A graph that pictured some object was borrowed to write a different word that happened to sound similar. To represent such words the phonographic principle was adopted. Each graph or character corresponds to one meaningful unit of the language, not directly to a unit of thought.Īlthough it was possible to make up simple signs to represent common objects, many words were not readily picturable. It is now recognized that the system represents the Chinese language by means of a logographic script. But what about how writing systems came to be in the first place? Take this quiz to find out.īecause basic characters or graphs were “motivated”-that is, the graph was made to resemble the object it represented-it was once thought that Chinese writing is ideographic, representing ideas rather than the structures of a language. Whether it’s Shakespeare or Stephen King, you probably know a lot about your favourite writer. The earliest graphs were schematic pictures of what they represented the graph for man resembled a standing figure, that for woman depicted a kneeling figure. The script was fixed in its present form during the Qin period (221–207 bc). By the end of the Zhou dynasty the dazhuan had degenerated to some extent. The major script of the Zhou dynasty, which ruled from 1046 to 256 bc, was the dazhuan (“great seal”), also called the Zhou wen (“Zhou script”). 1123 bc) and the early years of the Zhou dynasty that followed. Later stages in the development of Chinese writing include the guwen (“ancient figures”) found in inscriptions from the late Shang dynasty ( c. By 1400 bc the script included some 2,500 to 3,000 characters, most of which can be read to this day. The earliest known inscriptions, each of which contains between 10 and 60 characters incised on pieces of bone and tortoiseshell that were used for oracular divination, date from the Shang (or Yin) dynasty (18th–12th century bc), but, by then it was already a highly developed system, essentially similar to its present form. It is not known when Chinese writing originated, but it apparently began to develop in the early 2nd millennium bc. Until relatively recently, Chinese writing was more widely in use than alphabetic writing systems, and until the 18th century more than half of the world’s books were written in Chinese, including works of speculative thought, historical writings of a kind, and novels, along with writings on government and law. Like Semitic writing in the West, Chinese script was fundamental to the writing systems in the East. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Ĭhinese writing, basically logographic writing system, one of the world’s great writing systems.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.
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