ɪt wʌz kɹiːˈeɪɾᵻd baɪ sɛmˈɪɾɪkspˈiːkɪŋ wˈɜːkɚz ænd slˈeɪvz ɪnðə sˈaɪnaɪ pənˈɪnsjʊlə ɪn mˈɑːdɚndˈeɪ ˈiːdʒɪpt, baɪ sᵻlˈɛktɪŋ ɐ smˈɔːl nˈʌmbɚɹ ʌv hˈaɪɚɹəɡlˌɪfz kˈɑːmənli sˈiːn ɪn ðɛɹ ɪdʒˈɪpʃən sɚɹˈaʊndɪŋz tə dᵻskɹˈaɪb ðə sˈaʊndz, æz əpˈoʊzd tə ðə səmˈæntɪk vˈæljuːz ʌvðə kˈænɑːnˌaɪt lˈæŋɡwɪdʒᵻz.
It was created by Semitic-speaking workers and slaves in the Sinai Peninsula in modern-day Egypt, by selecting a small number of hieroglyphs commonly seen in their Egyptian surroundings to describe the sounds, as opposed to the semantic values of the Canaanite languages.