Some signs in the Unicode set of hieroglyphs are merely combinations of other signs. With the Revised Encoding Scheme (RES), introduced by , most of these composite signs become superfluous. Moreover, the appearance in a font is likely to deviate from what one finds in a text. For this reason, these signs should be replaced by RES expressions containing only atomic signs. Also signs should not be used that result from rotation by degrees other than 90, 180 or 270. Again, this is because occurrences of rotated signs in texts are likely to deviate from the fixed rotation in a font. We make an exception however for signs that obtain a different meaning upon rotation, as automatic processing becomes easier if signs with distinct meanings are encoded separately.

Relatively harmless are signs that result by stacking or insertion. An advantage of using such composite signs is that the relative positioning and scaling may have been fine-tuned to the exact shapes of the individual signs in the font. Also harmless are signs that result from rotation by 90, 180 or 270 degrees.

The table indicates by 'deprecated' which signs should not be used, and alternatives are provided. Alternatives are also proposed for composite signs that are not deprecated. In all of these cases, the offered alternatives are merely examples of RES expressions that could be substituted for the original signs; fine-tuning may be desired for individual occurrences in texts.

The signs marked by 'confirmed' are non-compositional in meaning, and although they can be rendered in terms of other signs, this is discouraged, as it would complicate automatic processing of encodings. In this class, we also include some signs that would be hard to render in an adequate way as a composition of signs, such as , , .

References are to the following publications:

A53[mirror,rotate=270] C2a[mirror] C2[mirror] C12[mirror] C14[mirror] D27[yscale=1.5] .*D28 :[sep=0.2,fit,fix] R12 insert(modify[height=1.0](D31:.), U36) insert(empty[width=0.0,height=0.4]:D28, U36) D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 :[fix,sep=0.2] . *[sep=0] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[sep=0] . D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 :[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 :[fix,sep=0.2,size=inf] . *[sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[sep=0.2] . D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 :[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 :[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 :[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 *[fix,sep=0.2] D50 D50[rotate=270] stack[under](S29, D52) D54[mirror] stack[on](D56, T30) stack[on](D36, D58) D67 :[fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fit,fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fit,fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fit,fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 :[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67 *[fix,sep=0.3] D67

Existence of this sign next to cannot be reasonably justified, and therefore should not be used.

E20 :[sep=0.0,fix] V30 (.:W23) *[fit,sep=0.0,fix] E28 :[sep=0.0,fix] N24 E34[yscale=0.8]

One may prefer E34a over a scaled version of E34, due to the different angle of the ears.

E36*V36 :[sep=0.0,fix] V30

Existence of this sign next to cannot be reasonably justified, and therefore should not be used.

F13[yscale=0.7] insert[t,sep=0.0](empty[width=0.0,height=0.4]:F13,M4) F23[mirror]

It is regrettable that this sign is not available in a purely horizontal version.

F46[rotate=180] F46[mirror] F46[mirror,rotate=180] F48[mirror] stack[under](S29, F46) F51 *[fit,fix,sep=0.2] F51 *[fit,fix,sep=0.2] F51 F51 :[fit,fix,sep=0.2] F51 :[fit,fix,sep=0.2] F51 F51[rotate=180] stack[x=0.8,on](G1, G1) stack[on](U2, G1) G5 :[sep=0.0,fix] V30 G5 :[sep=0.0,fix] S12 G11 :[sep=0.0,fix] R12 stack[x=0.8,on](G17, G17) stack[x=0.4,y=0.4,on](G17, D37) stack[x=0.4,y=0.4,on](G17, D36) stack[x=0.4,y=0.4](G17, D21) G26a :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] R12 stack[x=0.1,under](G29, stack[x=0.25,under](G29, G29)) G36[yscale=0.8] G37[yscale=0.8] insert[s,sep=0.5](.:.*G43, X1) stack[x=0.8,on](G43, G43) stack[x=0.4,y=0.3,on](G43, D36) stack[x=0.4,y=0.3,on](G43, D37) stack[y=0.3,under](G43, U2) insert[bs,sep=0.5](I10, X1:[fix]N17) (M23:[sep=0.2]X1) *[sep=0.3,fit] (L2:[sep=0.2,fit].*[fix]X1) L6[mirror] stack[y=0.8,on](M1, M3) stack[y=0.8,on](M1, I9) stack(G17,M3) stack[on,y=0.9,x=0.3](M4,X1[scale=0.8]) M4 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] D21[scale=0.8] stack[on,y=0.9,x=0.4](M4,Q3[scale=0.8]) M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fit,fix,sep=0.3] M12 M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fit,fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 :[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 :[fit,fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] . *[sep=0] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[sep=0] . M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 :[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 :[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 :[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 *[fix,sep=0.3] M12 stack[on](M13, I10[scale=0.9]) M17 *[fix,sep=0.2] M17

It is difficult to encode this sign in terms of and in such a way that validity across fonts is maintained.

M22 *[sep=0.5] M22 M23 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] D21[scale=0.8] M26 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] D21[scale=0.8] stack[y=0.2,under](M26, D36)

It is regrettable that no sign for a single grain is available.

N5 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] T28 insert[sep=0.0](N18,N35) insert[sep=0.0](X4b,O34) N18 :[fix,sep=0.5] N18

As the uses of this sign are somewhat different from those of N20, this will not be regarded as a graphical variant.

As the uses of this sign are somewhat different from those of N20 and N21, this will not be regarded as a graphical variant.

N25[yscale=0.8] N33 *[sep=0.5] N33 *[sep=0.5] N33

It is unclear whether the difference between N34 and N34a is merely one of scaling. Until this is clarified, it might be best not to use this sign.

