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In the field of [[Egyptology]], '''[[transliteration]]''' is the process of converting (or mapping) texts written in the [[Egyptian language]] to [[alphabet]]ic symbols representing uniliteral [[Egyptian hieroglyph|hieroglyphs]] or their [[hieratic]] and [[demotic Egyptian|demotic]] counterparts. This process facilitates the publication of texts where the inclusion of photographs or drawings of an actual Egyptian document is impractical.

It should be emphasised that [[transliteration]] is not the same as [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]]. Transcription seeks to reproduce the ''pronunciation'' of a text. For example, the name of the founder of the [[Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt|Twenty-second dynasty]] is transliterated as ''ššnq'' but transcribed ''[[Shoshenq]]'' in English, ''Chéchanq'' in French, ''Sjesjonk'' in Dutch, and ''Scheschonq'' in German.

Because the exact details regarding the [[phonetics]] of ancient Egyptian are not completely known, most transcriptions depend on [[Coptic language|Coptic]] for [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstruction]] or are theoretical in nature. [[Egyptologists]], therefore, rely on transliteration in scientific publications.

==Standards==
{{IPA notice}}
As important as transliteration is to the field of [[Egyptology]], there is no one single standard scheme in use for hieroglyphic and hieratic texts. Some might even argue that there are as many systems of transliteration as there are Egyptologists. However, there are a few closely related systems that can be regarded as conventional. Many non-German-speaking Egyptologists use the system described in Gardiner 1954, whereas many German-speaking scholars tend to opt for that used in the ''[[Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache]]'' (Erman and Grapow 1926&ndash;1953), the standard dictionary of the ancient Egyptian language. However, there is a growing trend, even among English-speaking scholars, to adopt a modified version of the method used in the ''Wörterbuch'' (e.g., Allen 2000).

Although these conventional approaches to transliteration have been followed since most of the second half of the nineteenth century to the present day, there have been some attempts to adopt a modified system that seeks to utilise the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] to a certain degree. The most successful of these is that developed by Wolfgang Schenkel (1990), and it is being used fairly widely in Germany and other German-speaking countries. More recent is a proposal by Thomas Schneider (2003) that  is even closer to the IPA, but its usage is not presently common. The major criticism levelled against both of these systems is that they give an impression of being much more scientifically accurate with regard to the pronunciation of Egyptian. Unfortunately this perceived accuracy is debatable. Moreover, the systems reflect only the theoretical pronunciation of [[Egyptian language|Middle Egyptian]] and not the older and later phases of the language, which are themselves to be transliterated with the same system.

==Electronic transliteration==
In 1984 a standard, [[ASCII]]-based transliteration system was proposed by an international group of Egyptologists at the first ''Table ronde informatique et égyptologie'' and published in 1988 (see Buurman, Grimal, ''et al.'', 1988). This has come to be known as the ''[[Manuel de Codage]]'' (or MdC) system, based on the title of the publication, ''Inventaire des signes hiéroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie informatique: Manuel de codage des textes hiéroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie sur ordinateur''. It is widely used in e-mail discussion lists and internet forums catering to professional Egyptologists and the interested public.

Although the ''Manuel de codage'' system allows for simple "alphabetic" transliterations, it also specifies a complex method for electronically encoding complete ancient Egyptian texts, indicating features such as the placement, orientation, and even size of individual hieroglyphs. This system is used (though frequently with modifications) by various software packages developed for typesetting hieroglyphic texts (such as WinGlyph, MacScribe, InScribe, Glyphotext, [[m:WikiHiero|WikiHiero]], and others).

===Unicode===
With the introduction of the [[Latin extended additional]] block to [[Unicode]] version 1.1 (1992), it is possible to almost fully transliterate Egyptian texts using a [[Unicode typeface]]. The table of various transliteration schemes found below, for example, uses Unicode.

====Alef, ayin and yod====
Three additional characters are required for transliterating Egyptian:
*''Egyptian alef'' ([[Image:Egyptian 3 symbol.png|10px|]], two half-rings opening to the left, often represented by the numeral ''3'');
*''Egyptian ayin'' (the same symbol used for transliterating Semitic [[ayin]],  represented here as {{Unicode|‹ˤ›}} Unicode U+02E4, the [[IPA]] symbol for [[pharyngealization]]).
*''Egyptian yod'' (an ''i'' with a half-ring opening to the left replacing the dot, can be expressed with a combining diacritic: {{Unicode|‹ı͗›}}).

