The ancient fairy language is based on one of the oldest written languages of earth: Ancient Egyptian. This is a simple guide to the most basic elements of Ancient Egyptian, written by Georgia in her second year of university studying Egyptology. Sorry for it being handwritten! » page 1: introduction, types of hieroglyphs and direction of writing. » page 2: direction continued and phonetic signs. » page 3: vowels and the uniliteral alphabet. » page 4: the uniliteral alphabet continued and additional notes on sounds. » page 5: biliteral & triliteral signs and writing names. » page 6: numbers. Guide was written with the assistance of: Allen, J.P. (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. With thanks also to Dr. Martina Minas-Nerpel and Dr. Troy Sagrillo of Swansea University, who taught me hieroglyphs. For more information: » Hieroglyphic alphabet: same uniliteral alphabet as above, but with a typed font. » The decipherment of hieroglyphs: a nice article by the BBC about how hieroglyphs were deciphered. » Gardiner's list: Gardiner's full hieroglyphic sign list (all known hieroglyphs categorised in the standard Egyptological way). » Allen, J.P. (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. » Collier, M. and Manley, B. (1998) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Revised Edition. British Museum Press. » Kamrin, J. (2004) Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Practical Guide. Harry N Abram, Inc. Fun stuff: » Hieroglyphic typewriter: the sounds aren't 100% accurate, but this is a nice, quick, easy way to write hieroglyphs if you can read the basic alphabet! » Hieroglyphic fonts: downloadable fonts so you can type hieroglyphs into word processing or photoediting software. » Egyptian texts: a list of Egyptian texts and stories with the full translation. Take them with a pinch of salt, especially the ones translated by Wallis Budge, but they can make good reads. » Kelly Simpson, W. eds (2003) The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies and Poetry, 3rd Edition. Yale University Press and New Haven & London. |