𓏭

𓏭	U+133ED, 𓏭 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH Z004

Gardiner number:

Z4

← 𓏬
[U+133EC]

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

𓏮 →
[U+133EE]

Egyptian

Glyph origin

Showing two strokes, often diagonal

but sometimes vertical

, to represent duality. Compare the Chinese characters 二 and ⺀. This glyph was conventionally colored black. The phonogrammatic value of j is derived from its use as the dual ending, -j.

Symbol

(j)

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

Usage notes

Some transliteration schemes treat this glyph as a phonogrammatic variant of

(j), while others treat it as a variant of

(y), and some treat all three as equivalent.

References

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