These characters took a very long time to be supported in Unicode. Although these were proposed in August 2000 <ref>[[Michael Everson|Everson, Michael]]. [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2241.pdf Proposal to add 6 Egyptological characters to the UCS], 2000-08-27</ref> action was only taken by November 2005 to encode two of the six letters:

{| class="wikitable"An original proposal to add four Egyptological characters to Unicode was N2241 (from 2000-08-27 by Michael Everson). What was eventually accepted, on 2005-11-04, is summarized below:
|-
! Letter
! Capital
! Small
|-
! Egyptological Alef
| <big><big>{{unicode|Ꜣ}}</big></big><br />U+A722
| <big><big>{{unicode|ꜣ}}</big></big><br />U+A723
|-
! Egyptological Ayin
| <big><big>{{unicode|Ꜥ}}</big></big><br />U+A724
| <big><big>{{unicode|ꜥ}}</big></big><br />U+A725
|}

Two further proposals were made about the Egyptological Yod,<ref>[[Michael Everson|Everson, Michael]] and Bob Richmond, [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3382.pdf EGYPTOLOGICAL YOD and Cyrillic breathing], 2008-04-08</ref><ref>[[Michael Everson|Everson, Michael]], [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3487.pdf Proposal to encode Egyptological Yod and similar characters in the UCS], 2008-08-04</ref> the eventual result of which was to accept the use of the Cyrillic breathing as one of several possible combining characters for this purpose. The other options are U+0313 Combining Comma Above and U+0357 Combining Right Half Ring Above. OpenType tables in fonts will be necessary to support the combination correctly.

An example showing the Cyrillic option is given below:

{| class="wikitable"An original proposal to add four Egyptological characters to Unicode was N2241 (from 2000-08-27 by Michael Everson). What was eventually accepted, on 2005-11-04, is summarized below:
|-
! Letter
! Capital
! Small
|-
! Egyptological Yod
| <big><big>{{unicode|I҆}}</big></big><br />U+0049 U+0486
| <big><big>{{unicode|i҆}}</big></big><br />U+0069 U+0486
|-
|}

A Unicode-based transliteration system is adopted by the [[Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale]]. It uses, incorrectly, {{Unicode|‹[[ȝ]]›}} for ''alef'' (Unicode U+021D, properly Old and Middle English [[yogh]]), <j> or {{Unicode|‹ỉ›}} (Unicode U+1EC9, properly marking the dipping-rising tone in the [[Vietnamese alphabet]]) for ''yodh'', and {{Unicode|‹ʿ›}} (Unicode U+02BF) for ''ayin''.

==Demotic==
As the latest stage of pre-[[Coptic language|Coptic]] [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], [[Demotic Egyptian|Demotic]] texts have long been transliterated using the same system(s) used for hieroglyphic and hieratic texts. However in 1980, [[Demotist]]s adopted a single, uniform, international standard based on the traditional system used for hieroglyphic, but with the addition of some extra symbols for vowels (which ''are'' frequently indicated in Demotic {{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}) and other letters that were written in the Demotic script. The ''Demotic Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago'' (or [http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/PUB/SRC/CDD/CDD.html CDD]) utilises this method. As this system is likely only of interest to specialists, for details see the references below.

*de Cenival, Françoise. 1980. "Unification des méthodes de translittération." ''Enchoria: Zeitschrift für Demotistik und Koptologie'' 10:2&ndash;4.
*Johnson, Janet H. 1980. "CDDP Transliteration System." ''Enchoria'' 10:5&ndash;6.
*Johnson, Janet H. 1991. ''[http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/PUB/SRC/SAOC/45/SAOC45.html Thus Wrote 'Onchsheshonqy: An Introductory Grammar of Demotic]''. 2nd ed. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 45. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*Tait, William John. 1982. "The Transliteration of Demotic." ''Enchoria'' 11:67&ndash;76.
*Thissen, Heinz-Josef. 1980. "Zur Transkription demotischer Texte." ''Enchoria'' 10:7&ndash;9.

