logography
Quick Summary
A logogram is a written symbol that represents a word or a meaningful unit of language. Writing systems that use logograms include Chinese, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and early cuneiform. These systems often combine logograms with symbols that represent sounds or syllables.1
Unlike alphabetic systems, which represent individual sounds (phonemes), logographic systems use characters that often stand for entire morphemes, or units of meaning. While no known writing system is purely logographic, this approach is characteristic of languages like Chinese. The term "logographic" describes something that uses or consists of logographs.213
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Chinese languagesPre-Classical charactersLogographic (i.e., marked by a letter, symbol, or sign used to represent an entire word) is the term that best describes the nature of the Chinese writing system.
Read MoreLogographic (i.e., marked by a letter, symbol, or sign used to represent an entire word) is the term that best describes the nature of the Chinese writing system.
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Chinese writingHistory…language by means of a logographic script. Each graph or character corresponds to one meaningful unit of the language, not directly to a unit of thought.
Read More…language by means of a logographic script. Each graph or character corresponds to one meaningful unit of the language, not directly to a unit of thought.
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