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Egyptian hierghlyps had phonetic values too so it definitely would be able to express everything spoken Egyptian could. The main issue with hieroglyphics is th
by jeltz 5mo ago
Egyptian hierghlyps had phonetic values too so it definitely would be able to express everything spoken Egyptian could.
The main issue with hieroglyphics is that it was a very convoluted system, where symbols meant different things depending on context. A symbol of a bird could be a literal bird, some abstract concept related to that bird or part of the sounds of the word for that bird.
- wl 5mo agoThe polysemic nature of Egyptian hieroglyphic signs is hardly the main issue with learning to read ancient Egyptian. If you're a beginner slogging through elementary translation exercises, the determinatives and phonetic complements help a lot. If you've studied the signs, grammar, and vocabulary you actually need to read texts, you've already gained understanding of the context needed to interpret the function of individual signs.
- ted_dunning 5mo agoThat sounds as difficult as Japanese where a single kanji might be used phonetically based on a Chinese reading (山 = san) or a Japanese reading (山 = yama) or it might be used non-phonetically or it could be some amazingly surprising pun based on any of the above. Clearly impossible to have a system like that continue. Except for the fact that it does.