==Table of conventional transliteration schemes==
{{ SpecialChars }}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Erman & Grapow 1926&ndash;1953
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Gardiner 1957
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Buurman, Grimal, ''et al.'' 1988
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Schenkel 1991
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Hannig 1995
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Allen 2000
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | Schneider 2003
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | traditional English pronunciation
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>A</hiero> 𓄿
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ꜣ  ([[Image:Egyptian 3 symbol.png|10px|]], 3)
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | 3
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | A
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | 3
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | 3
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | 3
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ɹ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/ɑː/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>i</hiero> 𓇋
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ı͗/j
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ı͗
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | i
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ı͗
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | j
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | j
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ı͗
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/ɑː, iː/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>i-i</hiero> 𓇌
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ı͗j
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | y
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | y
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | y
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | y
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | y
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | y
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/j, iː/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>a</hiero> 𓂝
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ꜥ ({{unicode|ˤ}})
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ˤ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | a
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ˤ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ˤ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ˤ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ɗ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/ɑː/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>w</hiero> 𓅱
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | w
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/w, uː/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>b</hiero> 𓃀
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | b
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/b/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>p</hiero> 𓊪
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | p
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/p/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>f</hiero> 𓆑
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | f
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/f/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>m</hiero> 𓅓
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | m
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/m/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>n</hiero> 𓈖
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | n
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/n/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>r</hiero> 𓂋
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | r
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | r
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | r
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | r
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | r
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | r
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | l
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/r/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>h</hiero> 𓉔
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | h
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/h/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>H</hiero> 𓎛
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḥ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḥ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | H
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḥ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḥ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḥ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḥ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/h/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>x</hiero> 𓐍
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḫ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḫ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | x
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḫ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḫ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḫ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḫ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/x/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>X</hiero> 𓄡
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ẖ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ẖ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | X
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ẖ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ẖ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ẖ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ẖ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/x/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>z</hiero> 𓊃
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | z, s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | z
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/s/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>s</hiero> 𓋴
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ś
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ś
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | s
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | ś
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/s/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>S</hiero> 𓈙
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | š
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | š
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | S
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | š
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | š
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | š
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | š
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>q</hiero> 𓈎
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḳ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḳ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | q
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḳ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | q
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | q
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḳ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/k/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>k</hiero> 𓎡
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | k
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/k/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>g</hiero> 𓎼
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | g
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/ɡ/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>t</hiero> 𓏏
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | t
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/t/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>T</hiero> 𓍿
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ṯ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ṯ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | T
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | č
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ṯ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ṯ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | c
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/tʃ/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>d</hiero> 𓂧
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | d
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | d
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | d
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ṭ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | d
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | d
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḍ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/d/}}
|- 
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | <hiero>D</hiero> 𓆓
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḏ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḏ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | D
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|č̣}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḏ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|ḏ}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{unicode|c̣}}
|  class="xl24" align="center" valign="middle" width="75" | {{IPA|/dʒ/}}
|}
The vowel {{IPAslink|ɛ}} is conventionally inserted between consonants to make Egyptian words pronounceable in English.

==Samples of various transliteration schemes==
The following text (rendered using [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/WikiHiero   WikiHiero]) is transliterated below in some of the more common schemes.

<hiero>M23-X1:R4-X8-Q2:D4-W17-R14-G4-R8-O29:V30-U23-N26-D58-O49:Z1-F13:N31-V30:N16:N21*Z1-D45:N25</hiero>
[Unicode: '''𓇓𓏏𓊵𓏙𓊩𓁹𓏃𓋀𓅂𓊹𓉻𓎟𓍋𓈋𓃀𓊖𓏤𓄋𓈐𓎟𓇾𓈅𓏤𓂦𓈉 ''']

(This text is conventionally translated into English as "an offering that the king gives; and [[Osiris]], Foremost of Westerners [i.e., the Dead], the Great God, Lord of [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]]; and [[Wepwawet]], Lord of the Sacred Land [i.e., the [[Necropolis]]]." It can also be translated "a royal offering of Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, the Great God, Lord of Abydos; and of Wepwawet, Lord of the Sacred Land" [Allen 2000:§24.10].)

