Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

A-Z 675
separate sign for the sound /s/ which could be prefixed to signs for syllables beginning
with other consonants. Thus it would no longer be necessary to have one sign for a
particular CV syllable and a separate sign for a syllable beginning with /s/, but otherwise
consisting of the same CV. The sign for /s/ represents an aspe of alphabeticality in the
Cherokee writing system. Otherwise it is, however, properly syllabic (Jensen, 1970, pp.
241–2). The Cree system, on the other hand, is segmentally based (see ibid., p. 244, for
illustration), as is the system used for Inuktitut (Eskimo) in the Canadian Arctic (see
Mallon, 1985).
For an example of a featural writing system, let us look at the Korean Han’gul, a
phonographic script invented by King Sejong, who ruled Korea from 1418 to 1450, and a
team of scholars he had assembled. This system is featural in that its graphs
systematically represent the distinctive phonemic features of the spoken Korean
language. Vowels are represented by graphs consisting of long horizontal and vertical
lines combined with small distinguishing marks, for instance, stands for /i/,
for /e/, and for /æ/. Consonants are represented by more compact, twodimensional
graphs, divided into five families according to their places of articulation
(see ARTICULATORY PHONETICS). Members of each family share a basic shape, for
instance, stands for the bilabial /m/, for /b/, and for /p h / (Sampson,
1985, p. 124). In written text, the graphs are grouped into syllables, so that each group
looks like a Chinese character; Han’gul thereby ‘succeeds in reconciling two
contradictory desiderata for a writing-system: the fewness of the basic graphic elements
makes Han’gul easy to learn, while the large size of the perceptually-salient units makes
it efficient to read’ (Sampson, 1985, p. 132).
K.M.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Diringer, D. (1968), The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind, 3rd edn, in 2 Vols, London,
Hutchinson.
Gelb, I.J. (1963), A Study of Writing: revised edn, Chicago and London, University of Chicago
Press.
Jensen, H. (1970), Sign, Symbol and Script: An Account of Man’s Efforts to Write, London, George
Allen & Unwin.
Sampson, G. (1985), Writing Systems, London, Hutchinson.