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.
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