𓏭 U+133ED, 𓏭
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH Z004
Gardiner number:Z4
𓏬
[U+133EC]
Egyptian Hieroglyphs 𓏮
[U+133EE]

Egyptian

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Glyph origin

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Showing two strokes, often diagonal
y
but sometimes vertical
Z1Z1
, to represent duality. Compare the Chinese characters and . This glyph was conventionally colored black. The phonogrammatic value of j is derived from its use as the dual ending, -j.

Symbol

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y
(j)
  1. Uniliteral phonogram for j. [since the Middle Kingdom]
  2. Logogram for -j (dual ending), originally replacing (for superstitious reasons) the device of writing the determinative twice in certain contexts. [since the Pyramid Texts]
  3. Written in place of two difficult-to-draw signs. [mostly since the 19th Dynasty]

Usage notes

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Some transliteration schemes treat this glyph as a phonogrammatic variant of
i
(j), while others treat it as a variant of
ii
(y), and some treat all three as equivalent.

References

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  • Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, pages 536–537
  • Peust, Carsten (1999) Egyptian Phonology: An Introduction to the Phonology of a Dead Language[1], Göttingen: Peust und Gutschmidt Verlag GbR, page 48