A Beginner’s Introduction To Medew Netcher

This is an excerpt from an upcoming book called “A

Beginner’s Introduction To Medew Netcher - The Ancient

Egyptian Hieroglyphic System” by Wudjau Men-Ib Iry

Maat. In print in February 2015. Visit the website

www.mdw-ntr.com for more information, tools, and

resources on Medew Netcher.

§ 4.2 Monoliteral Phonograms

Middle Ranyakemet (language of Kemet) had twenty-five 1

consonants whose orthography, sound value, and

recognition must be learned without exception. An

orthography is a standardized system for using a particular

writing system (script) to write a particular language. It

includes rules of spelling, and may also concern other

elements of the written language such as punctuation and

capitalization. Each consonant could be represented in Sesh

Medew Netcher by a single sign; such signs are called

monoliteral (“one-letter”) hieroglyphs. In effect, these

monoliteral signs constituted a Kemety “alphabet.” On their

Sometimes listed as 24 due to the exclusion of the doubling of the M17 1

“flowering reed” for the /y/.

A Beginner’s Introduction To Medew Netcher

own, these alphabetical signs would have been adequate for

writing down any word combination but they were never

used as such by the Remetch, only in combination with

other signs. Once you have memorized the alphabetic signs

and their transliterations, you will have all of the known

sounds in the language and you will know all of the special

characters needed to transliterate inscriptions.

A Beginner’s Introduction To Medew Netcher

Monoliterals.

Signs Code Discription Diacritic MdC

e G1 Vulture A A

i M17 Reed Leaf i i

y M17+M17 Double Reed Leaf y y

a D36 Arm a a

w G43 Quail Chick w w

b D58 Foot b b

p Q3 Stool Of Reed Mat p p

f I9 Horned Viper f f

m G17 Owl m m

n N35 Water Ripple n n

r D21 Mouth r r

R O4 Enclosure h h

h V28 Twisted Flax H H

/ Aa1 Placenta? x x

A Beginner’s Introduction To Medew Netcher

The preceding table shows the monoliteral signs of

Middle Ranyakemet, along with their common Diacritic

and Manuel de Codage transliteration and the names by

J F32 Belly and Udder X X

z O34 Door Bolt z z

s S29 Folded Cloth s s

. N37 Pool S S

q N29 Hill q q

k V31 Basket with Handle k k

g W11 Jar Stand g g

t X1 Raised Bread Loaf t t

, V13 Tethering Rope T T

d D46 Hand d d

j I10 Cobra in Repose D D

Signs Code Discription Diacritic MdC

A Beginner’s Introduction To Medew Netcher

which Egyptologists commonly refer to them. These signs

are among the most common of all Kemety signs. Also

included, is a column identifying the Gardiner Codes for

each sign. Egyptologists classify the signs according to a

system developed by Alan H. Gardiner in his Egyptian

Grammar 1927 where the signs are divided into twenty-

seven categories labeled A to Z and Aa. The signs in each

category are numbered and depict a discrete group of items.

For example, category A includes signs that depict men and

occupations; B gives signs that depict women; M relates to

vegetation; N refers to the sky, earth, and water; U covers

agriculture, crafts, professions, etc. It’s important that you

study this table until you can reproduce it and can give both

transliteration schemes of each sign from memory. The

table is arranged according to the sorting order used in

modern dictionaries of the ancient language. It may be odd

at first however, to be able to use the dictionaries, you will

need to memorize this order also.