matres lectionis in ancient Egyptian writing

8 Writing foreign names in ancient Egyptian

An Egyptian name usually comprises a number of ordinary words. Writing an Egyptian name is no different from writing ordinary words, and so it also involves the use of logograms, phonograms, and determinatives. However, writing a foreign name is a different matter. The Egyptians would come to realize that the most direct and the easiest way of writing a foreign name was to use monoconsonantal phonograms to write its sound syllable by syllable, without bothering much about its sense. Continue reading “Section 8 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”