Ten-minute hieroglyphs - Mini-lesson 8: Ideograms and more multiliterals
- Dr Sian Thomas
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Learning objectives
By the end of this mini-lesson you will:
understand the role of ideograms; and
have met some signs commonly used as ideograms and seen them in words.
In the follow-up activities you'll learn some common words written with ideograms as well as some new multiliteral signs.
What are ideograms?
So far, you've seen words spelled out phonetically, with a determinative at the end that gives you an idea of the general meaning of the word.
For example
dpt (meaning 'boat') written with three uniliteral signs (transliterated d, p and t) followed by a determinative that's a picture of a boat.
Some hieroglyphic signs could be used as ideograms, which means they could represent the word for the thing they're a picture of. When a sign is used as an ideogram, you'll usually see it written on its own (without phonetic complements), followed by a single stroke. This forms a complete word.
Here are some signs you've already met as phonetic hieroglyphs being used in words as ideograms:
The word r meaning 'mouth'. You've learned this sign already as the uniliteral phonogram r. Here it's being used to write the word for the thing it's a picture of (a mouth).
The word ꜥnḫ meaning 'sandal strap'. You first learned this sign in Mini-lesson 6 as the multiliteral phonogram ꜥnḫ. We noted then that it's a picture of a sandal strap, but focused on its phonetic value, and in Mini-lesson 7 we used it to write the word for 'live' (transliterated ꜥnḫ). Now we're seeing it used as an ideogram, representing the word for 'sandal strap', which is also transliterated as ꜥnḫ.
What's the little line at the end?
The little line at the end of the words above is a very useful determinative (Z1 in your sign list). It tells you that the preceding sign should be read as an ideogram. For example, in the case of ꜥnḫ above it's telling you we're dealing with a word referring to an actual sandal strap, not a word meaning 'live'.
How do I transliterate ideograms?
If you've already met the sign as a phonogram, you know its transliteration. It's not a coincidence that the transliteration of a sign when used as an ideogram is usually the same as its transliteration when it's used as a phonogram. For example, the mouth sign became the phonogram r because the (only) consonant in the word for mouth is r.
However, when all you have is an unfamiliar ideogram, figuring out the correct transliteration is more of a challenge.
For example, here's a sign you've NOT met being used as an ideogram:
Once again, the answer is to look the sign up in the sign list, using the approach outlined in Mini-lesson 6. Here it's not immediately obvious what this is a picture of, so you consult the helpful tables of signs organised by shape that you'll find in grammars like Gardiner and Allen. This sign will appear in a table called something like 'small signs' or 'low narrow signs'. The table will tell you that it's sign F34; you then find the entry for F34 in the sign list, which will tell you that this sign is a picture of a heart and is used as an ideogram to write the word ib meaning 'heart' - this is the word pictured.
Tips for learners
If you see a sign followed by the single stroke determinative, you're probably looking at a word written with an ideogram.
If you know the ideogram, great - if not, look it up! The sign list will tell you if the sign you've identified can indeed be used as an ideogram and, if so, how you should transliterate it and what it means.
Start making your own vocab list of words commonly written with ideograms and review it from time to time. You can start with the words in the flashcards that accompany this mini-lesson.
Follow-up
Meet some common words written with ideograms by playing the Mini-lesson 8 match-up game.
Use the Mini-lesson 8 flashcards to learn your next set of multiliteral signs.
Practise using a sign-list by looking up the new multiliteral signs and the ideograms that you met today.
In Mini-lesson 9, which will be posted soon, we'll make a start on Middle Egyptian grammar (nouns).
