Essays on Writing and Language in Honor - Sino-Platonic Papers

Sino-Phonic Papers, 27 (August 3 1, 199 1)
Idea narrating mode makes the symbol carrying definite idea arbitrarily
and the reader must learn the connection between idea and symbol first. This
mode can write functional words and record definite human speech according to
word sequences, but still retaining a limited degree of super-speech nature.
Sound notating mode makes arbitrary connection betweem sound and symbol,
not between idea and symbol. It has no super-speech nature at all.
expressing mods . .
The relation of the three phases are not synchronous, but intricatcd. For
instance, picture symbol can be used in picture drawing, idea narrating or
sound denoting, to represent a word, a syllable or a phoneme.
picture drawing picture symbol word segment
idea narrating character symbol syllable segment
sound notating alphabet symbol phoneme segment
From the above explanation, we can get a Table of Typology of Writing
Systems according to the three phases classification as follows:
(name in short) I (expressing mode) I (symbol form) 1 (speech segment)
a, picture writing I picture drawing I picture symbol I word/sentence
ab. picturwidea I picture drawing/ I picture/ I word/sentence
writing I idea narrating I charac. symbol 1
b. idea writing I idea narrating I charac. symbol I word
bc. idea/sound I idea narrating1 I character/ I word/sy 1 lab Le
writing I sound notating I alphabet I
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c.phoneticwriting I soundnotating I alphabet I sy 1 lable~phoneme
cl. syllable writ. I sound notating 1 syllabic alph. I syllablc
c2, consonant wri t. l sound notating I consonant alph. I syl lable/phoneme
c3. phoneme writ. 1 sound notating I phonemic alph. I phoneme
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