'''Erman and Grapow 1926&ndash;1953'''
*{{unicode|ḥtp-dỉ-nśwt wśỉr ḫntỉj ỉmntjw nṯr ˤȝ nb ȝbḏw wp-wȝwt nb tȝ ḏśr}}

'''Gardiner 1953'''
*{{unicode|ḥtp-dỉ-nswt wsỉr ḫnty ỉmntỉw nṯr ˤȝ nb ȝbḏw wp-wȝwt nb tȝ ḏsr}}

'''Buurman, Grimal, ''et al.'' 1988'''
*Htp-di-nswt wsir xnty imntiw nTr aA nb AbDw wp-wAwt nb tA Dsr

:''A fully encoded, machine-readable version of the same text is:''
::*M23-X1:R4-X8-Q2:D4-W17-R14-G4-R8-O29:V30-U23-N26-D58-O49:Z1-F13:N31-V30:N16:N21*Z1-D45:N25

'''Schenkel 1991'''
*{{unicode|ḥtp-dỉ-nswt wsỉr ḫnty ỉmntjw nčr ˤȝ nb ȝbč̣w wp-wȝwt nb tȝ č̣sr}}

'''Allen 2000'''
*{{unicode|ḥtp-dj-nswt wsjr ḫnty jmntjw nṯr ˤȝ nb ȝbḏw wp-wȝwt nb tȝ ḏsr}}

'''Schneider 2003'''
*{{unicode|ḥtp-ḍỉ-nśwt wśỉr ḫnty ỉmntjw ncr ɗɹ nb ɹbc̣w wp-wɹwt nb tɹ c̣śr}}

== Uniliteral signs ==

The [[Egyptian hieroglyph|Egyptian hieroglyphic script]] contained 24 uniliterals (symbols that stood for single consonants, much like [[English language|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|alveolar lateral approximant ("l")]] in Old Egyptian that was lost by Middle Egyptian. The consonants transcribed as [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] ''(d, g, dj)'' may actually have been [[ejective]] or, less likely, [[pharyngeal]]ized like the Arabic [[emphatic consonant]]s. A good description can be found in Allen.<ref>{{cite book|author=Allen, James P.|year=2000|title=Middle Egyptian: an Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-77483-7}}</ref> 

