Writing Systems
• 1. Types of Writing Systems
– Logographic (Morphographic)
– Syllabic
– Alphabetic
• 2. Origin of Writing
• 3. Development
• 4. Spread
1. Types of Writing System
• Logographic
• 1 symbol = 1 word or morpheme
• Mandarin Chinese
• 我們 喜歡 學 語言學
• [Link] xihuan xue yuyanxue.
• [Link] enjoy study linguistics
• “We enjoy studying linguistics.”
• Syllabic
• 1 symbol = 1 syllable
• Japanese
• べたべた (hiragana)
• be ta be ta ‘sticky’
• ア メ リ カ (katakana)
• a me ri ka ‘America/US’
• Alphabetic
• 1 symbol = 1 phoneme
• Korean
• ㅎ ㅏ ㄴ ㄱ ㅡ ㄹ
• h a n k ɯ l
• 한 글
• han kɯl
• ‘Korean’ ‘writing’
2. Origin of Writing
• pictorial sign (picture of plow)
• object (plow)
• pictorial sign
• object name of object
• ‘plow’, ‘to plow’, ‘plowman’
• pictorial sign
• name of object
• apin ‘plow’
Origin of Sumerian Cuneiform
Early Chinese Characters
3. Development: Rebus Principle
Rebus Principle and Chinese
Characters
• 勿 wu ‘animal’
• 勿 wu Negative imperative
• 非 禮 勿 視
• Fei li wu shi.
• [Link] Li [Link] look
• ‘If it does not adhere to Li do not look at it!’
• Graphic ambiguity:
• 勿 wu ‘animal’
• 勿 wu Negative imperative
• => Create new character
• 牛 ‘ ox’ > Semantic classifier
• 牛 + 勿 > 物 wu ‘animal’
• 牛 + 岡 > 犅 gang ‘cow’
• 牛 + 生 > 牲 sheng ‘domestic animal’
• 牛 + 羲 > 犧 xi ‘sacrificial
animal’
4. Spread of Writing
Cuneiform Borrowed as Syllabary:
Old Persian
Japanese Syllabaries from Chinese
Characters
• Chinese Hiragana
• 安 あ a
• 加 か ka
• 世 せ se
• 天 て te
• 乃 の no
• 不 ふ fu
• 呂 ろ ro
Manyoshu: Chinese characters
used for sound and meaning value
• 世間乎 何物爾
• Yononaka=wo nani=ni
• world=Acc what=Dat
• 将譬
• tatohe-mu?
• compare-should
• “To what should I compare this world?”
• Content words used for meaning value:
• 世間 ‘ world’ > yononaka
• 何物 ‘ what’ > nani
• 将譬 ‘ should compare’ > tatohemu
• Function words used for sound value:
• 乎 > Accusative case wo
• 爾 > Dative case ni
Logograms to Alphabet: Phoenician
Phoenician to Greek:
Vowels Added