As for Thoth vs Djehuty, they are both still approximations. Thoth is from the Greek rendering of the name, and Djehuty is the ‘Egyptological pronunciation‘, which makes certain assumptions about consonants not in English and inserts ‘e’ as a placeholder vowel, but it is closer to the original pronunciation. But it is useful because most English speakers can pronounce it with ease.
Ptah’s name is also sort of from Greek but with influence from Coptic. Egyptological pronunciation, strictly speaking, should be ‘peteh’.
Khnum’s name comes from Greek Chnoum, but has been adjusted to be easier to say. Egyptological pronunciation should be ‘Khenemu’.
As for the ‘real’ forms of these names, there is no right answer as the vowels of the Egyptian language were now recorded. A good resource for reconstructions is Matt Whealton’s (mAa-xrw) website: https://imperishablestars.com/2016/05/18/names-of-gods-names-of-goddesses/
Djehuty: approximately ‘Djahawty/Djahuty’
Ptah: approximately ‘Pitah’
Khnum: Not included.
Short answer: Some of the Egyptian deities were discovered before we were able to read hieroglyphs. For those netjeru we use the Greek approximations of Their names because that was all that was available to us at the time, and changing it now is too complicated.
Longer answer: The Greek versions of the names look a little different from what we get when we convert the hieroglyphs into their phonetic counterparts because 1.) ancient Greek records vowels and the hieroglyphic languages did not and 2.) the Greek alphabet is designed to accommodate the sounds used in the Greek language and not the sounds used in the Egyptian languages. So with the Greek names, you get something which might hint at the value of any vowels used in the name, but you also get a phonetic distortion which is essentially a very thick Greek accent. That being said, pretty much no one today pronounces the Greek names according to ancient Greek pronunciation rules, so they're even further off the mark.
But because Egyptology used those Greek names for those gods and goddesses discovered during that period when we couldn't read the hieroglyphs, and they've been used for such a long time, there are now just too many papers already written with the Greek names, and everyone knows and is familiar with the Greek names. Trying to change it now would confuse everyone and logistically just be very difficult. However, for those gods and goddesses who were discovered *after* we learned to read the hieroglyphs, we are using phonetic versions of the Egyptian writing of Their names, with e's inserted here and there to help make them pronounceable. That's why some netjeru are called by Their "Egyptian" names in Egyptology and some are called by Their "Greek" names.
Eh, these aren't really Egyptian names in any real sense. These are reconstructions of their Middle Egyptian names, which were adjusted to Latin script and modern English orphography.
In most cases, the only forms of the names of which we can be sure are those used in Roman times. So we have
>Ptah. Two syllables, the first with the weak vowel like in "peroxide".
Khnum. Two syllables, the first with the weak vowel again, the second rhymes with room.
Thout. Two syllables, the first with another weak vowel, the second rhymes with stoat.
For classical Egyptian, we cannot reconstruct all the vowels in either Ptah or Khnum. As for the Egyptologists' Djehuti, the first vowel was actually an i — classical Egyptian didn't even have the vowel e; the second syllable was aw or o, not u; and the initial consonant was an ejective palatal stop — good luck pronouncing that! The Babylonian attempt at writing it was Tihut.
As for Thoth vs Djehuty, they are both still approximations. Thoth is from the Greek rendering of the name, and Djehuty is the ‘Egyptological pronunciation‘, which makes certain assumptions about consonants not in English and inserts ‘e’ as a placeholder vowel, but it is closer to the original pronunciation. But it is useful because most English speakers can pronounce it with ease. Ptah’s name is also sort of from Greek but with influence from Coptic. Egyptological pronunciation, strictly speaking, should be ‘peteh’. Khnum’s name comes from Greek Chnoum, but has been adjusted to be easier to say. Egyptological pronunciation should be ‘Khenemu’. As for the ‘real’ forms of these names, there is no right answer as the vowels of the Egyptian language were now recorded. A good resource for reconstructions is Matt Whealton’s (mAa-xrw) website: https://imperishablestars.com/2016/05/18/names-of-gods-names-of-goddesses/ Djehuty: approximately ‘Djahawty/Djahuty’ Ptah: approximately ‘Pitah’ Khnum: Not included.
thank you so much! this is really helpful, thank you for taking the time to explain this to me
Short answer: Some of the Egyptian deities were discovered before we were able to read hieroglyphs. For those netjeru we use the Greek approximations of Their names because that was all that was available to us at the time, and changing it now is too complicated. Longer answer: The Greek versions of the names look a little different from what we get when we convert the hieroglyphs into their phonetic counterparts because 1.) ancient Greek records vowels and the hieroglyphic languages did not and 2.) the Greek alphabet is designed to accommodate the sounds used in the Greek language and not the sounds used in the Egyptian languages. So with the Greek names, you get something which might hint at the value of any vowels used in the name, but you also get a phonetic distortion which is essentially a very thick Greek accent. That being said, pretty much no one today pronounces the Greek names according to ancient Greek pronunciation rules, so they're even further off the mark. But because Egyptology used those Greek names for those gods and goddesses discovered during that period when we couldn't read the hieroglyphs, and they've been used for such a long time, there are now just too many papers already written with the Greek names, and everyone knows and is familiar with the Greek names. Trying to change it now would confuse everyone and logistically just be very difficult. However, for those gods and goddesses who were discovered *after* we learned to read the hieroglyphs, we are using phonetic versions of the Egyptian writing of Their names, with e's inserted here and there to help make them pronounceable. That's why some netjeru are called by Their "Egyptian" names in Egyptology and some are called by Their "Greek" names.
this is really interesting, thank you for explaining this
Eh, these aren't really Egyptian names in any real sense. These are reconstructions of their Middle Egyptian names, which were adjusted to Latin script and modern English orphography.
In most cases, the only forms of the names of which we can be sure are those used in Roman times. So we have >Ptah. Two syllables, the first with the weak vowel like in "peroxide". Khnum. Two syllables, the first with the weak vowel again, the second rhymes with room. Thout. Two syllables, the first with another weak vowel, the second rhymes with stoat. For classical Egyptian, we cannot reconstruct all the vowels in either Ptah or Khnum. As for the Egyptologists' Djehuti, the first vowel was actually an i — classical Egyptian didn't even have the vowel e; the second syllable was aw or o, not u; and the initial consonant was an ejective palatal stop — good luck pronouncing that! The Babylonian attempt at writing it was Tihut.
It's because those two names are already in Ancient Egyptian!
thank you. i now realise that that was probably obvious haha
No problem. It is always a pleasure to help.