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="7"|<big>Uniliteral signs</big>
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Sign
! colspan="3"|Traditional [[Transliteration of ancient Egyptian|transliteration]]
! colspan="2"|[[International Phonetic Alphabet|Phonetic values]] per Allen (2000)
|-
! &nbsp;
! Say
! style="text-align:left;" | Notes
!Old Egyptian
!Middle Egyptian
|-
|<hiero>A</hiero> 𓄿
|an Egyptian [[vulture (hieroglyph)|vulture]]
|<big>'''{{unicode|ꜣ}}''' ('''''3''''')</big>
|<big>''a''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | called ''aleph'',<br>a [[glottal stop]]
|{{IPA|[l]}} or {{IPA|[ɾ]}}
|silent, {{IPA|[j]}}, and {{IPA|[ʔ]}}
|-
|<hiero>i</hiero> 𓇋
|a reed
|<big>'''{{unicode|ı͗}}'''</big>
|<big>''i/a''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | called ''yodh''
| colspan="2"|an initial or final [[vowel]]; sometimes {{IPA|[j]}}
|-
|<hiero>i-i</hiero> 𓇌
|a pair of reeds
| rowspan="2" | <big>'''y'''</big>
| rowspan="2" | <big>''y''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | double ''yodh''
| rowspan="2" | no record
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[j]}}
|-
|<hiero>y</hiero> 𓏭
|pair of strokes<br>or river (?)
|-
|-
|<hiero>a</hiero> 𓂝
|an arm
|<big>'''{{unicode|ꜥ}}''' ('''ʾ''')</big>
|<big>''a''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | called ''ayin'',<br>a [[voiced pharyngeal fricative]]
|perhaps {{IPA|[d]}}
|{{IPA|[ʕ]}}; {{IPA|[d]}} perhaps retained in some words and dialects
|-
|<hiero>w</hiero> 𓅱 or <hiero>W</hiero> 𓏲
|a [[quail chick (hieroglyph)|quail chick]] or its<br>hieratic abbreviation
|<big>'''w'''</big>
|<big>''w/u''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | called ''waw''<br>
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[w]}} ~ {{IPA|[u]}}
|-
|<hiero>b</hiero> 𓃀
|a lower leg
|<big>'''b'''</big>
|<big>''b''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[b]}} ~ {{IPA|[β]}}
|-
|<hiero>p</hiero> 𓊪
|a reed [[p (hieroglyph)|mat or stool]]
|<big>'''p'''</big>
|<big>''p''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|[[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] {{IPA|[pʰ]}}
|-
|<hiero>f</hiero> 𓆑
|a [[viper (hieroglyph)|horned viper]]
|<big>'''f'''</big>
|<big>''f''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[f]}}
|-
|<hiero>m</hiero> 𓅓
|an [[owl (hieroglyph)|owl]]
|<big>'''m'''</big>
|<big>''m''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[m]}}
|-
|<hiero>n</hiero> 𓈖
|a [[N-water ripple (n hieroglyph)|ripple of water]]
|<big>'''n'''</big>
|<big>''n''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| {{IPA|[n]}}
| {{IPA|[n]}}, sometimes {{IPA|[l]}}
|-
|<hiero>r</hiero> 𓂋
|a [[mouth (hieroglyph)|mouth]]
|<big>'''r'''</big>
|<big>''r''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| see [[:Image:Old Egyptian mouth sign.JPG|image]]
|{{IPA|[ɾ]}}, sometimes {{IPA|[l]}}<br>(always {{IPA|[l]}} in some dialects)
|-
|<hiero>h</hiero> 𓉔
|a [[reed shelter (hieroglyph)|reed shelter]]
|<big>'''h'''</big>
|<big>''h''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[h]}}
|-
|<hiero>H</hiero> 𓎛
|a [[wick (hieroglyph)|twisted wick]]
|<big>'''{{unicode|ḥ}}'''</big>
|<big>''h''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | an emphatic ''h'',<br>a [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]]
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[ħ]}}
|-
|<hiero>x</hiero> 𓐍
|a placenta
|<big>'''{{unicode|ḫ}}'''</big>
|<big>''kh''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | <br>a [[voiceless velar fricative]]
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[x]}}
|-
|<hiero>X</hiero> 𓄡
|an animal belly with tail
|<big>'''{{unicode|ẖ}}'''</big>
|<big>''kh''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | a softer sound,<br>a [[voiceless palatal fricative]]
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[ç]}}
|-
|<hiero>s</hiero> 𓋴
|a [[folded cloth (s hieroglyph)|folded cloth]]
| rowspan="2" | <big>'''s'''</big>
| rowspan="2" | <big>''s''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" | Old Egyptian sound for<br>''[[door bolt (s hieroglyph)|"door bolt"]]'' is unknown,<br>but perhaps was ''z'' or ''th''
|{{IPA|[s]}}
| rowspan="2"|{{IPA|[s]}}
|-
|<hiero>z</hiero> 𓊃
|a [[door bolt (s hieroglyph)|door bolt]]
|{{IPA|[z]}}
|-
|<hiero>S</hiero> 𓈙 or<br><hiero>N38</hiero> 𓈛 or<br><hiero>N39</hiero> 𓈜
|a garden pool
|<big>'''{{unicode|š}}'''</big>
|<big>''sh''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |  &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|{{IPA|[ʃ]}}
|-
|<hiero>q</hiero> 𓈎
|slope of a hill
|<big>'''{{unicode|ḳ}}''' or '''q'''</big>
|<big>''k''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | an emphatic ''k'',<br>a [[voiceless uvular plosive]]
| colspan="2"|[[ejective consonant|ejective]] {{IPA|[qʼ]}}
|-
|<hiero>k</hiero> 𓎡
|a basket with a handle
|<big>'''k'''</big>
|<big>''k''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|[[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] {{IPA|[kʰ]}}<br>in some words, [[palatalization|palatalized]] {{IPA|[kʲ]}}
|-
|<hiero>g</hiero> 𓎼
|a [[jar stand (hieroglyph)|jar stand]]
|<big>'''g'''</big>
|<big>''g''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|ejective {{IPA|[kʼ]}}
|-
|<hiero>t</hiero> 𓏏
|a [[t (hieroglyph)|bun]]
|<big>'''t'''</big>
|<big>''t''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" |&nbsp;
| colspan="2"|aspirated {{IPA|[tʰ]}}
|-
|<hiero>T</hiero> 𓍿
|a [[tether (hieroglyph)|tethering rope]]
|<big>'''{{unicode|ṯ}}''' or '''tj'''</big>
|<big>''ch''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | as in English ''church''
| colspan="2"|palatalized {{IPA|[tʲ]}} or {{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}
|-
|<hiero>d</hiero> 𓂧
|a [[hand (hieroglyph)|hand]]
|<big>'''d'''</big>
|<big>''d''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2"|ejective {{IPA|[tʼ]}}
|-
|<hiero>D</hiero> 𓆓
|a cobra
|<big>'''{{unicode|ḏ}}''' or '''dj'''</big>
|<big>''j''</big>
| style="text-align:left;" | as in English ''judge''
| colspan="2"|ejective {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} or {{IPA|[t͡ʃʼ]}}
|}

