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Do we know what ancient Egyptian sounded like? and other questions
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Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
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#2
Love that film 
I find it so interesting too, would love to just drop everything and go study Egyptology!
I find it so interesting too, would love to just drop everything and go study Egyptology!
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#3
(Original post by navarre)
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
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#4
It's difficult to know what it sounded like as the writing system didn't really include vowels, just the consonants. So when we 'translate' stuff they have to add in what they guess might have been in there, as it wasn't actually specified. Presumably there was some way for the egyptians to know what they should say, but as far as I'm aware no-one really knows 
To the above comment, I don't think modern day egyptian people gives much insight as to what ancient egyptian sounded like, as they speak a dialect of arabic which i'm fairly sure developed quite independantly
To the above comment, I don't think modern day egyptian people gives much insight as to what ancient egyptian sounded like, as they speak a dialect of arabic which i'm fairly sure developed quite independantly
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#5
(Original post by navarre)
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
Of course if you want to complicate it further you could mention that like most languages it developed so you'd have to specify an time frame. There was also various times when two very different written languages can be found which complicates the question even more. As for those who have said vowels were not written that is true for some time periods and for some people but when Greeks wrote in Egyptian they sometimes did and it is from that period and those sources that many of the guesses of how they spoke came from.
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(Original post by jfinney94)
I don't thinkt here is any way of knowing what they sounded like, but you can get an idea from modern day egyptions.
I don't thinkt here is any way of knowing what they sounded like, but you can get an idea from modern day egyptions.
It's difficult to know what it sounded like as the writing system didn't really include vowels, just the consonants. So when we 'translate' stuff they have to add in what they guess might have been in there, as it wasn't actually specified. Presumably there was some way for the egyptians to know what they should say, but as far as I'm aware no-one really knows
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#7
(Original post by navarre)
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
We do know what sounds each one represents and it is the basis for internet hieroglyphics translators.
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#9
(Original post by navarre)
.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_language#History
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#10
The language is still around. How do you think we can read and speak Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs? Coptic Egyptian is what you're looking for, and it was used in Egypt as the main vernacular until the 17th Century until Egyptian Arabic replaced it.
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(Original post by player19)
Yes, ancient egyptian is preserved and it is used in the Egyptian coptic Church as a liturgical language. Old Egyptian was spread in Egypt til the muslim invaders came and installed arabic instead. The coptic language is related to the egyptian language of the 1st century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_language#History
No, hebrew is related to arabic language since both langaages are semitic.
Yes, ancient egyptian is preserved and it is used in the Egyptian coptic Church as a liturgical language. Old Egyptian was spread in Egypt til the muslim invaders came and installed arabic instead. The coptic language is related to the egyptian language of the 1st century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_language#History
No, hebrew is related to arabic language since both langaages are semitic.
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#12
(Original post by navarre)
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show....php?t=1279513
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#13
(Original post by navarre)
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
Hey,
I love Egyptology. In my view, there is no more interesting period in history that ancient Egypt. It's so hard to imagine what it must've been like to be an ancient Egyptian, especially in terms of religion, daily life, what the pharaoh was like etc.
My first question is, do we know what the ancient Egyptian language sounded like? It only occurred to me today when watching The Mummy. I don't think we have any idea what spoken Egyptian sounds like... sure, we can read the hieroglyphs, but we have no clue what they sound like.
Discuss.
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#15
I can see how things like the rosetta stone can help us translate Egyptian, but to know the pronunciation? I just don't see how that would work.
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#16
Well, it is a fact that someone must have made the first attempt to speak ancient Egyptian in the past. Surely it could not have
be spoken before it was decyphered. What about ancient Greek Of course it is right an attempt was made.
Ted Wilcock
be spoken before it was decyphered. What about ancient Greek Of course it is right an attempt was made.
Ted Wilcock
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#17
(Original post by navarre)
Nope. Arabic is the language spoken by Egyptians today. It has very little relation to Egyptian.
Nope. Arabic is the language spoken by Egyptians today. It has very little relation to Egyptian.
But yes, in truth we don't know exactly how it was pronounced, unlike Ancient Greek and Latin. There are many people alive today who could speak Latin fluently and make themselves understood if they were transported back by time machine to ancient Rome. Egypt however, you might as well just speak to them in early Coptic, you'd have a better chance of beind understood.
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