The Egyptian language is beautifully demonstrative of how a language can change over time through a natural, philological progression.

The subject of philology, which is an examination of how languages evolve through time, is important for truly understanding one’s own language. English, in particular has gone through some pretty dramatic changes over the years. One look at the changes that have taken place since the now seemingly outdated (yet still relevant) writings of Shakespeare can readily demonstrate this fact.

A particularly good example of the enthralling journey that languages all invariably must go through as they continue to evolve with the passing of time can be found in the various languages of the ancient Egyptians.

Hieroglyphics

Almost everyone is at least somewhat familiar with Hieroglyphics, that ancient language of “pictographs” inscribed in stone on Egyptian pyramids and statues. The word itself is from the Greek word hieroglyphika, meaning 'sacred writings.' While most people immediately associate Hieroglyphics with all periods of ancient Egypt, there is a failure in assuming that this was the beginning and the end of Egyptian languages.

What must be realized is that Hieroglyphics (which began to be used as early as 3300 B.C.) are really the language of a culture which is transitioning from a period with no written language. The drawing of pictures allowed them to communicate ideas in a way almost anyone could understand.

While this language has been almost romanticized from a modern perspective, with the modern fascination with Egyptian archaeology, Hieroglyphics actually symbolize a certain primitive form of Egyptian culture – a middle-point between cave drawings and actual language. As Egyptian culture progressed, the language evolved right along with it.

Hieratic

Somewhere around 2925 B.C., the written language in Egypt began its evolution into what is today known as the Hieratic language, which is really little more than a cursive form of Hieroglyphics. With Hieratic, Egyptian writing began looking much more like a traditional, modern written language, with the characters only loosely based on the original pictograms.

Demotic

From here, the ancient Egyptian language became even more complicated, moving into a form known as the Demotic around the sixth century B.C. Each evolution of the Egyptian language became the language of the higher class, even as the previous forms, Hieratic and Hieroglyphic continued to remain in use, though mostly among the lower classes of Egyptian society. One of the most well-known Demotic examples is so-called “Rosetta Stone,” discovered in 1799. This stone contained the same passage written in three language – Hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek – and proved supremely important to linguists who desired to finally understand these ancient languages.

Coptic

Finally, the last stage in the languages collectively known today as 'ancient Egyptian' is the Coptic language, which came about around A.D. 200 (when Egypt could no longer have been considered ancient), and remained in use both in written and oral forms until as late as the twelfth century. In essence, Coptic writing came about as a result of the prevalence of the Greek language in the Middle East, and was nothing more than the Egyptian language written using the alphabet of the Greeks.

It is in the Coptic language that archaeologists still find many ancient historical and religious documents and which has become a crucial language for modern archaeologists, who continue to find ancient Coptic documents to this day,

So there it is. The evolution of a language in four easy steps.

To show that the English language is no different, attempt to read Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales in its original Middle English and see what kind of sense it makes. The English language has come a long way in only six hundred years. Considering that the Egyptian culture lasted for more than 3000 years, versus only half a century for English, the ancient language seems almost commendable in its consistency.

References:

“The Rosetta Stone.” How Stuff Works.

Ancientegyptonline.com

“Ancient Egyptian Scripts.” Omniglot.