Gardiner <ref>{{cite book|author=Gardiner, Sir Alan H.|year=1973|title=Egyptian Grammar, 3rd. Ed.|publisher=The Griffith Institute|isbn=0-900416-35-1|page=27}}</ref> lists several variations:
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4"|<big>Uniliteral signs</big>
|-
! colspan="2" | Sign
! Traditional [[Transliteration of ancient Egyptian|transliteration]]
! Notes
|-
|<hiero>V33</hiero> 𓎤
|bag of linen
|<big>'''''g'''''</big>
| Appears in a few older words
|-
|<hiero>Aa15</hiero> 𓐝
|unknown (Possibly: Finger)
|<big>'''''m'''''</big>
| Originally biliteral '''''im'''''
|-
|<hiero>S3</hiero> 𓋔
|[[N-red crown (n hieroglyph)|crown]] of Lower Egypt
|<big>'''''n'''''</big>
| Originally ideogram '''''nt''''' for 'crown of Lower Egypt'
|-
|<hiero>U33</hiero> 𓍘
|pestle
|<big>'''''t'''''</big>
| Originally biliteral '''''ti'''''
|}

==See also==
*[[Demotic Egyptian]]
*[[Egyptian language]]
*[[Egyptian hieroglyph]]
*[[Hieratic]]
*[[Transliteration]]
*[[m:WikiHiero|WikiHiero]]: ''Manuel de Codage''-based system for entering hieroglyphic texts on Wikipedia

==External links==
*[http://www.catchpenny.org/codage/ Manuel de Codage]: technical details of electronic transliteration of Egyptian texts
*[http://www.ifao.egnet.net/c.php?f=/doc/Outils/Polices.php Unicode-based transliteration system adopted by the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. Description and downloadable keyboard layouts.]
*[http://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/outils/convertisseurs/ Online encoding converter] for converting ASCII-based transliterations into Unicode.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==

*Allen, James Paul. 2000. <cite>''Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs''</cite>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Buurman, Jan, Nicolas-Christophe Grimal, Michael Hainsworth, Jochen Hallof, and Dirk van der Plas. 1988. <cite>''Inventaire des signes hiéroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie informatique: Manuel de codage des textes hiéroglyphiques en vue de leur saisie sur ordinateur''</cite>. 3rd ed. Informatique et Égyptologie 2. Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres (Nouvelle Série) 8. Paris: Institut de France.
*[[Adolf Erman|Erman, Adolf]], and [[Hermann Grapow]], eds. 1926&ndash;1953. <cite>''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''</cite>. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlungen. (Reprinted Berlin: Akademie-Verlag GmbH, 1971).
*[[Alan Gardiner|Gardiner, Alan Henderson]]. 1957. <cite>''Egyptian Grammar; Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs''</cite>. 3rd ed. Oxford: Griffith Institute.
*[[Rainer Hannig|Hannig, Rainer]]. 1995. <cite>''Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch&ndash;Deutsch: die Sprache der Pharaonen (2800&ndash;950 v. Chr.)''</cite>. Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt 64 (Hannig-Lexica 1). Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
*Schenkel, Wolfgang. 1990. <cite>''Einführung in die altägyptische Sprachwissenschaft''</cite>. Orientalistische Einführungen. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
*Schneider, Thomas. 2003. "Etymologische Methode, die Historizität der Phoneme und das ägyptologische Transkriptionsalphabet." <cite>''Lingua aegyptia: Journal of Egyptian Language Studies''</cite> 11:187&ndash;199.

{{Ancient Egypt topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transliteration Of Ancient Egyptian}}
[[Category:Egyptology]]
[[Category:Ancient languages|Egyptian, Transliteration of ancient]]
[[Category:Egyptian languages]]
[[Category:Romanization]]
[[Category:Transliteration]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian language]]

[[cs:Přepis egyptských hieroglyfů]]
[[es:Transliteración de los jeroglíficos]]
[[eo:Transliterumado de egiptiaj hieroglifoj]]
[[fr:Translittération des hiéroglyphes]]
[[it:Traslitterazione della lingua egizia]]
[[ru:Транслитерация египетских текстов]]
[[sk:Transliterácia staroegyptčiny]]
[[fi:Unilitteraalihieroglyfit]]