of the Ist Dynasty.

The employment of the signs are of three kinds: any given sign
represents either (1) a whole word or root; or (2) a sound as part of
a word; or (3) pictorially defines the meaning of a word the sound of
which has already been given by a sign or group of signs preceding.
The number of phonograms is very restricted, but some signs have all
these powers. For instance, [HRG: mn] is the conventional picture of a
draughtboard (shown in plan) with the draughtsmen (shown in elevation)
on its edge:--this sign (1) signifies the root _mn_, "set," "firm"; or
(2) in the group [HRG: mn:x], represents the same sound as part of the
root _mnh_, "good"; or (3) added to the group _snt_ (thus: [HRG:
z:n:t-mn]), shows that the meaning intended is "draught-board," or
"draughts," and not any of the other meanings of _snt_. Thus signs,
according to their employment, are said to be (1) "word-signs," (2)
"phonograms," or (3) "determinatives."

_Word-signs._--The word-sign value of a sign is, in the first place,
the name of the object it represents, or of some material, or quality,
or action, or idea suggested by it. Thus [HRG] is _hr_, "face"; [HRG],
a vase of ointment, is _mrh.t_, "ointment"; [HRG] is _wdb_, "turn."
Much investigation is still required to establish the origins of the
values of the signs; in some cases the connexion between the pictures
and the _primary_ values seems to be curiously remote. Probably all
the signs in the hieroglyphic signary can be employed in their primary
sense. The _secondary_ value expresses the consonantal root of the
name or other primary value, and any, or almost any, derivative from
that root: as when [HRG], a mat with a cake upon it, is not only
_htp_, an "offering-mat," but also _htp_ in the sense of
"conciliation," "peace," "rest," "setting" (of the sun), with many
derivatives. In the third place, some signs may be _transferred_ to
express another root having the same consonants as the first: thus
[HRG], the ear, by a play upon words can express not only _sdm_,
"hear," but also _sdm_, "paint the eyes."

_Phonograms._--Only a limited number of signs are found with this use,
but they are of the greatest importance. By searching throughout the
whole mass of normal inscriptions, earlier than the periods of Greek
and Roman rule when great liberties were taken with the writing,
probably no more than one hundred dif