An ideogram or ideograph (from Greekἰδέαidéa "idea" and γράφωgráphō "to write") is a graphicsymbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms.
Ideograms in the Church of the Visitation, Jerusalem. Five of the symbols are pictograms augmented with red bars representing the idea of "no" or "not allowed". The symbol at bottom left is a pictogram conveying the meaning of "silence".
The numerals and mathematical symbols are ideograms – 1 'one', 2 'two', + 'plus', = 'equals', and so on (compare the section "Mathematics" below). In English, the ampersand& is used for 'and' and (as in many languages) for Latinet (as in &c for et cetera), % for 'percent' ('per cent'), # for 'number' (or 'pound', among other meanings), § for 'section', $ for 'dollar', € for 'euro', £ for 'pound', ° for 'degree', @ for 'at', and so on. The reason they are ideograms rather than logograms is that they do not denote fixed morphemes: they can be read in many different languages, not just English. There is not always only a single way to read them and they are in some cases read as a complex phrase rather than a single word.
In proto-writing, used for inventories and the like, physical objects are represented by stylized or conventionalized pictures, or pictograms. For example, the pictorial Dongba symbols without Geba annotation cannot represent the Naxi language, but are used as a mnemonic for reciting oral literature.[1] Some systems also use ideograms, symbols denoting abstract concepts.
Comparative evolution of Cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters
The term "ideogram" is often used to describe symbols of writing systems such as Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform and Chinese characters. However, these symbols represent elements of a particular language, mostly words or morphemes (so that they are logograms), rather than objects or concepts. In these writing systems, a variety of strategies were employed in the design of logographic symbols. Pictographic symbols depict the object referred to by the word, such as an icon of a bull denoting the Semitic word ʾālep "ox". Some words denoting abstract concepts may be represented iconically, but most other words are represented using the rebus principle, borrowing a symbol for a similarly-sounding word. Later systems used selected symbols to represent the sounds of the language, for example the adaptation of the logogram for ʾālep "ox" as the letteraleph representing the initial sound of the word, a glottal stop.
Many signs in hieroglyphic as well as in cuneiform writing could be used either logographically or phonetically. For example, the Sumerian sign DIĜIR (𒀭) could represent the word diĝir 'deity', the god An or the word an 'sky'.[2] The Akkadian counterpart could represent the Akkadian stem il- 'deity', the Akkadian word šamu 'sky', or the syllable an.
Although Chinese characters are logograms, two of the smaller classes in the traditional classification are ideographic in origin:
Simple ideographs (指事字 zhǐshìzì) are abstract symbols such as 上 shàng "up" and 下 xià "down" or numerals such as 三 sān "three".
Semantic compounds (会意字 huìyìzì) are semantic combinations of characters, such as 明 míng "bright", composed of 日 rì "sun" and 月 yuè "moon", or 休 xiū "rest", composed of 人 rén "person" and 木 mù "tree". In the light of the modern understanding of Old Chinese phonology, researchers now believe that most of the characters originally classified as semantic compounds have an at least partially phonetic nature.[3]
^Ramsey, S. Robert (1987). The Languages of China. Princeton University Press. p. 266. ISBN978-0-691-01468-5.
^Michalowski, Piotr (2008). "Sumerian". In Woodard, Roger D. (ed.). The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum. Cambridge University Press. pp. 6–46. ISBN978-0-521-68497-2. p. 12.
^Boltz, William (1994). The origin and early development of the Chinese writing system. American Oriental Society. pp. 67–72, 149. ISBN978-0-940490-78-9.
DeFrancis, John. 1990. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN0-8248-1068-6
Hannas, William. C. 1997. Asia's Orthographic Dilemma. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN0-8248-1892-X (paperback); ISBN0-8248-1842-3 (hardcover)
Unger, J. Marshall. 2003. Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning. ISBN0-8248-2760-0 (trade paperback), ISBN0-8248-2656-6 (hardcover)
External links
The Ideographic Myth Extract from DeFrancis' book.
