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To independently invent the concept of writing in which sounds are encoded into symbols from which an infinite number of words can be assembled, you must be a genius (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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[–] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

OK, but if we're talking about origins then the Latin script ultimately descends from Egyptian hieroglyphics, which were also originally pictographic, hence 1:1 symbol:word (but evolved and so were much more complicated than just pictographs when they stopped being used)

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

    At it's origins, the Latin script was an alphabet, not 1:1 symbol to word.

    You have to go back through a chain of different scripts for different languages from different cultures that influenced it to get to heiroglyphs.

    Chinese characters were logograms invented for Chinese and are logograms used for Chinese today. At their origin they were pretty much symbol = word and it mostly still is.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago

    Logograms like Chinese characters are not 1:1 symbol to word; they stand for morphemes, not words. Some words are morphemes, but most words consist of more than one.

    Chinese script evolved from a pictographic script, just as the Latin script evolved from a pictographic script. You have to go through a chain in either case.

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