Editing Egyptian language (section)

====Consonants====
The following consonants are reconstructed for Archaic (before 2600 BC) and Old Egyptian (2686–2181 BC), with IPA equivalents in square brackets if they differ from the usual transcription scheme:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Early Egyptian consonants{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=33}}
|-
! colspan=2 |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Plosive]]
! <small>[[voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| ṯ {{IPAblink|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|q}}{{efn|name=unvoiced ejectives|Possibly unvoiced [[ejective consonant|ejectives]].}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}{{efn|name=unvoiced ejectives}}
|
| ḏ{{efn|name=unvoiced ejectives}} {{IPAblink|ɟ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}{{efn|name=unvoiced ejectives}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Fricative]]
! <small> [[voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| š {{IPAblink|ʃ}}
| ẖ {{IPAblink|ç}}
|
| ḫ {{IPAblink|χ}}
| ḥ {{IPAblink|ħ}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|z}}{{efn|name=unvoiced ejectives}}
|
|
|
| 
| ꜥ (ʿ) {{IPAblink|ʕ}}
|
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
| ꜣ (ȝ) {{IPAblink|ʀ}}
|
|
|}
{{notelist}}

{{IPAslink|l}} has no independent representation in the hieroglyphic orthography, and it is frequently written as if it were {{IPAslink|n}} or {{IPAslink|r}}.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=33}} That is probably because the standard for written Egyptian is based on a dialect in which {{IPAslink|l}} had merged with other sonorants.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=31}} Also, the rare cases of {{IPAslink|ʔ}} occurring are not represented. The phoneme {{IPAslink|j}} is written as {{angbr IPA|j}} in the initial position ({{angbr IPA|jt}} = {{IPA|*/ˈjaːtVj/}} 'father') and immediately after a stressed vowel ({{angbr IPA|bjn}} = {{IPA|*/ˈbaːjin/}} 'bad') and as {{angbr IPA|jj}} word-medially immediately before a stressed vowel ({{angbr|ḫꜥjjk}} = {{IPA|*/χaʕˈjak/}} 'you will appear') and are unmarked word-finally ({{angbr IPA|jt}} = {{IPA|/ˈjaːtVj/}} 'father').{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=33}}