American Heritage Dictionary definition
Ideogram at Merriam-Webster OnLine
June 08, 2023
ideogram, ideograph, ideography, redirect, here, rhetorical, device, ideograph, rhetoric, ideographic, dictionaries, conceptual, dictionary, ideogram, ideograph, from, greek, ἰδέα, idéa, idea, γράφω, gráphō, write, graphic, symbol, that, represents, idea, conc. Ideograph and Ideography redirect here For the rhetorical device see Ideograph rhetoric For ideographic dictionaries see Conceptual dictionary An ideogram or ideograph from Greek ἰdea idea idea and grafw graphō to write is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept independent of any particular language and specific words or phrases Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarity with prior convention others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object and thus may also be referred to as pictograms Ideograms in the Church of the Visitation Jerusalem Five of the symbols are pictograms augmented with red bars representing the idea of no or not allowed The symbol at bottom left is a pictogram conveying the meaning of silence The numerals and mathematical symbols are ideograms 1 one 2 two plus equals and so on compare the section Mathematics below In English the ampersand amp is used for and and as in many languages for Latin et as in amp c for et cetera for percent per cent for number or pound among other meanings for section for dollar for euro for pound for degree for at and so on The reason they are ideograms rather than logograms is that they do not denote fixed morphemes they can be read in many different languages not just English There is not always only a single way to read them and they are in some cases read as a complex phrase rather than a single word Contents 1 Terminology 2 Mathematics 3 Proposed universal languages 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksTerminology EditFurther information Character symbol and Logogram Dongba symbols used by the Naxi people as a mnemonic in reciting oral literature In proto writing used for inventories and the like physical objects are represented by stylized or conventionalized pictures or pictograms For example the pictorial Dongba symbols without Geba annotation cannot represent the Naxi language but are used as a mnemonic for reciting oral literature 1 Some systems also use ideograms symbols denoting abstract concepts Comparative evolution of Cuneiform Egyptian and Chinese characters The term ideogram is often used to describe symbols of writing systems such as Egyptian hieroglyphs Sumerian cuneiform and Chinese characters However these symbols represent elements of a particular language mostly words or morphemes so that they are logograms rather than objects or concepts In these writing systems a variety of strategies were employed in the design of logographic symbols Pictographic symbols depict the object referred to by the word such as an icon of a bull denoting the Semitic word ʾalep ox Some words denoting abstract concepts may be represented iconically but most other words are represented using the rebus principle borrowing a symbol for a similarly sounding word Later systems used selected symbols to represent the sounds of the language for example the adaptation of the logogram for ʾalep ox as the letter aleph representing the initial sound of the word a glottal stop Many signs in hieroglyphic as well as in cuneiform writing could be used either logographically or phonetically For example the Sumerian sign DIĜIR 𒀭 could represent the word diĝir deity the god An or the word an sky 2 The Akkadian counterpart could represent the Akkadian stem il deity the Akkadian word samu sky or the syllable an Although Chinese characters are logograms two of the smaller classes in the traditional classification are ideographic in origin Simple ideographs 指事字 zhǐshizi are abstract symbols such as 上 shang up and 下 xia down or numerals such as 三 san three Semantic compounds 会意字 huiyizi are semantic combinations of characters such as 明 ming bright composed of 日 ri sun and 月 yue moon or 休 xiu rest composed of 人 ren person and 木 mu tree In the light of the modern understanding of Old Chinese phonology researchers now believe that most of the characters originally classified as semantic compounds have an at least partially phonetic nature 3 An example of ideograms is the collection of 50 signs developed in the 1970s by the American Institute of Graphic Arts at the request of the US Department of Transportation 4 The system was initially used to mark airports and gradually became more widespread Mathematics EditMathematical symbols are a type of ideogram 5 Proposed universal languages EditSee also Pasigraphy Inspired by inaccurate early descriptions of Chinese and Japanese characters as ideograms many Western thinkers have sought to design universal written languages in which symbols denote concepts rather than words An early proposal was An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language 1668 by John Wilkins A recent example is the system of Blissymbols which was devised by Charles K Bliss in 1949 and currently includes over 2 000 symbols 6 See also EditCharacter computing Character symbol Emoji Epigraphy the study of inscriptions or epigraphs including ideographic inscriptions Heterogram linguistics Icon computing Lexigrams List of symbols List of writing systems including a sublist of ideographic systems Logotype Segmental script a script that has a grapheme for each phoneme Therblig Traffic signReferences Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ideograms Ramsey S Robert 1987 The Languages of China Princeton University Press p 266 ISBN 978 0 691 01468 5 Michalowski Piotr 2008 Sumerian In Woodard Roger D ed The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia Egypt and Aksum Cambridge University Press pp 6 46 ISBN 978 0 521 68497 2 p 12 Boltz William 1994 The origin and early development of the Chinese writing system American Oriental Society pp 67 72 149 ISBN 978 0 940490 78 9 Symbols and signs AIGA Rotman Brian 2000 Mathematics as Sign Writing Imagining Counting Stanford University Press ISBN 978 0 8047 3684 8 Unger 2003 pp 13 16 DeFrancis John 1990 The Chinese Language Fact and Fantasy Honolulu University of Hawaii Press ISBN 0 8248 1068 6 Hannas William C 1997 Asia s Orthographic Dilemma University of Hawaii Press ISBN 0 8248 1892 X paperback ISBN 0 8248 1842 3 hardcover Unger J Marshall 2003 Ideogram Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning ISBN 0 8248 2760 0 trade paperback ISBN 0 8248 2656 6 hardcover External links EditThe Ideographic Myth Extract from DeFrancis book American Heritage Dictionary definition Ideogram at Merriam Webster OnLine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ideogram amp oldid 1129856425, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
