Middle Egyptian Semantic Determinatives

man, person, (also used after a man’s name)

woman, (also used after a woman’s name)

people

god, king

king

god, king

goddess, queen

force, effort, activity

eating, drinking, speaking, thinking, feeling

enemy, death, evil

actions or conditions of the eye

nose, smelling, joy, contempt

ear, states or activities of the ear

tooth, action of teeth, requesting, demanding

phallus; less correctly: sexual activity, urination

sexual activity, urination; less correctly: phallus

leg, foot, action of the feet

flesh, meat

swellings, wounds, disease, bandaging, odors

cattle

leather, pelts, mammal, animal (including insects)

tree

plant, flower

wood, tree

sky, above

night, darkness

fire, heat, cooking

stone

copper, bronze, metal

sand, minerals, pellets, particles, spices, metals, etc.

water, liquid, actions connected with water

bodies of water

irrigated land

road, travel, position

desert, hilly terrain, foreign country

foreign (country or person)

town, village, Egypt

door, to open

house, building, (also: things with interiors—e.g. boxes, chairs)

boat, ship, navigation

binding, thread, document

vessel, anoint, beverages

bread

loaf, bread, offerings

book, writing, abstract nouns

plurality

substitute for complicated signs

child, young; sitting

old man, old

bad, evil, nuisance