Representing a flowering reed, specifically the panicle of Phragmites australis.[1] From the Old Kingdom on the flowering portion was often represented as striated. Joints in the stem were rarely depicted in the Old Kingdom but later became more frequent. The main (flowering or frond) portion was conventionally colored green, and the stem blue, so consistently that this glyph can be used to tell blue from green on polychrome inscriptions where the paint is discolored or faded.[2] The phonetic value of j is derived by the rebus principle from its use as a logogram for j(âreedâ).
Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, âISBN, page 481
Henry George Fischer (1988) Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginnerâs Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, âISBN
BetrĂČ, Maria Carmela (1995) Geroglifici: 580 Segni per Capire l'Antico Egitto, Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., âISBN
Peust, Carsten (1999) Egyptian Phonology: An Introduction to the Phonology of a Dead Language[1], Göttingen: Peust und Gutschmidt Verlag GbR, page 48
^ TĂ€ckholm, Vivi; TĂ€ckholm, Gunnar; Drar, Mohammed (1941) Flora of Egypt