# Egyptian uniliteral signs

The Egyptian hieroglyphic script contained 24 uniliterals (symbols that stood for single consonants, much like English letters) which today we associate with the 26 glyphs listed below. (Note that the glyph associated with w/u also has a hieratic abbreviation.)
The traditional transliteration system shown on the left of the chart below is over a century old and is the one most commonly seen in texts. It includes several symbols such as 3 for sounds that were of unknown value at the time. Much progress has been made since, though there is still debate as to the details. For instance, it is now thought the 3 may have been an alveolar lateral approximant ("l") in Old Egyptian that was lost by Late Egyptian. Some scholars believe that consonants transcribed as voiced (d, g, dj) may actually have been ejective or, less likely, pharyngealized like the Arabic emphatic consonants. A good description can be found in Allen. For other systems of transliteration, see transliteration of ancient Egyptian.
Uniliteral signs :
| Sign | Sign | Traditional transliteration | Traditional transliteration | Traditional transliteration | Phonetic values per Allen (2000) | Phonetic values per Allen (2000) |
| Sign | Sign | | Say | Notes | Old Egyptian | Middle Egyptian |
| | an Egyptian vulture | 3 | a | called aleph, a glottal stop | [l] or [ɾ] | silent, [j], and [ʔ] |
| | a reed | ỉ | i/a | called yodh | an initial or final vowel; sometimes [j] | an initial or final vowel; sometimes [j] |
| | a pair of reeds | y | y | double yodh | no record | [j] |
| | pair of strokes or river (?) | y | y | double yodh | no record | [j] |
| | an arm | ʾ | a | called ayin, a voiced pharyngeal fricative | perhaps [d] | [ʕ]; [d] perhaps retained in some words and dialects |
| or | a quail chick or its hieratic abbreviation | w | w/u | called waw | [w] ~ [u] | [w] ~ [u] |
| | a lower leg | b | b | | [b] ~ [β] | [b] ~ [β] |
| | a reed mat or stool | p | p | | aspirated [pʰ] | aspirated [pʰ] |
| | a horned viper | f | f | | [f] | [f] |
| | an owl | m | m | | [m] | [m] |
| | a ripple of water | n | n | | [n] | [n], sometimes [l] |
| | a mouth | r | r | | see image | [ɾ], sometimes [l] (always [l] in some dialects) |
| | a reed shelter | h | h | | [h] | [h] |
| | a twisted wick | ḥ | h | an emphatic h, a voiceless pharyngeal fricative | [ħ] | [ħ] |
| | a placenta | ḫ | kh | a voiceless velar fricative | [x] | [x] |
| | an animal belly with tail | ẖ | kh | a softer sound, a voiceless palatal fricative | [ç] | [ç] |
| | a folded cloth | s | s | Old Egyptian sound for "door bolt" is unknown, but perhaps was z or th | [s] | [s] |
| | a door bolt | s | s | Old Egyptian sound for "door bolt" is unknown, but perhaps was z or th | [θ] | [s] |
| or or | a garden pool | š | sh | | [ʃ] | [ʃ] |
| | slope of a hill | ḳ or q | k | an emphatic k, a voiceless uvular plosive | ejective [qʼ] | ejective [qʼ] |
| | a basket with a handle | k | k | | aspirated [kʰ] in some words, palatalized [kʲ] | aspirated [kʰ] in some words, palatalized [kʲ] |
| | a jar stand | g | g | | ejective [kʼ] | ejective [kʼ] |
| | a bun | t | t | | aspirated [tʰ] | aspirated [tʰ] |
| | a tethering rope | ṯ or tj | ch | as in English church | palatalized [tʲ] or [ʧ] | palatalized [tʲ] or [ʧ] |
| | a hand | d | d | | ejective [tʼ] | ejective [tʼ] |
| | a cobra | ḏ or dj | j | as in English judge | ejective [tʲ’] or [ʧʼ] | ejective [tʲ’] or [ʧʼ] |
Gardinerlists several variations:
Uniliteral signs :
| Sign | Traditional transliteration | Notes |
| bag of linen | g | Appears in a few older words |
| unknown (Possibly: Finger) | m | Originally biliteral im |
| crown of Lower Egypt | n | Originally ideogram nt for 'crown of Lower Egypt' |
| pestle | t | Originally biliteral ti |