N35:N35:N35 stack[x=0.6,y=0.0,on](D54,N37) insert[b,sep=0.1](O1:empty[width=0.0,height=0.5], S34) insert[b,sep=0.2](O1:empty[width=0.0,height=0.6], T3) insert[be]( insert[bs]( insert[b,sep=0.2]( O1:empty[width=0.0,height=0.3], P8), X3), W23) O5[mirror]

This and the following five signs should not be used for creating enclosures in RES. Use Hwtopenover, etc.

insert[y=0.3,sep=0.0](O6,X1) stack[y=0.4](O7,O29) V30 :[sep=0.0,fix] O7

It is regrettable that no wide version of is available that would allow construction of this and similar signs by insertion.

insert[sep=0.1](O18, D2) stack[y=0.3,on](O11, D36) O29[rotate=90] O30 *[sep=0.0] O30 *[sep=0.0] O30 *[sep=0.0] O30 stack[x=0.7,y=0.0,on](D54,O34)

This and the following three signs should not be used for creating enclosures in RES. Use inb for this.

O36[rotate=120] O50a[mirror] P1[rotate=180] stack[y=0.6,under](P6, D36) stack[y=0.4,on](P8, I9)

It is regrettable that this sign is not available in a purely horizontal version.

stack[x=0.7,y=1.0](R8,V33[xscale=0.8]) stack[x=0.9,y=1.0,on](R8, T28) stack[x=0.4,y=0.9,on](S1, V30) S1 :[sep=0.1,fit] O49*empty[width=0.4,height=0.0] stack[x=0.4,y=0.9,on](S3, V30) stack[x=0.4,y=0.9,on](S5, V30) S3 :[sep=0.1,fit] O49*empty[width=0.4,height=0.0] stack[x=0.4,under](S12, D58) stack[y=0.2,under](S12[scale=0.9], T3) stack[y=0.1,on](S12[scale=0.8], S40) S40 :[sep=0.2,fix] S12 stack[on](S29, I9) stack[x=0.8,on](S29[scale=0.9], U2) T3[rotate=310] T3 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] N26 stack[y=0.6,under](T3, I10[scale=0.8]) stack[x=0.6,y=0.6,under](T3, insert[bs,sep=0.2](I10[scale=0.8], D)) stack(T11[rotate=225], T11[rotate=315]) T14[rotate=10] T30 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] T28

It is regrettable that this sign is not available in a purely horizontal version.

T31 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] D54 stack[under](T30, S29) stack[under](T33, S29) U1[yscale=0.7] insert[s,sep=0.0](U1, D4) insert[s,sep=0.5](U1, Aa11) U4[yscale=0.7] U7[rotate=45] U7[rotate=75] U7[mirror,rotate=285] stack[x=0.0,y=1.0,on](S38, U9) stack[x=0.0,y=1.0,on](D50, U9) stack[y=0.6,on](U34, I9) V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fit,fix,sep=0.1] V1 V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 :[fix,sep=0.1] . *[sep=0] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[sep=0] . V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 :[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 :[fit,fix,sep=0.1,size=inf] . *[sep=0] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[sep=0] . V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 :[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 :[fix,sep=0.1,size=inf] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 *[fix,sep=0.1] V1 V6[rotate=180] modify[after=0.5,omit](V10[mirror])

This and the following two signs should not be used for creating enclosures in RES. Use cartouche or oval for this.

V13 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] D54*. V20 :[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 :[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 :[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 :[fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] . *[sep=0] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[sep=0] . V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 :[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 :[fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 :[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 :[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 :[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 *[fix,sep=0.3] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 *[fix,sep=0.1] V20 stack(V28, D36) stack[on](V29, V31) V30[yscale=0.8] V31[mirror] V40 *[fix,sep=0.1] V40 W3[yscale=0.7] T28 :[sep=0.0,fit,fix] W3 W9[mirror] V28*W14 :[sep=0.3,fit] O34 W24 *[sep=0.1] W24 *[sep=0.1] W24

It is difficult to encode this sign in terms of and in such a way that validity across fonts is maintained.

Y1[rotate=270] Y3[mirror] Z1 *[sep=2.0] Z1 *[sep=2.0] Z1 Z1 * Z1 * Z1 D67 *[sep=0.5] D67 *[sep=0.5] D67 Z1 :[fix,sep=0.3] Z1 *[sep=2.0] Z1 Z1 *[sep=2.0] Z1 :[fix,sep=0.3] Z1 Z1 :[sep=0.3] Z1 :[sep=0.3] Z1 Z1[rotate=90] : Z1[rotate=90] : Z1[rotate=90] D67:D67:D67 Z1[rotate=330] *[sep=0.5,fit] Z1[rotate=330] Z1 *[sep=2] Z1

This sign should not be interpreted as a rotated version of as the meaning is very different.

It is regrettable that this sign is not available in a purely horizontal version.

Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 :[fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] . *[sep=0] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[sep=0] . Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 :[fix,sep=0.3] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 :[fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] . *[sep=0] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[sep=0] . Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 :[fix,sep=0.3] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 :[fix,sep=0.3] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 :[fix,sep=0.3] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 *[fix] Z15 Z15[rotate=90] Z16 :[fix] Z16 Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) *[fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] (. :[sep=0] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[sep=0] .) (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) *[fix,sep=0.3] (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) *[fix,sep=0.3,size=inf] (. :[sep=0] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[sep=0] .) (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) *[fix,sep=0.3] (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) *[fix,sep=0.3] (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) *[fix,sep=0.3] (Z16 :[fix] Z16 :[fix] Z16) Aa7[mirror]

It is regrettable that this sign is not available in a purely horizontal version.

Aa15[xscale=0.6] stack[y=0.3,under](Aa21, D36)