Ten-minute hieroglyphs - Lesson 6: Multiliteral signs
- Dr Sian Thomas
- Oct 31
- 4 min read
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson you will:
understand that multiliteral signs represent two or three consonants;
have met some common multiliteral signs; and
have practised using a sign list (if you have access to one) to explore a multiliteral sign.
You'll learn your first set of multiliteral hieroglyphs in the follow-up activity, and more sets will follow in future lessons.
What are multiliteral signs?
You met uniliteral signs in Lesson 2: these are signs that represent single consonants. Multiliteral signs represent two or three consonants, for example:
This biliteral (two-letter) hieroglyph is transliterated wn.
This triliteral (three-letter) hieroglyph is transliterated ʿnḫ.
How can I find the sound value of a multiliteral sign?
You can look up multiliteral signs in the standard sign lists using the same method you used for determinatives (see Lesson 5). Let's try a couple of examples:
Example One - when you can tell what sort of thing it's a picture of
This looks like a hare. If you refer to your sign list, you'll see that mammals are in section E. Skimming down that section you'll see this hieroglyph - the hare - is sign E34. The entry for the sign will describe it as a phonogram (i.e. phonetic sign) with value wn. If you're using Gardiner's sign list - which is more detailed than the ones in many teaching grammars - you'll also see a couple of examples of words that use this sign.
Example Two - when you're not sure what it's a picture of, or you guess wrong!
You probably have some ideas about this sign - e.g. it's something to do with life - that might lead you to look in sign list section R (temple furniture and sacred emblems). However, it's not there. Don't worry - there's an alternative route to take when you're not quite sure what you're looking at a picture of.
Full sign lists, such as those in Gardiner and Allen, usually come with tables of signs arranged by shape. This sign is taller than it is wide, so take a look in the table called something like 'tall narrow' or 'vertical'. A browse of that table will tell you that it's sign S34. When you look this up in the sign list you'll find that it is in fact a picture of a sandal strap, and is used as a phonogram with value ʿnḫ.
Note: As we'll see in the next lesson, this phonogram is indeed used in the word ʿnḫ meaning 'live'. This is an important reminder that, when dealing with phonograms, you should focus on their phonetic value NOT what they're a picture of. We'll look at signs being used as ideograms (i.e. representing the words for the things they ARE pictures of) in a Lesson 8.
There are lots - how will I get on top of them?
There are indeed LOTS of these hieroglyphs - for an overview see a textbook such as Allen's Middle Egyptian (there are useful tables in Chapter 3).
As before, I recommend incremental learning. I'll give you a few signs to learn after this lesson, and more after future lessons. I'll focus on the two-letter signs (although I do include a few three-letter ones) because the three-letter signs tend to be used in particular words and students often absorb them as they learn vocab.
Note that each flashcard set is a 'mixed bag', that is, I've not given you all the signs that start with a particular consonant or that end with a particular consonant in a single set. This may seem disorganised, but I've found that this approach can lead to better long-term retention.
Tips for learners
Although these hieroglyphs are pictures of things, we are learning them here as phonetic signs. As we saw with ʿnḫ, phonetic hieroglyphs are very often used to spell out the sounds of words that have meanings that aren't connected with the things they're pictures of.
When you're learning a new sign, or you meet a sign you don't know, look it up! Consulting the sign list is a valuable learning activity: take the time to read the entry and look at the different ways the sign is used. This will give you a deeper understanding both of the sign itself and of hieroglyphic writing in general, and will help you remember the sign next time.
Follow-up
Use the Lesson 6 flashcards to learn your first multiliteral signs. This set contains ten biliteral and three triliteral signs. I'll include more signs in future lessons.
Test you learning with the Lesson 6 pair/ no pair game.
If you have a textbook with a sign list, look up some of the multiliteral signs you've just learned and read the entries for them.
Lesson 7 will be posted soon and will cover phonetic complements (one-consonant signs that support multiliteral signs) and using multiliteral signs in words. It will also introduce some new multiliteral signs.
