phonetic determinatives

Noun

phonetic determinative (plural phonetic determinatives)

1. a type of hieroglyph that functions similarly to a phonogram, representing a series of consonants, but is unable to function autonomously and must follow other phonograms that together represent the same consonants
   • Now if we look at the meaning of the five-rayed star (Fig. III-1,c,i) as an Egyptian hieroglyph [Gardiner, 1957, 487, symbols N13,14,15], we find that when the star was alone it was used as an ideogram or determinative (sometimes it was also used phonetically or as a phonetic determinative) in...1987, Roger Herz-Fischler, A Mathematical History of Division in Extreme and Mean Ratio, page 52
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see phonetic, determinative.