Hieroglyphic Alphabet

Ancient Egyptian writing uses a set of 24 uniliteral signs — hieroglyphs that each represent a single consonant. Together they form the phonetic backbone of the writing system, though they were always used alongside logograms and determinatives rather than as a standalone alphabet.

Note: Like most Semitic writing systems, Egyptian hieroglyphs record consonants only — vowels were not written. Signs are listed here in the conventional Egyptological dictionary order. Transliteration follows the Leyden Unified Transliteration standard; the yod sign (M17) is shown as i͗ (i with a stroke), with the legacy notation j in parentheses.

Sign(s)	MdC	Transliteration	Pronunciation	Object Depicted	Comments
G1	A	ꜣ	a	Egyptian vulture	a glottal stop as in German words beginning with a vowel
M17	i	i͗(j)	y or i	flowering reed leaf	seems to have sometimes the value of y, sometimes (mainly at the beginning of words) that of ꜣ. Thus can be pronounced 'i' or 'ee' as in French 'i'. At the beginning of some divine names it is pronounced 'a', e.g. 'imn' = Amun.
M17 Z4	y	y	y	two reeds	pronounced 'y'
D36	a	ꜥ	a	forearm	a gutteral sound unknown to English which can be pronounced as a long a
G43 Z7	w	w	u	(1) quail chick (2) coil of rope	'u' or 'oo' as in 'pool'
D58	b	b	b	leg and foot	same as in English
Q3	p	p	p	stool	same as in English
I9	f	f	f	horned viper	same as in English
G17	m	m	m	(1) owl (2) unknown	same as in English
N35	n	n	n	water line	same as in English
D21	r	r	r	mouth	same as in English
O4	h	h	h	reed shelter in fields	same as in English
V28	H	ḥ	h	wick of twisted flax	strongly aspirated or emphatic 'h' sound unknown to English
Aa1	x	ḫ	kh	placenta(?)	a gutteral sound unknown to English. Like 'ch' in Scottish 'loch'.
F32	X	ẖ	ch	animal belly	perhaps like 'ch' in German 'ich'
O34	z	z	z	(1) bolt (2) folded cloth	same as in English
S29	s	s	s	(1) bolt (2) folded cloth	same as in English
N37	S	š	sh	pool	same as in English
N29	q	ḳ	q	hill-slope	Arabic glottal sound, best represented by the English 'k'
V31	k	k	k	basket with handle	same as in English
W12	g	g	g	stand for jar	same as in English
X1	t	t	t	loaf of bread	same as in English
V13	T	ṯ	tch	tethering rope	combination of two letters in English, 'ch'
D46	d	d	d	hand	same as in English
I10	D	ḏ	dj	snake	same as 'j' in English

ꜣPronunciation: a

Egyptian vulture

a glottal stop as in German words beginning with a vowel

M17

i͗(j)Pronunciation: y or i

flowering reed leaf

seems to have sometimes the value of y, sometimes (mainly at the beginning of words) that of ꜣ. Thus can be pronounced 'i' or 'ee' as in French 'i'. At the beginning of some divine names it is pronounced 'a', e.g. 'imn' = Amun.