜣw		Triliteral phonogram per Allen's sign list and Beylage (2018).[19][3]
	G14	U+13150	𓅐	mwt	Vulture
	V32	U+133A3	𓎣	msn	Wicker satchel
	S10	U+132DC	𓋜	mḏḥ	Fillet
	S12	U+132DE	𓋞	nbw		Triliteral in Collier and Manley (1998).[13]
	F35	U+13124	𓄤	nfr	Heart and windpipe
	A17	U+13014	𓀔	nni	Infant
	M22	U+131D1	𓇑	nḫb	Rush
	R8	U+132B9	𓊹	nṯr	Cloth on pole
	M29	U+131DB	𓇛	nḏm	Carob seed-pod
	T12	U+13317	𓌗	rwḏ, rwd[20]	Bowstring
	Aa5	U+13411	𓐑	ḥip	Part of a ship	Variant with biliteral ḥp.[21]
	S38	U+132FE	𓋾	ḥqꜣ	Crook
	R4	U+132B5	𓊵	ḥtp	Bread loaf on mat
	Q1	U+132A8	𓊨	ḥtm	Seat[22]
	T6	U+1330D	𓌍	ḥḏḏ		Triliteral phonogram per Allen's sign list.[20]
	L1	U+131A3	𓆣	ḫpr	Scarab beetle
	W17	U+133C3	𓏃	ḫnt
	D19	U+13089	𓂉	ḫnt	Nose in profile[23]	ḫntš "plantation", ḫntš "be glad, rejoice"[24]
	S42	U+13302	𓌂	ḫrp		[citation needed]
	P8	U+132A4	𓊤	ḫrw	Oar
	U34	U+13359	𓍙	ḫsf	Spindle
	U35	U+1335A	𓍚	ḫsf		Variant of U34[25][26]
	W9	U+133B8	𓎸	ẖnm	Stone jug
	Z9	U+133F4	𓏴	zwꜣ, swꜣ	Two sticks crossed[27]
	T11	U+13315	𓌕	zwn	Arrow[28]
	F36	U+13125	𓄥	zmꜣ	Lung and windpipe
	F28	U+1311C	𓄜	sꜣb	Cow's skin[15]
	S22	U+132EB	𓋫	sꜣṯ	Shoulder knot[29]
	S32	U+132F7	𓋷	siꜣ	Cloth with fringes[7]
	N14	U+131FC	𓇼	sbꜣ, dwꜣ	Star
	F42	U+1312D	𓄭	spr	Rib
	S29	U+132F4	𓋴	snb		[citation needed]
	S31	U+132F6	𓋶	smꜣ		Triliteral phonogram per Allen's sign list.[30]
	G54	U+1317E	𓅾	snḏ,snd[19]	Plucked bird
	T31	U+1332B	𓌫	sšm	Knife sharpener
	T32	U+1332C	𓌬	sšm
	U21	U+13349	𓍉	stp	Adze and block of wood
	V2	U+1336C	𓍬	sṯꜣ		Triliteral in Beylage (2018).[3]
	Aa32	U+1342E	𓐮	sṯꜣ, stꜣ	Bow	Triliteral phonogram per Allen's sign list.[31]
	A50	U+1303B	𓀻	šps		Triliteral in Collier and Manley (1998).[13]
	M26	U+131D7	𓇗	šmꜥ	Flowering sedge
	T18	U+1331E	𓌞	šms	Crook with bundle attached
	U13	U+13341	𓍁	šnꜥ	Plough[32]
	O43	U+13290	𓊐	šzp	Fence
	O42	U+1328F	𓊏	šzp	Fence[33]
	V6	U+13371	𓍱	šsr	Cord with ends up[8]
	R5	U+132B6	𓊶	kꜣp	Censer for fumigation[22]	kꜣp "fumigate"; kꜣp "shelter, hut"[34]
	U17	U+13345	𓍅	grg	Pick and depression
	G4	U+13142	𓅂	tiw	Buzzard
	S24	U+132ED	𓋭	ṯꜣz	Knotted belt[29]	ṯꜣs "tie (a knot), knit together"; ṯꜣs "spell, utterance, proverb"[35]
	S23	U+132EC	𓋬	dmḏ,dmd[36]	Knotted cloth[29]	dmḏ "assemble, unite", dmḏ.yt "assembly"; dmḏ "in total"[37]
	G27	U+1315F	𓅟	dšr	Flamingo[38]
	S41	U+13301	𓌁	ḏꜥm	Animal-headed staff[7]	ḏꜥmw "electrum"[30]
	T25	U+13325	𓌥	ḏbꜣ, dbꜣ[18]	Reed float

Usage

Triliteral signs could be used by themselves to indicate the consonant sequence they represent, or they could more often be written along with phonetic complements, that is, they could appear with uniliteral signs that represent part of their value.^[2][39] Some examples of triliterals with phonetic complementation appear in the table below.

Examples of phonetic complementation with triliterals^[40]

Hieroglyph	Example	Transliteration	Meaning
		ꜥnḫ	'live'
		wḥm	'repeat'
		wsr	'strong'
		nfr	'good'
		stp	'select'

See also

• Transliteration of Ancient Egyptian
• Egyptian uniliteral signs
• Egyptian biliteral signs
• List of Egyptian hieroglyphs