How were ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs pronounced and what was the meaning of each symbol ? Words , syllables, letters?

by bubim

How exactly were the hieroglyphs spoken/pronounced/understood? Had every symbol a meaning similar to the Chinese language or did they represent syllables that could be connected like Japanese or was every symbol like a western letter that could not stand without other symbols?

DanKensington

It's a bit weird. More can always be said on the matter, so if a passing Egyptologist would like to provide further enlightenment from the Black Land, please, go right ahead! For the meantime, OP, here are two previous posts from u/Osarnachthis that directly look at How Hieroglyphs work:

This post has a general overview on the matter,
While this post and all their following posts in that thread are an excellent demonstration of how it works.