Writing Systems HU2910 Fall 2009

Evolution of Writing Pre-WritingCave paintings Proto-WritingIdeographs Early WritingCuneiform

Pre-Writing Cave Paintings Lascaux, France (16k yrs ago)

Pre-Writing Cave Paintings Altamira, Spain (16-14k yrs ago) a

Proto-Writing (9k yrs ago) Ideographs/mnemonic symbols: Wayfinding signs (airports/train stations) Arabic numerals Formal Languages (in math & logic) * used “worldwide” regardless of how they are pronounced in different languages. N.B. Iconicity

Chinese Radicals (+ semantic) 口 Mouth 父 Father 疒 Sickness 竹 Bamboo 米 Rice 耒 Plow 革 Leather 花 Flower (top horizontal w/ 2 marks)

Early Writing Cuneiform script ( BCE) Begins in Sumerian civilization of southern Iraq. Originally pictographic. Derives from Mesopotamian accounting system (10k yrs ago). Inventory becomes streamlined in number (approx 400 by 3 rd m BCE) & in form (pictographs become convention– alized linear drawings cf. e.g.).

Ugaritic alphabet (c BCE)

Cuneiform script is the earliest known writing system in the world. [1] Cuneiform writing emerged in the Sumerian civilization of southern Iraq around the 34th century BC [2] during the middle Uruk period, beginning as a pictographic system of writing. Cuneiform was the most widespread and historically significant writing system in the Ancient Near East. [3]writing system [1]Sumerian civilizationIraq34th century BC [2]Uruk periodpictographicAncient Near East [3] The development of cuneiform writing was an evolution of an earlier Mesopotamian accounting system that had been used for five thousand years before. [4] Clay tokens had been used for some form of record-keeping in Mesopotamia since as early as 8,000 BC. [5][6] Cuneiform documents were written on clay tablets, by means of a reed stylus. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform ("wedge shaped," from the Latin cuneus, meaning "wedge").Mesopotamian [4]8,000 BC [5][6]clay tabletsreedstylus Cuneiform script underwent considerable changes over a period spanning three millennia. In the course of the 3rd millennium BC the script became successively more cursive, and the pictographs developed into conventionalized linear drawings, the number of characters in use also refined from around 1,000 unique characters in the Early Bronze Age to around 400 characters in Late Bronze Age (Hittite cuneiform).3rd millennium BCBronze AgeHittite cuneiform

pajama, sandal

Borrowed into English (later)

Cuneiform evolution c. 3 rd m.

Cuneiform shift (in form) Stage 1 shows the pictogram as it was drawn around 3000 BC. Stage 2 shows the rotated pictogram as written around 2800 BC. Stage 3 shows the abstracted glyph in archaic monumental inscriptions, from ca BC, & stage 4 is the sign as written in clay, contemporary to stage 3. Stage 5 represents the late 3rd millennium, & stage 6 represents Old Assyrian ductus of the early 2nd millennium, as adopted into Hittite. Stage 7 is the simplified sign as written by Assyrian scribes in the early 1st millennium, and until the script's extinction.

Semantic extension Pictograms originally referred to a concrete object, then activities and abstract concepts related to it (becoming morphograms – N,V, Adj…) Perennially productive (in language and throughout our sign systems)

Phonological extension Morphographic characters originally symbolized entire words but came to be associated more with pronunciations. Hence we began to graph: the (much more limited number of) phonemes, instead of the (innumerable) morphemes.

Morphs   Phones Graph this:

Morphographic WS Best example: Chinese Due to massive challenge of graphing all the morphs in a language, only a small number of kanji are ‘all morph’ (approx 90% are mixed with phonetic part). Using the rebus principle allows us to use existing morphographic kanji as a spring board for their homophones (cf. ‘I see’)

Phonographic WS ‘Mostly’ sound-based (cf. spelling conventions –through vs. though) What parameters for ‘graphing the phone’ syllables(syllabary) consonants only(abjads) consonants with diacritics(abugidas) consonants and vowels(alphabets) what else?